One Shot, I have been reading stories like this for years, and I love 'em.
Stories like......
"I got 100 shots and my Flint is still going strong!"
"Heck I got 125 and it seems to sharpen itself!"
I honestly believe I've never got more'n 60 shots....and I know that to be a fact because I had 40 ball left in the Box.
At that point, a couple of days later, I was going to go for the full 100 shots......but that didn't happen.
In my excitement, I had forgotten to "tighten" the flint in the jaw, in its leather holder. And somewhere between cleaning, and putting the rifle back in its leather case, I hadn't tightened the Jaws, and both my flint and my leather were off the lock when I got to the Range!!! (I later found them in the shop)
I did have another gun that day, but it was a capper, so the day wasn't totally lost.
In the past, years ago, when I only shot flinters, I never thought much about "how many" shots I had fired with a particular flint.
I always carried a flint wallet with 5 extra flints and a small brass knapper, and that was good enough for a full day shooting while using the "Black English Flint" as it was known back then.
During that time frame I feel that if I got 25 or 30 shots, and I knapped a little bit with the Flint in the lock, I was good for several more days of shooting..
Some very lite judicious tapping / knapping on that Flint can extend the life of the Flint until there's just enough left for the Jaw of the Lock to hold on to....I've done it myself, but I have no clue how many shots I would get from such a flint....I never started counting until I started hearing stories back in the 1970's of how many shots some fellas can get. I just don't think I ever got that many. Sooo, 30 maybe 40 is still what I hope for.
Respectfully, Russ...