Flint treatment

[Glenn Hurley Jr.]

When shooting a long string with your flintlock, for example, on a woodswalk, how to you treat your flint to keep it from acquiring a " greasy " coating from the previous shots?  I use 4 F in the pan and invariably after 15 shots or so my flint becomes covered in the nasty residue that covers the barrel around the touchhole and  on the lock.  Then I get a shot or two where I don't get ignition, at which point I knap my flint and the gun goes off.  I would like to get to the point where ignition occurs every time I pull the trigger.  Am I missing something in the maintenance of the flint?  Should it be wiped clean?  An inquiring mind wants to know!
Thanks in advance.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

If your lock has a good and powerful mainspring, your flint is sharp without a little round knob that prevents the sharp part from engaging, and your prime is dry, you should never have to touch your frizzen or flint edge.  But, perhaps it's out of fear of a misfire or just a head thingy, I sometimes find myself wiping the frizzen off with my thumb, and checking the edge of the flint for that little roller bearing knob.  Often when you get a misfire, it's because of that one little spot on  the flint that protrudes past the sharp edge, and not necessarily a dull flint.  Just remove the spot that is interfering with contact and you'll get instant ignition.

[SCLoyalist]

On a woodswalk, there's nothing wrong with having a piece of ticking or linen handy and every few shots wiping residue or humidity out of the pan, wiping off the face of the frizzen, and giving the flint's edge a swipe.   Give the flint a tug and see if there's any sign that the flint has come loose in the jaws, and maybe run a pick into the touchhole.   And, if you ever think you had a slowfire, check the flint's edge and tightness in the jaws to head off a slow-er fire or a misfire on the next shot.

[Long Ears]

Welcome to shooting a Flintlock! If it weren't for the fowling and the occasional missfire we wouldn't have  centerfire cartridge rifles today. Like Taylor says with a strong mainspring and a well tuned lock I rarely have an ignition issue. I have gone over 40 rounds with the same flint and no cleaning or knapping. That doesn't happen all of the time however. I think that's what keeps it fun. Bob

[Glenn Hurley Jr.]

D.T.,
Funny you should mention about a "heady" thing!  I was shooting a pretty good score the other day, had a couple of no sparks, knapped the flint and continued to shoot.  But the damage was done.  My head was affected.   I was just waiting for a no fire and I think it affected my shooting of the last half of the walk- hence the reason for the question.  I don't want to repeat that second half!

[rollingblock]

careful wiping that flint off with your thumb if flints sharp it might make for a nasty cut

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Oh yeah!!

[Scout]

I wipe my pan and the flint edge when it gets too fouled as theres lots of humidity here in North Florida .
Where could I find info on knapping a flint while on the rifle? What exactly do I need? I'm interested as I have always just replaced a flint when it became too unreliable. Got a small bag of em.
I may do my first woods walk at the Alafia Rendezvous in January so I don't want to look too much like a greenhorn if I have a problem.
I looked in the tutorial section and saw a link to a YouTube video, problem is I only have dialup connection out here in the sticks.

[SCLoyalist]

Where could I find info on knapping a flint while on the rifle? What exactly do I need? I'm interested as I have always just replaced a flint when it became too unreliable. Got a small bag of em.

A  knapping hammer is about all you need.  I hold the rifle so I can put a finger under the edge of the flint and then tap the edge fairly gently with the knapping hammer until I see a little flint dust or a flake or two come off.  (And, if you're doing flint maintenance with a load down the barrel,you should blow the priming powder out of the pan.)  Hammers come forged like this one:  often with a screwdriver blade at the end of the handle, or they come as a little piece of pointed brass on the end of a steel handle.  

[Canute Rex]

I carry a piece of 1/2" brass rod, about 1 1/2" long, with a hole drilled across the middle. I threaded a loop of leather thong through it. I can scoop it out of my bag and the thong loops over one of my fingers so if I fumble it I don't lose it. Same technique as SCLoyalist.

Sure, wipe the flint, frizzen, and pan. Only takes a second.

Constant minor maintenance reduces intermittent bursts of profanity.

[Scout]

 

SCLoyalist, thanks for the knapping tip.

I saw the brass head type on the TOW website. Where can I get the one in the pic you posted? That looks very well made.

[Standing Bear]

I wipe the frizzen every shot and usually the flint - not more than 2 or 3 shots without wiping the flint.  Wipe from jaw screw forward with thumb and fore finger  When humidity is really up I stick a strip of patching in the corner of my pocket to dry the pan and wipe with.

Knapping whetehr loaded or unloaded is with a small brass hammer I got from Brownells 30+ years ago.  Can be done with a closed pocket knife.  Stick the end of the knife over the flint edge and twist same as Rex.

[SCLoyalist]

Scout, I sent you a PM with some info on who made that hammer.  SCL

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

For info on using a knapping hammer check out this thread.

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=15916.0

[hanshi]

Me, too.  I just wipe the flint edge periodically with my thumb and that's all that is ever required.

[trentOH]

Boiling gunflints in a mixture of Rue and Vervain was long considered beneficial to accuracy. Perhaps it would help your quest for long strings of consistant ignition.........

[Frizzen]

I soak mine all winter in used motor oil.  It has to be used. Use the oil that you drain out of
your car when you change oil.

[TMerkley]

I have never heard of treating flints, what is it supposed to do?  Kind of new to this area.

[arcticap]

Here's an interesting thread about soaking flints that will surely entertain if you read it all the way to the end. That's why I remember it.  

Soaking flints

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=10864.0

[Bob Roller]

Flints need no soaking in anything.Years ago in the old Buckskin Report
there was an article about this and it proved to be BS of the first magnitude
and I think I made some comments about it then.

Bob Roller

[Chris Treichel]

Flint is a type of volcanic glass... so its not porous for kerosene.... Its like saying why when you pour kerosene into a glass it doesn't leak through. Actually it would make the flint slick and shoot worse... which happens if you are a bit over eager with the oiler before shooting. 

A problem reenactors now have is the required flash guard... it causes the blast from the touch hole to ricochet and gets powder residue all over everything with only a few shots... personnaly I either use the bottom of my hunting shirt or a rag tied to the buckle on my pouch to wipe off the flint when it gets fouled.

[Frizzen]

You are correct Bob, I wanted to see if people would still buy it.

[Hungry Horse]

 I use a mild steel drift as mentioned by others on this thread. It is nothing more than an 3/16th inch MILD! steel rod, with a small step turned in it about an 1/8th of an inch from one end. It allows you to nibble very small chips of flint off the working edge to restore the sharpness. I drive it with a knapping hammer with a head  made from a piece of 1/4" square stock with a flat face, and a wedged face, with a bolt, with its head removed for a handle, hammered square of course.
 The cost of good flints today makes more meticulous, and careful knapping much more cost effective.
 I have owned several brass hammers, and have found that using them on large musket flints, turns them into an unmanageable blob in short order.

                   Hungry Horse

 

[duca]

For info on using a knapping hammer check out this thread.

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=15916.0

Hi all, Taylor im going to make one of those flint hammers and just wanted to know what was the smallest it could be in length? I have 1/2 inch copper stock pipe. right now its 2 1/2 inches. I think its a little to long....thanks..

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

One half inch copper bar is great, but you can do with something around 5/16" - 3/8" too.  It only needs to be about 1 3/4" long so that it provides enough torque to work as a screw driver.  I file one end to a vertical chisel edge - in line with the blade - so that only a small part of the copper impacts the flint.  Just a gentle tap does the job, and a long flake comes off the bottom of the flint.