Why I Like the Flint Lock and Tips On It
I'll start by saying I will ONLY shoot copper, brass, or wood (yes, wood) from a flint. I would not want lead in the environment or the food I will eat. That was one reason I shoot flint. The second is that there is no primer made of lead or any other primer. I find the activation mechanism raw, organic, and primitive—a stone on steel to make a spark to light the volatile contents of a pan. No cartridges or scopes—just a tube, a stock, some sights, and the lock mechanism.
The powder is potassium nitrate, sulfur, and carbon.
With a flintlock, you need black powder—substitutes will not work; these are fine in percussion or cartridges, but the flintlock needs real BP as it is able to ignite on an iron spark to a small spark; the latter needs a fire flash, like a smokeless case primer. A hard cast from a ferro will light a substitute, but not a flint.
If all you have are subs, try fold the pan charge with char cloth. Hell of a hangfire, and I'm not sure it will pass the flash hole, but the pan will light.
If you make your own BP, you can avoid lead media in milling with brass or copper. Lead media used in commercial BP can get into the BP and thus into the environment when shot.
To carry a rifle is a pain if you aren't used to it; even if you are, you should be carrying a pack, and it may help you to see how I carry my flinter using the straps of my pack to hold the weight. With this hold, I am still able to access the rifle quickly for use.
Basic napping skill is a must. Buy some chert and nap your own flint.
My first flintlock, a relatively low-cost, factory import, was not reliable out of the box, but I've learned a lot from it—an experience lost maybe to people with high-end guns from the start. You want to make sure the touch hole is in the right spot, as mine was not, just at the pan lip line. If it's not, grind down the pan base so the touch hole is moved higher than the basin; this will ensure fewer flashes in the pan, as the pan charge will want to go upward.
Whether it's a knife or flintlock, don't be afraid to grind it, work it, or modify it to suit your preference. Just give it thought before you make changes.
To spit a dry ball, simply feed some powder through the flash hole and fire into material that can stop a spitball.
Make sure your touch hole is clean before a shot. Tap the gun to make sure the charge is to the inside of the touch hole. Traditions flint locks have a strange breach plug touch hole arangment which make is easy to gunk up the area beside the touch hole, a smaller diamiter than the dore where most of the charge and ball sit, and will not easliy be cleaned when you bore clean the barrel. You will often need to tap this chamber out by tapping the front pf the gun downward and using a fine tool on the end of your bpre cleaning rod.
If you are filling your touch hole before a shot, something is wrong. Your main charge is not reaching the hole on the inner barrel; the above discussion may resolve this.
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