Flint ??

[Puffer]

Was offered some "French Amber Flints" (1/2" for my pistol) The $ is good but I have always been told that they were not as good as the "British Black Flints" (I use Tom Fuller's English Gun Flints ) Any 1 here use the "French" (if so tell me what You think)

[Bigsmoke]

Jack,
If it ain't broke, why try to fix it???
Personally, like you, I have always relied on the black English flint and have never had a problem.  And of the thousands I have sold, I cannot recall any unhappy customers.
I have heard tell of some people that felt the ambers were better and of course the opposite also holds true.
I would say that if the $$$$$ is right, why not give them a try.  You might even wind up liking them better.  Or not.  As always, a field report will be expected.
John

[Ohio Joe]

Darn it,,, I can't find it now, but I was reading a short article on this somewhere's and if I recall what I read at the time (I thought it made a'lot of sense);

[With a light striking frizzen - French flints work great and last quite a while] & [With a hard striking frizzen they don't hold up so well]

I take that to mean; Off-Shore Locks and the Lyman GPR and even the TC Flintlock muzzleloaders probably love 'em... And I would include the L&R John Bailes flintlock...

I think the Large Siler Locks would eat 'em up - but I've never had a Small Siler Lock to know how strong its Mainspring is.

Hope this helps somewhat Puffer... As John said, why not give 'em a try.   

[Fyrstyk]

I have used them in my Pedersoli Frontier, my Hatfield and my custom Jaeger.  The locks on these rifles take large (7/8") flints and they seem to spark well and last just as long as the black English. 

[Ohio Joe]

I've been doing some more searching, (still can't find the article I was looking for), but I do agree with several articles I ran across as I searched Google...

Geometry of the, cock & frizzen, hardness of the frizzen, pitted frizzen -vs- smooth, flint placement in the jaws,,, it all plays together,,, and all I read actually had positive things to say about the French Amber Flints... There was one mention of the fact that the only draw back is that it's a one-side flint and can't be turned around like the English Flints... However, from what I also read, several were saying 40 to 60 to 80 to 100 shots from this single edge style French Amber Flint...

Again, I agree with John, if the price is right - why not give them a try.     

[Puffer]

I have used them in my Pedersoli Frontier, my Hatfield and my custom Jaeger.  The locks on these rifles take large (7/8") flints and they seem to spark well and last just as long as the black English.

Thanks -- My pistol = Pedersoli Mortimer & fav. Rifle = a Pedersoli Mortimer & I have the 12ga. also.
So may work.

[ridjrunr]

Darn it,,, I can't find it now, but I was reading a short article on this somewhere's and if I recall what I read at the time (I thought it made a'lot of sense);

[With a light striking frizzen - French flints work great and last quite a while] & [With a hard striking frizzen they don't hold up so well]

I take that to mean; Off-Shore Locks and the Lyman GPR and even the TC Flintlock muzzleloaders probably love 'em... And I would include the L&R John Bailes flintlock...


I think the Large Siler Locks would eat 'em up - but I've never had a Small Siler Lock to know how strong its Mainspring is.

Hope this helps somewhat Puffer... As John said, why not give 'em a try. 

Joe, I have two pistols with small silers and the springs are very,very strong , both the frizen and main springs. Problem is I have no idea how old they are. And I cant remember if I have had amber flints, if I had its been several yrs, maybe in Texas.

[Ohio Joe]

Darn it,,, I can't find it now, but I was reading a short article on this somewhere's and if I recall what I read at the time (I thought it made a'lot of sense);

[With a light striking frizzen - French flints work great and last quite a while] & [With a hard striking frizzen they don't hold up so well]

I take that to mean; Off-Shore Locks and the Lyman GPR and even the TC Flintlock muzzleloaders probably love 'em... And I would include the L&R John Bailes flintlock...


I think the Large Siler Locks would eat 'em up - but I've never had a Small Siler Lock to know how strong its Mainspring is.

Hope this helps somewhat Puffer... As John said, why not give 'em a try. 

Joe, I have two pistols with small silers and the springs are very,very strong , both the frizen and main springs. Problem is I have no idea how old they are. And I cant remember if I have had amber flints, if I had its been several yrs, maybe in Texas.

My guess would have been that the small Siler Locks would have a strong main spring, based on how strong the Large Siler Lock main spring is. 

[Hank in WV]

The small Siler I put in a flint pistol is strong but definitley lighter than my large Silers.

[Rocklock]

Came across some Amber flints a couple of weeks ago.  Shot the first one (about 20 rounds). I saw no difference.  I even have some white Missouri chert that works well.  Works well enough I’ve successfully hunted with it.  Made a crude flint from a piece of Texas chert that I found on the ground   It worked well also.  I need to follow up on learning to make my own better

[Ohio Joe]

The small Siler I put in a flint pistol is strong but definitley lighter than my large Silers.

Thanks Hank. 

Having never used the small Siler, I wasn't sure... 

[Oldetexian]

Came across some Amber flints a couple of weeks ago.  Shot the first one (about 20 rounds). I saw no difference.  I even have some white Missouri chert that works well.  Works well enough I’ve successfully hunted with it.  Made a crude flint from a piece of Texas chert that I found on the ground   It worked well also.  I need to follow up on learning to make my own better

Can't even imagine making my own flints...so my hat is off to ya. 

[Hanshi]

I've used both the black and amber flints and can't tell any difference.  The amber seem to last just as long as the black.

[Rocklock]

Shot another 20+ rounds today with that same amber flint. Knapped it once. Still going.