Flint napping D'OH!

[Buckscoshooter]

O.K., we all know how to get thru this but sometimes ya gotta put your head on backwards so 's to see the problem better. Been hunting alot this year and although I have not downed that big buck yet....notice I said yet. After a day in the woods I always check my primer and flint with a few full pan strikes. Espically this is a must for me when the weather is unruley to say the least. My point being sometimes it is just as easy to pull the flint and nap from the back,,,,,more so just break off about 1mm-2-- and for some reason the striking sweet spot is just enough different that you DON"T have to napp the strike edge.  Has anyone slse done this little trick or is this just a stupid lucky ritual that only works for me?  Welcomed Thoughts Please.

[Standing Bear]

?

How or why do you knapp the flint if not on the edge striking the frizzen?  If I'm knapping, it is to sharpen the flint on it's striking edge.
TC

[Scott Semmel]

I think you may be alone in this one. I don't get checking spark at the end of every day either, If your flint was sharp in the morning and you didn't shoot it I don't know of a weather condition that would dull it. That said, if it makes you feel more confident in your gun, do what makes you confident.
I load my gun on the first day of the season and, unless it gets wet, it stays loaded untill the end of the season or untill I shoot it. I don't take it from cold to warm, I check pan powder with some frequency and empty the pan when required by law or good sense.  I do choose what I think to be a very good and sharp flint when hunting, at the range I am not as careful in picking and sharpening flints, the occassional no spark lets me know the severity of my flinchitis.
This year several days into the season I got perfect ignition and harvested a smallish doe with a sixty yard shot.

[Daryl]

O.K., we all know how to get thru this but sometimes ya gotta put your head on backwards so 's to see the problem better. Been hunting alot this year and although I have not downed that big buck yet....notice I said yet. After a day in the woods I always check my primer and flint with a few full pan strikes. Espically this is a must for me when the weather is unruley to say the least. My point being sometimes it is just as easy to pull the flint and nap from the back,,,,,more so just break off about 1mm-2-- and for some reason the striking sweet spot is just enough different that you DON"T have to napp the strike edge.  Has anyone slse done this little trick or is this just a stupid lucky ritual that only works for me?  Welcomed Thoughts Please.

I take it this means after the day's hunt, you fire the gun off and then dry fire it a couple more times?  I don't understand the reasoning for this as if my .69 is loaded for hunting, it stays that way all season or until it's fired at an animal.  A solid dunking would result in firing it off, then normal cleaning and re-loading, ready for hunting again.   A gun that is charged with powder and ball or shot but not primed nor capped is deamed to be unloaded as far as carrying it in a vehicle is concerned.  Here, it is illegal to have a loaded firearm in a vehicle here, nor can there be amo in an attached magazine.  Without the primer, cap or loose powder in a pan, it is deemed to be inert, just as cartridge case without the pimer would be a dud.

Check your laws before carrying a loaded but unprimed firearm in a vehicle. Some States allow shooting from a vehicle, some don't. I suspect all States with 'carry laws' allow having loaded firearms in a vehicle.

[omark]

daryl, in colorado, a long gun has to be empty in the barrel, unprimed, or uncapped. pistols may be carried with one in the chamber. just fyi      mark

[Daryl]

 Interesting that pistols could be loaded while muzzleloaders can't.

 Here, no modern firearm can have a loaded magazine installed, and of course, nothing in the chamber.  Here, if a cap and ball revolver or muzzleloading pistol is in the vehicle, it had better be encased, locked, unloaded, no powder, no balls, no prime. Some might go so far as to state it also must have a trigger lock on it.

 At one time here, it was legal according to the BC game laws to have a charge and ball or bullet loaded as long as the gun was unprimed, however the Federal law stated that that was a loaded gun and illegal. It took a couple years (of coure cases) to straighten that out to being unloaded by both governing laws.

[Buckscoshooter]

O.K., weather I use co2 or use a pig tail jag to take my ball and charge out I still like to drop the hammer to the frisson and blow out any powder left in the barrel. (This is Just me) I do not like to operate a vheicle with a black powder charge in the can. And, I just like to know everything is working well. I do -alot- of Muzzy hunting so these are just little tics that keep ME honest.

[hanshi]

I leave mine loaded but unprimed if they haven't been fired.  I've found if I'm in a hurry I can get a few more shots from a balky flint by just scraping the edge with a knife or something similar, again, unprimed.

[omark]

Interesting that pistols could be loaded while muzzleloaders can't.

 Here, no modern firearm can have a loaded magazine installed, and of course, nothing in the chamber.  Here, if a cap and ball revolver or muzzleloading pistol is in the vehicle, it had better be encased, locked, unloaded, no powder, no balls, no prime. Some might go so far as to state it also must have a trigger lock on it.

