French Amber or English Black

[MuskratMike]

I have always shot French Amber flints as that is what I learned on. At a recent shoot I asked several people what they use and why. The answer seemed to be they bought what was available. I don't need any more as I must have at least 200 on hand in my shop.
My question is if you prefer one over the other why is it?

[rexwolfsen]

Hi: I like french, they seem to last longer

[Hawg]

My rifle came with French amber so that's what I stuck with. I've never used a black flint. I recently bought a dozen French amber flints and they sent me a black flint from France for free but I haven't tried it.

[wattlebuster]

both work great in my rifles. the french seem to fit better in my early ketland locks and the black in my round faced chambers an caywood locks. other than fit I cant tell any difference

[Keith Zimmerman]

They both perform the same for me in my guns.

[recurve]

The myth is that's there is a difference between english and french flints they are sio2 same and the same formation the color difference is other minerals near the flint during formation (black could be iron). All formed in chalk(young limestone) laid down in the age of the Dinos, a shallow warm sea  milons of small shell from micro animals  and some had silica based shells (the flint)
 the only  real difference is the french developed a better knapping  tech. producing a flatter and double edge flint( the english learned after capturing french knappers and importing them)

so any good glassy chert(all flint is chert but not all chert is flint) will work as a gun flint or arrow point
here in USA we have older limestone so everything here is Chert( I know we call it flint)
Georgetown chert

burlington chert white and an english black

USA chert





make image link to url html  it has more to do with how well your lock is tuned than the color of the flint/chert

[AZshot]

They may be the same chemically, but they can act differently due to formation variables. 

I agree with what most say, that the amber color ones seem more robust.  I can get 20-30 shots out of amber, only 15-20 out of black. 

[recurve]

yup the french knap them better , flatter easer to reknap and edge seems to self knap on the frizen (there are black french and blond english) same  white cliffs in france and england cut in half by a glacier 

ps every rock (flint knapped into a gun flint) is different you might get 100 from one rock then 30 from the next(some shatter)
 I had one guy tell me he got 173 strikes on one of my gun flints before he had to touch it( he stated he shot the nationals on the one rock) the exception
but had others last shorter , to thin may shatter

learn to pressure flake and whatever you use will last longer

[foresterdj]

I use both and both work for me, I just like the dark color of the English black better. That's just me.

At TOTW they limit the number you can order, so I order as many as I can of each when I do order. I just wish I could hand pick my own. I lately seem to get a lot that are, for lack of a better term, twisted. That is, between the thick end that gets clamped and the edge, the rock structure resulted in a turn of orientation when it was knapped. So they do not align well with frizzen face.

[Hawg]

They may be the same chemically, but they can act differently due to formation variables. 

I agree with what most say, that the amber color ones seem more robust.  I can get 20-30 shots out of amber, only 15-20 out of black.

I get 50-60 out of amber with my Kibler.

[recurve]

here is an ehglish flint  useully
one sharp edge  blunt on back (changed after Napolin  wars)



here are examples of french style flatter and double edged

the natives here would make four edge gun flints they knapped for a living

[Jerry]

Very informative thread. Now if only could find flints available? Jerry

[recurve]

come to the Kempton Gun makers fair end of July
bla
look for the popup by/across from the blacksmiths  you can watch me make them and get all you want from me(I  sell only to afford more rock to knap) or the indoor venders

https://www.gunmakersfair.com/
also Dixons just down the road

[Daryl]

Over all other flints, I preferred by quite a margin, Rich's river rocks. I still have a small "hoard" of them.
They are the toughest flints ever and also the hardest to nap, because of this, BUT they REALLY throw hot sparks.
Harder on the frizzen was a thought I had at one time, but then I DON'T CARE.

[recurve]

yup Rich doesn't do them any more he came by at Kempton and said hello last year

same kind of chert  I believe he told me he found his in his old area walking the streams(wish I had that kind locally)you're right they're hard to reknap
he said he found it easier to knap them from flakes instead of blades(my method)


don't worry Mr Chambers has more frizzens
these are flakes


these are blades

[rexwolfsen]

I am low on flints from Rich, so I save them for hunting as they are the best.

[Pukka Bundook]

Its odd that most folks seem to not get much life out of the Good black English flints.

In my Chambers round faced and early Ketland I get at least 40 shots and some of them are in there that long I  don't know how many shots.  Probably sixty or more and I don't fiddle about with them.
I haven't used enough amber to be able to compare,  but I am happy with the black as it's what I have.

FWIW,
I Like a single edge flint best, as it beds better in the jaws of the cock.

[smylee grouch]

TOTW is only 2 blocks out of the way when I go visit my youngest daughter so I usually stop. They have always let me pic through the flints when I'm there

[wmrike]

When you guys are talking about yea many shots, do you mean life-of-flint, or between touch-ups?

[smylee grouch]

I have gotten over 60 strikes out of English black in two different Chambers round face English , with 3-4 touch ups.

[Daryl]

Me too, SmyleeG. Next to Rich's flints, I prefer the black English flints.

[MuskratMike]

One of the reason I started this post is that I have noticed the flints I get (3/4 x 7/8) seem to be getting thinner than ones I would get 10 or 20 years ago for the same size. Not sure if this is how that batch came off the block or they allowing more "seconds" to pass through. I buy from a well known supplier that I like who I feel isn't passing off seconds, just selling what they get from their supplier. Anyone else noticing this?

[recurve]

just a side note if you're near the coast  northwest there is a lot of knappal jasper and other chert/flints right on the beaches

[Bassdog1]

Have been unable to find 3/4 x 7/8 flints for a while now. Kind of strange when I think about it. I am sitting on several thousands of #11 caps which have been hard to come by until recently and once I decided to get into Flint my supplies for them have dried up. Will be shooting the Seneca and Hawken a lot when weather turns I guess.

[Jerry]

I have gotten over 60 strikes out of English black in two different Chambers round face English , with 3-4 touch ups.

A good opportunity for another topic: how to touch up flints. Jerry