Cam - watch the videos again, along with reading the comments on timing - it should be obvious that for us, 4F GOEX is best. Yes- it sucks not being able to get null B or 7F or evern Swiss 4F which is a bit faster than GOEX 4F IIRC. The fastest prime will deliver the best accuracy due to reducing lock time. You may not know it, as many have stated they cannot tell the difference between 2f and 4F - while I don't understand that, I'll take their word for it, but know that the ball and sight/gun alignment knows the difference.
Hi Daryl,
I've been thinking this all over, and I thought come at this from the lab standpoint (that's using the word "lab" loosely.) While timing locks, priming powder, etc these many years, I have a couple if ideas about the ability to detect differences in flint ignition speeds.
For the first 15 years or so, firing a flintlock during trials meant pressing the spacebar on my computer. In the last 10 years or so the ignition has been by pressing a button. In both cases there is no intimate contact with the lock. In these trials it is nearly impossible to detect differences. Times must be 20% different to guess well. ( I have had other shooters with me at times trying to predict fast or slow trials with the same result.) I attribute this to having the lock separated from me by the electronics and other mechanical parts.
This leads me to an unproven generalization: The more intimate the connection between lock and shooter, the more likely the shooter can predict a difference in times. I find that I am better predicting times with a single unset trigger than I can with a double set trigger. My most recent flintlock with a single trigger came from Jim Chambers. It is the lightest and best unset trigger I have ever used - no creep, breaks like a S&W. I'd guess that differences in ignition can be better felt with this type of setup than with a DS trigger.
I still maintain that human senses are terrible tools to measure these small differences. In discussing the difference between ffg and ffffg, I recorded wider variations in 2fg than with 4fg or 3fg. I must be remembered that my results were the averages of 20 trials, with wide variations within those trials. Throw in the variables connected to flint edges, vents, etc and it becomes a quagmire.
One last thing: In my results, time ends with pan ignition. On a gun we're judging ignition from pan to barrel ignition. The vent plays an even bigger role in barrel ignition, and adds the biggest monster variable of all - save perhaps flint edge. Because of this, I feel we likely blame flintlocks for slow times that were caused by fouled vents.
It's my belief that the shooter who knows his lock and maintains it expertly is the guy with the best performing gun. To paraphrase the old golfer, "The better I care for my lock and vent, the higher my scores become."
Regards,
Pletch
