Powder falling out

I have a .50 cal rifle that is close to my heart but upon walking around my family’s farm a bunch I discovered that sometimes I would go to shoot and all I would get was a “click”. The reason being the powder seemingly fell out of the pan through the crack where the frizzen meets it. This never happened before but all of my shooting was bench shooting so I wasnt swinging the rifle around like I was while hiking accross the farm. Any tips? this is the kind of stuff that could seriously ruin a hunt. I dont understand how this is happening because it doesnt look like there is any space there to allow the powder to trickle out. Thanks!

I have thought about going up to 2f hoping the larger grain size would correct the problem but I dont really want to because I just got this rifle shooting great with my current setup using 3f.

I'd put some powder in the pan and shake it around over a piece of paper and make sure you didn't just tap your frizzen while you were walking around. Typically you can hold your lock up to a light and see any problem areas. Poor frizzen fit isn't uncommon, even on solid middle of the road locks.

Magungo1066 said:

I have a .50 cal rifle that is close to my heart but upon walking around my family’s farm a bunch I discovered that sometimes I would go to shoot and all I would get was a “click”. The reason being the powder seemingly fell out of the pan through the crack where the frizzen meets it. This never happened before but all of my shooting was bench shooting so I wasnt swinging the rifle around like I was while hiking accross the farm. Any tips? this is the kind of stuff that could seriously ruin a hunt. I dont understand how this is happening because it doesnt look like there is any space there to allow the powder to trickle out. Thanks!

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If it is not obvious where powder is leaking, check the frizzen spring to make sure the frizzen is in fact staying completely shut. That could be one issue. With the gun unloaded take some baking powder and use that to prime the pan. Shake the rifle and you will see white results were the issue is. Some locks do not hug the barrel properly and prime can leak into the stock behind the lock. That can be a dangerous issue, so don't forget to check there.
Good Luck.
Flintlocklar

Magungo1066 said:

I have thought about going up to 2f hoping the larger grain size would correct the problem but I dont really want to because I just got this rifle shooting great with my current setup using 3f.

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Any granulation should work without it leaking. You do not need to compromise, try to get it corrected.
Flintlocklar

take the flintlock off look at it with the frizzen closed and no powder in it, hold it up to the light and see if you can see daylight. if so the frizzen and pan aren't mating together. i had this problem "not bad" on one of mine. i took a stone and lightly trued the two up to mate to each other. but others may say something different ,,,,,,,,,,,,

Double check to make sure you are not loosing your powder between the barrel and the lock or barrel and the frizzens pan cover. Also, if there is a slotted flash liner that has the screwdriver slot in a vertical position allowing priming powder to drain into lock mortise. Seen them all over 45+ years of flintlock shooting.

If the shoulder to barrel joint is tight even if a liner screwdriver slot points down it still shouldn't drain into mortise unless it's a big honking vent liner diameter correct?

Is the frizzen binding against the barrel? It can occur if the lock bolts are too tight. If you have a touch hole liner, sometimes the frizzen will bind against the liner.

jonboyb said:

If the shoulder to barrel joint is tight even if a liner screwdriver slot points down it still shouldn't drain into mortise unless it's a big honking vent liner diameter correct?

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Normally, it wouldn’t but in the 70’s I had a CVA Mountain Rifle with a low positioned flash hole. Combined with the deep vertically cut screw slot the 4F powder would would find its way down past the rather narrow lock flat. I eventually corrected it with a new liner that positioned the slot horizontally.

I can see that....see alot of rifles with touch hole bottomed out in pan

Thanks for the tips fellas! Ill tinker with it using all this advice and see if it improves

One can have a problem that has nothing to do with the fixes above.
mid you prime and ‘walk around’ as you carry the gun you can hit the frizzen just enough for it to open just a tad. And powder can slip through.
a couple of powder grans can get caught between the frizzen and the pan and hold it open just enough to let powder out.
no matter how well you fit your frizzen won’t matter.
So I take a spot in the woods and sit under a tree. As time passes, I streach my legs, move my tail bone, shift my gun. And check the pan. It’s easy to have a spill from a branch or shooting strap or just clumsy movement. And the best fit won’t stop a grain tween pan and frizzen from upsetting the whole thing.

"Tenngun" that is right. also if you shoot it a good bit and not wiped it off it can get gummy stuff caught between the frizzen and lock and create a gap,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

It is possible to wipe a mix of bee's wax and olive oil around the edge of the pan. The wax will fill the gaps and seal the pan.

Be careful not to get any wax in the touch hole.

Been there, done that; but only one time previously. When checked it was clear the lock was drum tight all around. I finally determined the frizzen must have done as olskool described. Since then I check the prime more than once while on stand.

The frizzen is hardened . . . but the pan isn't. If you have that much of a gap you can put a strip of emery cloth grit down (or a fine cut file) and work it back and forth with pressure down from the frizzen to eliminate the gap.

When my lock is off my smoothrifle I can see light between the top of the pan and the frizzen of I hold it and look at it just right with a light behind it. I don't loose 3f priming powder out of it. Regardless of not loosing powder, when I hunt, I seal the pan right after I prime, using a bit of my beeswax/olive oil lube, the thicker/stiffer of the 2 blends that I make.

You can prime with 3F powder rather than 4F. (The British army used to prime the Brown Bess with 2F, after all...). The larger powder granules tend to stay where they belong. A further advantage to 3F is that it is more moisture resistant than 4F. Since you are aware of the disappearing act by the priming you can make it standard procedure to check the priming every so often and renew the supply in the pan as necessary.
Eric Bye

Magungo1066 said:

I have a .50 cal rifle that is close to my heart but upon walking around my family’s farm a bunch I discovered that sometimes I would go to shoot and all I would get was a “click”. The reason being the powder seemingly fell out of the pan through the crack where the frizzen meets it. This never happened before but all of my shooting was bench shooting so I wasnt swinging the rifle around like I was while hiking accross the farm. Any tips? this is the kind of stuff that could seriously ruin a hunt. I dont understand how this is happening because it doesnt look like there is any space there to allow the powder to trickle out. Thanks!

Click to expand...

The frizzen has to be moved back. Had it happen with a Davis early Jaeger lock. I tapped and inserted a screw in the frizzen hole then jigged it up and relocated the hole. I did it with the frizzen jigged up in the lock assy. The only problem I had I lost the frizzen screw threads. Had to go to a metric thread and make a new screw. Even the best name locks seem to have issues.