Anybody a convert from flint?

[mark davidson]

Are any of you caplock devotees a convert from flint? If so, please share why? I shoot a custom flintlock and have for a couple of seasons with well over a dozen clean kills but I have a "mental" issue. My confidence is not what it is with a caplock. No matter what many may say, I CAN tell a difference in ignition time and it messes with my head. I pick the vent and load meticulously and my flinter is super fast but to me NOT as fast as a capgun.  This weekend I had a good shot at a doe walking that I would have taken 100% of the time with my old caplock but I could not get her still enough or just right enough to MAKE myself pull the trigger and while I was getting my crap together to shoot I missed the opportunity completely. I am a very experienced shooter but something is messing with my head and urging me to go back to the caplock. Anybody else ever had this issue??? I need a tad of encouragement. :-)

[Bigsmoke]

Mark,

Well, let's see, first off, I have been burning black powder for well in excess of 40 years, so this isn't just some new thing with me.  For what that is worth.

I am not a convert to percussion from flint.  I started out with cap guns and over the years I have honestly tried to convert over to flint.  I have gone the route.  Once I sold off all my percussion guns and bought a really nice flinter.  That was a huge mistake which I will never forgive myself for.  Then I have bought other flint rifles that I was just going to shoot occassionally.  Yeah, right, they just sit in the closet, unused.  My last forray into the world of flintlocks occured a couple of years ago when I bought one of Steve Zihn's full stock Hawkens.  I went to two rendezvous, back to back.  The first one had about 100 shooters and I fired my .62 English Sporting Rifle.  Took 3rd place.  A week later I went to another one which did not allow rifles over .58 caliber so I shot the Hawken.  Out of a field of about 50 shooters, I took 23rd place.  So, I sent the rifle back to Steve to have him convert it to percussion.  Strangely enough, I cannot get excited enough about it to even take it out and try it.  I ought to just sell the darn thing and be done with it.

So, I think I am just going to be done with trying to make flintlock guns get along with me and continue with my percussion guns.  That's where I am happy and that's where I am going to stay.

I am not saying there is anything wrong with flinters, they're great.  In someone else's hands.  I just don't care for them, and they just don't seem to care for me.

John

[Sir Michael]

CONVERT FROM FLINT TO PERCUSSION???!!!  

Why on earth would anyone want to do that?  

Them There percussion cap things may be new but just because it is new it is not better!!  

Besides flint locks have been doing just fine for over 200 years!  

To use a phrase, this new percussion technology is just a flash in the pan!  

It will never catch on!  

It is just a passing fancy!  

Also one shot per cap!!  What is that nonsense!  When you use all your caps you've got a useless gun with no way to fire it.  You can always resharpen a flint and in most places even find a rock that you can use to make due until you can get a proper flint.

It will will never catch on!!!

 :rotf  :rotf  :rotf  :rotf      

Sorry I couldn't resist.

[mark davidson]

Bigsmoke, That is quite a credible commentary coming from you who I respect greatly for your experience.  I love the nostalgia of flint. They look cool and are fun to shoot. My main hangup is the ignition time. Mine is fast and I know and learned on here how to make it fast. Still, my confidence is trash at the moment of the shot. I feel that minute hesitation and always wonder if I made the shot. With a percussion gun, I felt no different than when I was shooting a modern gun. I pulled the trigger and the shot was absolutely immediate. I guess I am just in a funk about it right now and will soon snap out. When I had the gun made for me, I had it made so I could convert it at will back to percussion and I even bought a percussion lock as spare with it so I could just slap it on and go percussion. I have never had the percussion lock on the gun but I am thinking about playing around with it now and maybe killing a couple of deer with it to see where my heart lies. :-)

[greyhunter]

Convert??? Why convert? I have and shoot both. They are both a blast to shoot. I prefer the flinter cause I ain't gotta fumble with them dern little caps. On the other hand it would be tough making a six shot revolver with flint ignition. I do surely likes my cap n ball new army! An my little Crockett, God bless her, she's a cap lock, but I loves her just the same. It's like ice cream, some days I like vanilla and other days I like chocolate. The good thing is I've got a choice in my gun locker, and they all load from the front. I've had my share of misfires from both, usually self induced, but I wouldn't be  with out both types. Ain't jever had two girlfriends??
Nothin wrong with that! jmtc

[Three Hawks]

Back in the mid nineteen seventies I bought and assembled a T-C Hawken .50 flintlock kit.  After fifteen years, more or less, of futzing around trying to get the dang thing to fire reliably during hunting season here in the Pacific North Wet, I caved in and bought a T-C percussion lock and made up a drum, fitted it with a nipple and converted my rifle to caplock.  Since I did that, and worked up a reliable loading protocol, which I now observe religiously, I have not had a misfire in over twenty  years.  Since converting I've burned through three bricks of CCI caps, that's about 3000 rounds.  I also use GOEX 3FG exclusively.  

