First Muzzleloader

[Ohio Joe]

ballen1900, A few more suggestions if you can stand them:  (1) Add a 1/8" pc. of wood (old paint stirrer) or leather (old belt) to raise the flint (bevel down).  (2) Use a new 1/4" drill bit spun with your fingers to cone the outside of the touchhole [liner] for better ignition.  (3) Open the touchhole to 5/16" if none of the other suggestions (mine & everyone else's) solve the problem.  Lastly, it's possible that your frizzen needs to be rehardened, but that's pretty much a last resort if nothing else works.  Good luck and let us know how things go.

(3) Open the touchhole to 5/16"

Hey Maven, I think you meant to type 5/64ths?

[Maven]

Good catch, Joe:  I surely didn't mean 5/16"   Fixed it though!  Btw, did you notice how low & thin the front sight on that Dickert rifle was?

[Ohio Joe]

Good catch, Joe:  I surely didn't mean 5/16"   Fixed it though!  Btw, did you notice how low & thin the front sight on that Dickert rifle was?

I did notice that Maven. I think every rifle and smoothbore that Hank in WV and I looked at when we were at the Fur Trade Museum this past year (Chadron Nebraska) all had those low Rear Sights and low thin Front Sights. Now I found that interesting and I'm tempted to try a low sight set,,, but I don't think I'd be able to see the front sight clear enough anymore.

[ballen1900]

Ok, I managed to do a bit of work on it this afternoon. (1) trimmed the leather back to the edge of the jaws, top and bottom. (2) Knapped a notch on the back of the flint and got it back about another 1/16", now the frizzen closes all the way; and (3) lightly sanded the face of the frizzen with #100 to get the whole face down to clear, bright metal.

It fired the primer 6 out of 6 times, but by the time I did all that it was too dark to actually shoot it. It seems to be getting there. I'll go to the black powder match at my local range this Saturday and see how it goes.

And yes, Western Washington at this time of year is extremely humid - we grow moss in our arm pits (and elsewhere). I thought of that, too, and have been wiping down the pan, frizzen and flint with acetone in between tests to help keep things clean and dry. I know, they didn't have acetone back then, but they did have moonshine , so close enough!

And really, thank you for all the help. I'll probably have more questions after Saturday, but it seems to be headed in the right direction now.
Bill
 

[Ohio Joe]

we grow moss in our arm pits (and elsewhere)

 

Sure good to hear you're getting good results now. 

[Hank in WV]

I expect that 100 grit sandpaper might work on those armpits also. Handy stuff.

[Uncle Russ]

I expect that 100 grit sandpaper might work on those armpits also. Handy stuff.

  Hank, Hank, Hank.....what's a mother to do??

And yes, Western Washington at this time of year is extremely humid - we grow moss in our arm pits (and elsewhere). I thought of that, too, and have been wiping down the pan, frizzen and flint with acetone in between tests to help keep things clean and dry.

Ya may be having a small problem with that GPR, but you sure do have the weather down pat!

It ain't no better here in the Columbia Basin either, but we do have a nice stock of sandpaper should it decide to get as bad as the coast side.
That side of the Mountain has 3 seasons, July, August, and Rain....with no change in sight.

Keep yer chin up, right now 6 outta 6 ignitions, on that side of the mountain, is something worth crowing about this time of year!
Yer going to whup this puppy, I feel it in my bones......just keep yer powder dry.

Uncle Russ..

[Ohio Joe]

(2) Use a new 1/4" drill bit spun with your fingers to cone the outside of the touchhole [liner] for better ignition.

Maven, I've always liked the idea of coning that touch hole a tad... I've got a pointed counter sink bit I use and I just touch the face of the vent hole with it. Have to admit I've not done my Lyman GPR vent hole as yet (I've only had it 12 years, ha!!!), but I've coned all my other flintlock vent holes.

I don't live in a high humidity area, though I do run into it from time to time and I've found carrying some cotton balls in my shootin' bag can come in handy at times. I've even twisted them onto my patch puller and ran them down my bore. The cotton balls can actually work better then the q-tips at times for the lock areas on high humidity days I've found out. Just some food for thought. 

Oh, and I almost forgot,,, "Pipe Cleaners" another great item to have with you for running into the vent hole.

[blackpowderbill]

 One more option once you get your flint adjusted correctly.

  I spoke with a flint knapper this past May. He also shoots a flintlock.
 He knapped up a flint for me and while he was doing it he mentioned he found if the flint leading edge had teeth or a knapped look, like an arrow head does he gets better spark over the straight knife edge.

I have shot this flint over 75 times. Readjusted as needed & knapped it up a few times as needed. I spoke with him and had 12 more flints hand knapped by him.

So far he is correct the rough straight edge cuts steel far better than the flat straight knife edge.

