Flintlocks, gotta love em!

[Muley]

Well, I just got back. Opening the hole in the liner helped a lot. Using lead instead of leather seems to help the flint hold an edge too. I didn't do anything different than those two changes.

Fired every time, and much faster. So, everything i've been doing must have been right.

I did find out one thing about this gun. Anything but 2/3 pan of powder, and it fires slow, or not at all.

I'm happy the gun didn't beat me, and I didn't give up on it. I can walk away from it knowing I got it working. I am walking away from it though. The gun is still for sale.

I guess i'm just a caplock kind of guy.

[Longhunter]

I guess i'm just a caplock kind of guy.

  ...

[Adam Wetherington]

Maybe you should buy something with a better lock.

[greyhunter]

Congratulations Muley for your success. Knew you wouldn't quit. When a man's life and well being depended on one tool, he learned how to use it, and how to take care of it. Each gun will function with minimal attention to basics, but have enough differences in design that loading techniques will differ. I agree with Captchee, a tuned flinter is just a hairs breath behind a caplock in speed of ignition. I don't hear the three distinct sounds of my flinters going off, it's a combined sound, so fast a deer can't jump it.  May every ball you ram find it's mark, good luck in your meat hunts Muley.  

[Longhunter]

Flintlocks are like a woman...ya gotta learn how to stroke em.

My personal opinion is that a good flinter is more reliable than a percussion gun. I came to that conclusion from personal experiences. In the early 70's I went on an elk hunt in Montana. We camped in the mountains for two weeks. For weather we had rain and snow and I had a heck of a time with my percussion Green River Plains rifle. Just about every day I had to pull the nipple and put a little 4FFFF under the cap to make it fire.

Fast forward to the late 70's on a moose hunt in northern Ontario. Weather was very rainy, so much so that the tapered ramrod in my .62 flintlock swelled to the point that I couldn't get it out of the thimbles. Luckily I had brought a spare rod. Even though the weather was very damp, I kept dry powder in the pan and kept the vent plugged to hold back the moister. At the moment of truth when my opportunity came on a fine bull moose, my flintlock didn't fail me. Since that time 35 years ago it's been flintlocks for me, I have confidence in them and I know they won't let me down.

[Muley]

Ron,

I can appreciate your passion for a flintlock. However, I can give you the same story in reverse, and i've only had a flintlock for a week. I've shot caplocks for years.

Believe me, I love the idea of a flintlock to hunt with. At this point. I just don't trust the one I have. Plus, i'm not sure there was ever a half stock flintlock plains rifle.

If someone made a better replacement lock for the GPR (LH). I'd give it a try. I have a feeling it might give me more confidence in hunting with a flint. I'd love to buy a better custom flint gun with higher end components than the GPR, but i'm just a poor old man trying to survive on Social Security. The GPR was all I could afford. I was hoping it would have worked better. The GPR caplock was 100% reliable for me. I should have kept it.

[Longhunter]

i'm not sure there was ever a half stock flintlock plains rifle.

http://www.mtmen.org/mtman/museum/guns/guns.html

Muley, I hear ya about trying to survive on Social Security, them SS checks don't allow you to buy many fancys.    
Most of my flintlocks are custom guns that I bought years ago but I still have that old percussion Green River plains rifle. There was a day when it was my main meat gun and it counted Coup many times.

I'm a lefty too and most of my LH guns have Siler locks, I love em. Keep playin with that GPR and I'm sure it'll grow on ya.. It sounds like you've got most of the kinks ironed out already.

Here's a picture of me an my Green River on that elk hunt 40 years ago. We found the old cabin just below timberline and moved in for the last week of our hunt.

[Buzzard]

Your "flashes in the pan" prove that your lock and flint are fine. They fire everytime. All my flinters, save one, use a 1/16 touch hole dia. The other would not fire reliably until i opened it up to 5/64. In my opinion, 3f is much more reliable than 2f in flinters. And yes, i also prime with 3f. And no, i never pick the touch hole. I also drill the back of the liner out so the cone tip is VERY close to the outward facing surface of the liner. I use 1/4-28 liners and 5/32 bit for this. This moves the main charge closer to the prime. And i use maybe 1/2-3/4 pan full of prime. Hang in there Muley, it only gets better from here on out. Also, talk to anyone else at your club who shoots a flintlock, get their advice, don't be afraid to try something different. We've all started at the bottom and learned from there. Regards, Buzzard

[Muley]

I'm using an RMC liner drilled to 5/64. I suppose I could taper the chamber side of the liner some more. The pan doesn't always go off. That's more of a problem than the charge not going off. It also eats flints pretty fast.

I had a long conversation with Bill at L&R Locks. He explained a lot about getting a flint to work, and also what is wrong with the GPR lock. He does make a LH lock that's close to fitting, but still would take a little work that i'm not comfortable doing. I'm really not good working with wood. More of a mechanical type.

I could use someone to install the L&R Lock for me. I think i'd love the gun then. Charge me what ever you want. I really don't want to sell the gun, but i'll never be happy with it until I get a better lock in it.

Help!

[Kermit]

Captchee? You there?

I'd talk to him about giving your flinter a good tune-up. ALL my offhand muzzleloaders are flint. I'll never go back to caps. Any you might want to give Rich Pierce a try for flints. I don't buy black or amber flints anymore. Good ol' 'Merican rocks, they are.

[Muley]

I have some ordered, but Rich is about a month behind on orders.

He recommended I get some from Stonewall Creek Outfitters meanwhile, but they get $2.00 ea for flints. A bit high compared to Rich.

[Stormrider51]

Everybody has their tricks and methods that they swear by.  Most have a few that they swear at.  I'm the opposite of Ron, I use FFFg regardless of caliber.  My experience tells me that FFFg leaves less fouling plus I can reduce the charge and get the same results.  That just means there's more FFg available for Ron and more FFFg for me since we aren't competing for the same granulation.  I never wipe the pan, flint, or frizzen with anything but my thumb or a dry rag unless I'm cleaning the gun after a days shooting.  The vent hole is a small area and I don't want moisture of any sort to get in there and contaminate the relatively few grains of powder exposed to the flame from the pan.  I do run a vent pick in and out one time before charging the pan to make sure the vent is open but I don't go drilling or pile driving with the thing.  And so on.  The things that work so well for me may not work for the next guy.  Heck, things that have been magic with one flinter don't always seem to work with a different one.  But my point is that those of us who choose to hunt with a muzzleloader have accepted a greater degree of challenge just from our choice of firearm.  A flinter can be a greater challenge than a percussion.  I've owned a couple of flinters so contrary that I was tempted to bend the barrel around a tree.  I've had others that never seemed to misfire.  And there's absolutely nothing wrong with using a percussion if that's what works for you and makes you happy.  After all, this is all about enjoyment of a sport.

Storm

[sse]

The funny thing about BP shooting, and challenge, is that someone else won't get the same results unless they shoot the exact same rifle as someone else, and do everything the same.  I don't mean the same brand, caliber, etc., I mean the same exact rifle.  Change one variable and everything is out the window...

In fact, there's s good chance if someone uses my rifle with their spit on the patch, she'll behave different...

[Stormrider51]

The funny thing about BP shooting, and challenge, is that someone else won't get the same results unless they shoot the exact same rifle as someone else, and do everything the same.  I don't mean the same brand, caliber, etc., I mean the same exact rifle.  Change one variable and everything is out the window...

In fact, there's s good chance if someone uses my rifle with their spit on the patch, she'll behave different...

[pathfinder]

I aint swappin' spit with NONE of you fella's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Flinters are a funny breed. Either love 'em or..........nah,ya gotta love 'em!