Your mileage may, and likely will, vary.

Three Hawks

[shootrj2003]

I wish I could offer you some useful advice,I have a flint sqirrell rifle and a percussion  Re negade that I am'' changing''[I'm not really sure how much]
''man cannot serve two masters''niether can he live on bread alone!''

[Gambia]

As a shotgun shooter  for me it is a sxs percussion gun especially shooting over decoys. Shooting a flintlock depends on the weather which here in the UK can change by the hour.
Feltwad.
A Flint Lock will not secure a chicken house door

[shootrj2003]

I had to liven things up by refreshing this post,I now have three flints and still have the renegade ,with more flints planned !oh ,and the 1800 Fowler project that was converted to….cap!by persons unknown many years ago,1830 at least.I have,I admit slipped toward the flintlock side ,when I see a cap gun I feel there are parts missing!

[Nessmuk]

I think Greyhunter said it best. No earthly reason not to have both, especially now when caps are so hard to find.

[Ohio Joe]

I shoot both cap and flint, and I did start out with cap-lock rifles over 40+ years ago...

Admittingly, I will say I'm more accurate with a cap-lock in the long run, but I'm not that far off with a flintlock when I switch rifle's. IMHO,,, the key is follow through with your shot, and get use to doing it with both ignitions. And yes, I can feel a difference in ignition time - but you simply must put that out of your head and follow through with the shot.

For pure fun, it's the flintlock hands down for me. That, and of course shooting Matches that require a flintlock!

For serious shooting where I have a choice in ignition, I'll take a cap-lock any day.

-AND- I have had good days, and bad days, with both ignitions... 

[PetahW]

.
No matter what many may say, I CAN tell a difference in ignition time and it messes with my head.

I pick the vent and load meticulously and my flinter is super fast but to me NOT as fast as a capgun.

FWIW, my A&H .50 Mountain Rifle (rocklock) has ignition time almost as fast as a metallic rifle, certainly faster than my capguns.

While IDK for sure, it may be due to not overfilling the prime ( I only drop a few grains of the same FFFg as the main charge into the pan, being sure to not cover the vent).

In your case, before I'd even consider conversion, I would have a knowledgeable gunsmith (not the builder), or a lock specialist, refine & properly lubricate the lock/trigger, and test the hardness of the face of the frizzen - also getting advice on the best flint to use and how to position it in the cock.

If you'd like to do that, these guys can help you out: Cabin Creek Muzzleloading, Hallam, PA (google them)

After all that, if the lock time still doesn't instill more confidence, you might want to try just not letting it bother you - hard, but doable.

.

[Bigsmoke]

Well, once again, I find myself trying to like flintlocks but having a difficult time doing it.
For me, they are an exercise in patience and determination, both of which are in short supply.  Attended a rendezvous a couple of weeks ago, there was a 22 shot trailwalk.  At about shot 15 started having ignition problems so knapped the flint a bit.  By shot 18 I decided to replace the flint as it was as dull as the average office party.
In defense of the gun, I did shoot an amazing tie breaker.  When I get home I will scan it and post a picture of it.
So, what did I do next?  I bought a North Star West Trade Gun in 12 gauge.
And I decided to retire my .54 caliber Factor's Pistol.  It's a keeper, just not a shooter.  I proved that in the pistol trail walk.
Then I bought a Lyman Plains Pistol in .54 caliber PERCUSSION.
John (Bigsmoke)

[ridjrunr]

“A couple of seasons and over a dozen clean kills” tells me you have nothing to worry about .
I went from cappers to flint and never looked back. The only exceptions are my Uberti Hawken and the first kit I ever built, a two pc stock cva and it too may face a conversion ( once I install a better trigger)
 NOw when I shoot my rock locks I say to myself “ I’m glad this isnt one of those crappy caps that is hit and miss”
 
But joking aside, I’ve nothing against cappers but just find flinters more challenging and fun .
My first flintlock kill, heart shot at 50 yards.

[Hank in WV]

I can't really remember exactly when I last shot a capper. I feel like if you just concentrate on your shot and not the lock time, it won't be an issue. It used to work for me when I could still see.