Percussion to flint

[mbokie5]

What obstacles would there be in changing a percussion pistol to a flintlock?

I found a Spanish pistol, rifled, in .45 cal for $100. Looks clean, feels pretty tight and well assembled. 

Is it possible to convert this pistol?

[blunderbuss]

Probally be easier to buy a flintlock pistol and keep that one original

[mbokie5]

I was afraid of that.

[Trkdriver99]

I had one of those converted to flint and the man who did it had a lock that fit right in and swaped for $25 bucks. Good deal I thought. I later sold it and made $150 on my investment.

Ronnie

[mbokie5]

I had one of those converted to flint and the man who did it had a lock that fit right in and swaped for $25 bucks. Good deal I thought. I later sold it and made $150 on my investment.

Ronnie

Interesting.

Would you remember the make of the lock?

[Trkdriver99]

I believe it was a Junkar, on of the Spainish made cheepie things.  I don't remember the replacement lock, but it was an old one he had in a box.

Ronnie

[Trkdriver99]

It had a patten breech and he just sawed the nipple off and put in a liner.

Ronnie

[mbokie5]

It had a patten breech and he just sawed the nipple off and put in a liner.

Ronnie

Doesn't sound that difficult.

[T*O*F]

It had a patten breech and he just sawed the nipple off and put in a liner.

If it had a patent breech, the nipple screwed into the snail and could be removed with a nipple wrench.  But the nipple hole would be 45 degrees to the barrel.  Most likely it had a recessed breech with a drum screwed into the side.  Then you would unscrew the drum, not hacksaw it off.

Then you would find that the hole has 10mm threads, so you would have to make your own liner and unless you have a lathe you couldn't turn a shoulder on the liner to keep it in place.  Also, the liner length would have to be precise, otherwise it will protrude into the flash channel and cause a fouling trap.  To do that properly, the breechplug needs to be removed and you won't accomplish that without twisting the tang off the breech.....cause they don't come out.

This conversion is a fool's folly and best left alone.  If you want a flint pistol, buy one.  It'll be cheaper in the long run and you won't end up with a pile of screwed up parts which you'll have to sell on ebay anyway.

[mbokie5]

Yeah, it's sounding like it's going to be too much trouble.

When I get my flints built, I'll look into a pistol then.

Thanks guys!

[Daryl]

There's more to it, than meets the eye.  The individual steps take time and time is money. I do not believe the pistol is worth the time or money, but that is a personal opinion, only.

[doug]

     I think there is a flaw in the system that no one has mentioned so far.  A lot of the spanish rifles and presumably pistols had a drum which screwed almost completely through both sides of the barrel rather than just through one side to the bore.  That meant that the flash from a cap had to turn 2 nineties to get the to main charge and the hole facing forward into the bore was fairly small.  The guns of that type that I have seen shot, tended to foul up and misfire fairly quickly.
     The flintlocks made on the same design used the percussion barrel with a vent liner that again screwed all the way through and ignition was very uncertain.  Bottom line is basically the same as Old Fox said; buy a flint pistol already made and I will add buy a good one.  Cheap flint locks aren't worth $#@*

cheers Doug