Also make sure the bore /breech touch hole area is clean clean clean.

[greyhunter]

ballen1900, A few more suggestions if you can stand them:  (1) Add a 1/8" pc. of wood (old paint stirrer) or leather (old belt) to raise the flint (bevel down).  (2) Use a new 1/4" drill bit spun with your fingers to cone the outside of the touchhole [liner] for better ignition.  (3) Open the touchhole to 5/64" if none of the other suggestions (mine & everyone else's) solve the problem.  Lastly, it's possible that your frizzen needs to be rehardened, but that's pretty much a last resort if nothing else works.  Good luck and let us know how things go.

I drilled out my vent like said above, but of course, that doesn't make better spark, my gpr was a good sparker and accurate to boot. good luck, experiment with different flints, my guess.

[ballen1900]

Well, my day at the range was a bit of a bust. I think the biggest strike against me was that it was dumping rain. We have a covered shooting area, but it was cold and really damp none the less.

In the 2 1/2 hours I was there, I think I got it to fire 4 times. And those 4 shots were pretty much a surprise each time, so needless to say, sighting it in was just not in the cards.

So, the problems were basically the same - no spark, and when it did, I usually just got a pan flash. When it actually fired, I think all of them were pushing close to a hang fire, or at least a very noticeable delay.

From the advice I got from a couple of other flint shooters there (although they were all shooting caplocks yesterday!): (1) experiment more with the flint - different types - agate, etc. until I find something that sparks consistently; (2) go to 3F powder (I've been using 2F), and go to a lighter load if need be (3) bevel the touch-hole bushing and finally (4) get a caplock, and save the flinter for summer!

Not sure about the last one, but I am thinking about a L&R replacement lock. At least the frizzen would be a known good item.
Bill

[Maven]

Bill, You may not need a replacement lock, but may want to have your frizzen properly rehardened so that it throws the proverbial "shower of sparks" in the pan. 

[Ohio Joe]

Hmmm.... No sparks hitting in the pan, hang fires,,, and all this in high humidity/rain...

I'm sure your groups advice is sound, they've been shooting in these conditions and recommend the caplock in these current conditions.  Now in a controlled area (like the other day when you got 6 good pan flashes - no moister conditions), I just kinda think it's "moister" related. I like the idea of 3fg powder.

Now,,, could the frizzen need re'hardened? Possibly... Drilling out the vent hole to 5/64ths (most certainly I would)... Giving the face of the vent hole a small bevel, absolutely...

Will a new replacement lock solve all the above problems??? Maybe, maybe not??? Will re'hardening the current Lock's Frizzen help??? Again, maybe - maybe not...

I would suggest (but it's entirely up to you),,, when the opportunity presents itself to get your rifle out to the Range in "not so humid" conditions, take advantage of it and see if after enlarging the vent hole and beveling the face of the vent hole a tad - see if it helps...

Now, one last thought. How much priming powder are you using? (Full Pan, 2/3rds Pan, 1/2 Pan, 1/3rd Pan, a combination of all?) I've got locks that work great with very little prime, and others that require 2/3rds Pan of prime. Just have to find what works best for your flintlock ignition.

Flintlocks are finicky in wet weather, there's just no two ways about it. Your best bet is to keep that vent chamber as dry as possible and free of oil and moister. Same goes for the pan. One thing you can do is plug your vent hole before and after loading - then pull that vent plug (feathers work great) - pick the vent hole - wipe the pan - prime - and then aim and fire... Work a pipe cleaner into the vent after firing - wipe the pan - then repeat the loading and firing process.

Again, I do think your results would be better in dryer conditions, but for now it's all guess work and don't feel you're all by yourself with this current problem, we who shoot flintlocks have all been there at one time or another.       

[ballen1900]

Thanks Joe!

I'm off today, so will start on the mods to the touch-hole insert. Also, we're actually supposed to have dry weather this week (unheard of at this time of year!), so might be able to try things out under drier conditions. I have a little bit of 3F powder, so will try that in the pan, once I get everything done.

The 3F for the load will have to wait till I can get up to the Hawken Shop on Widbey Island (only place to get BP around here).

And thanks to all for the suggestions and advice! I'm pretty sure our ancestors figured out how to hunt in the winter, so where there's a will there's a way.
Bill

[Ohio Joe]

You are welcome Bill.

Let me throw in one more thought here... After cleaning your flintlock, run a pipe cleaner through the vent hole as far as it will go, then store your rifle with the barrel pointed down... After a'while (let's say an hour or better) - remove that pipe cleaner and run a dry patch down it then store it muzzle up or muzzle down (but muzzle up should be okay).  You never know there could be just enough moisture in that GPR anti-breach to give you fits with load fouling at the vent.

It's an old trick for both cap and flintlocks to get every drop of possible moisture/oil out of the breach and bore...