 At one time here, it was legal according to the BC game laws to have a charge and ball or bullet loaded as long as the gun was unprimed, however the Federal law stated that that was a loaded gun and illegal. It took a couple years (of coure cases) to straighten that out to being unloaded by both governing laws.

daryl, i meant a muzzleloader can have a charge loaded, but was considered unloaded if unprimed/uncapped. sorry.  mark

[Simon]

O.K., we all know how to get thru this but sometimes ya gotta put your head on backwards so 's to see the problem better. Been hunting alot this year and although I have not downed that big buck yet....notice I said yet. After a day in the woods I always check my primer and flint with a few full pan strikes. Espically this is a must for me when the weather is unruley to say the least. My point being sometimes it is just as easy to pull the flint and nap from the back,,,,,more so just break off about 1mm-2-- and for some reason the striking sweet spot is just enough different that you DON"T have to napp the strike edge.  Has anyone slse done this little trick or is this just a stupid lucky ritual that only works for me?  Welcomed Thoughts Please.

I have been napping the back on some 3/4 long flints for use in a small Siler lock (needs 5/8), but I don,t  know that this has anything to do with them being sharper.  I have have some that were 3/4 but have gotten to short for use in a Chambers late Ketland.  They are pretty thick on the edge, so maybe I should see how they spark in the small Siler.  I thought they were causing slower ignition because they are short.  If they work in the small Siler that will be interesting.

[roundball]

Getting ready for hunting season I install a new black english flint in the ML I'm going to be using, then lightly 'peck-peck-peck' the edge with a brass rod to get a good razor sharp serrated edge on it, and go hunting.
I don't dry fire or ever fool with them again unless/until after I've taken a shot.

[frogwalking]

I have pulled a flint out of the bag that had a great sharp and clean front edge, but was just a tad too long.  I solved this problem by chipping a little off the back, especially in the center where the clamping screw is.  I think this may be what he means.  Anyway, it works for me.  I do also sharpen the business end when required.  As someone mentioned, it only takes a minute. 

[Buckscoshooter]

Thank You Frogwalking!!!!!!!!

[Roger Fisher]

I have pulled a flint out of the bag that had a great sharp and clean front edge, but was just a tad too long.  I solved this problem by chipping a little off the back, especially in the center where the clamping screw is.  I think this may be what he means.  Anyway, it works for me.  I do also sharpen the business end when required.  As someone mentioned, it only takes a minute. 

This is a 'given' that some folks just don't think about.  Rather than nutz around trying to knap a bit out of the center rear of the flint.  A hunter that thinks he wants to lower the strike on the frizzen to a more virgin spot could carry an extra leather with a hole already cut/punched in the center so the flint would rest back a tad farther in the jaws and then, of course, strike the frizzen a frog hair (or more) lower..... Easier to do.

[LURCHWV@BJS]

As most know I am on my first Rock Lock.  I love rading posts of this nature.  Seems At this present time I am the only one in my imediate area that use's a RL.  Inlines are EXTRERELY common.  My learning is what I find out perdominately on my own.  I went hunting Every day during Buck and Doe season with my RL.  Some days were VERY Trying for me.  Lot's of trial and error.  I unloaded everyday.  For the simple fact one when fiddling with an oversized flint, an uncharged pan, using a brass rod to knock the eccess flint off.( the flint would keep the frizzen pushed forward just enough to allow any moisture or even wind effect my priming charge)   After chipping I checked the distance of the flint and frizzen.  I flipped the frizzen back to it's firing position. one small thin piece of flint still held the frizzen just far enough forward that a spark from the contact dropped directly into the main charge thru the touchhole liner.   Thank GOD I was sitting in the woods and not in my dad's shop when this happened.

  I have heard several times a flintlock will fire without a charged pan.  With that being said, It makes perfect sense to unload it each day.   I have found out recently that no matter how in control you may think you are the are uncontrollable variables that can change our idea of control.


  Just my two cents
    Rich

[Daryl]

If you have the vent plugged with a round-pick (toothpick), or a feather, so some other compressible - elastic-type item,  the rifle cannot discharge.

Check the laws in your area. If you are not allowed to have powder and ball in the barrel, in a vehicle, then don't.

[hlary]

IS THIS CALLED THREAD HI-JACK? WEREN'T WE SUPPOSED TO BE NAPPING THE WRONG SIDE OF THE FLINT? HOW AM I EVER GONNA LEARN ANYTHING?

[LURCHWV@BJS]

hlary is right,  I apologize.  I'm still learnig also.  Daryl, I never thought about a toothpick or feather,  A very good idea.


      Rich

   P.S.  hlary Welcome to the forum.

[Daryl]

hlary - if the flint is too long, by all means, knapp or grind the back to allow proper length. Careful with using a bench grinder as the flint will crack if you get them too hot.  Much of this we tend to take for granted - sorry.

Some guys want the flint to be up, almost touching the frizzen at 1/2 cock.  It certainly should NOT be lifting the frizzen off the pan. That is too long - correct that as described, by napping or grinding. Some locks have the cock sitting well back from the frizzen at 1/2 bent- ie: chambers Silers.  Ask the lock maker what size to use and measure what you buy.