First time out today

Shot the Renegade for the first time today with mixed results. Most of the flinching was involentary caused only by the shooter the flash/delay were not bad but I just couldn't help myself. The fact that I haven't been able to shoot since November did not help at all. The T/C flint I bought for the rifle seems to short as well. It actually got loose and fell off on me.(not enough flint to be gripped by the hammer and still be close to the frizzen)

Needless to say I shot horrably and only hit the target twice when I forgot I was shooting a flintlock so I didn't flinch, lol.

Goex FFF worked much better than FF as far as the ignition goes.

Here is a pic of my flint set up I also tried turning it upside down. I moved it closer to the frizzen than is shown here and you end up with very little rock sitting in the jaws.



Any thoughts? I know I am just rambling on.

I gave up on sawn agates long ago. I used them for a few range sessions, figured they were rather high-tech and therefore had to be beneficial. They weren't, cost more per stone, and just weren't any better than flints.

Perhaps more noticable is that your flint leather is really thick. I suspect that when the flint impacts the frizzen the blow is cushioned. This can't be doing any good for your lock speed.

When you wear shooting glasses, there is no reason to worry about the flash of the pan, and therefore no reason to flinch. DON'T practice flinching, practice not flinching.

First thing I notice is that you are using one of those cut flints. You notice in the picture that it appears that the bevel on the rear of the flint is causing it to pivot upwards...this makes it loosen up in the jaws as there is no support.
Try a natural knapped flint of proper width and length. I think you will have better luck.

Pitts, FWIW, 3/4" black English flints have proven to be head & shoulders above all the rest as the best flints in my TC locks...I never had any acceptable success with any kind of sawed flint, agate, etc in them...plus, you're using the old style unreliable lock.

I agree with both of you and thanks for the posts. The thing I find troubling is that the flints are made by T/C for their rifles so I thought they should fit fine. I will probably have a tough time finding other types of flint around here and I also have never seen anyone knap a flint. Bear with me lol, I'll get this a working.

At the end of the range session(second time flint fell out) I grabbed my Crockett from my son and took three quick shots off hand to make sure I did infact still know how to shoot. got a nice 3" group at the 60yds we were set up at.

Roundball that is good to know I guess seeing as though the three rocks from T/C set me back $10 and the English flints on line are pretty cheap.

Any place on the web to watch someone knapp their flints?

You can order Black English flints from Ocrtober Country or Track Of The Wolf for about $1.30 ea. The 3/4" should work best in your T/C. You might want to send the lock to T/C for the upgrade to the new more reliable lock too.

Roundball who was the contact at T/C who you said in the past was real good with flintlocks? The guy I talked to on friday said there were no problems with the old lock set up.

You could notch the leather and the flint would set back,as for as the thicknes of the leather i have better luck with thick leather than skinny stuff. I would try to get the right size real flints :v

If them are the preumin TC flints they will spark,much better than the gray ones.They might not be as good as the black english and are over priced but at least you got some hammer time :haha: Try wrapping the flint in lead.Flaten out a ball thin,about 1/3 as thick as the leather your usin and cut to size.Make sure it aint hiten no wears and you will be pleasantly surprised.
Here is a link to a nice feller who gives good solid infermation.Will make your flinter as fast as you could ever hope possible :thumbsup: [url] http://www.chuckhawks.com/flintlocks.htm[/url]

Pittsburghunter said:

Roundball who was the contact at T/C who you said in the past was real good with flintlocks? The guy I talked to on friday said there were no problems with the old lock set up.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately there are a couple of people at TC who have a bit of an attitude problem...so the strategy I've learned to use successfully, and that others on this Forum have followed and have been successful is as follows:

1) Do not call and talk to them ahead of time anymore;
2) Pack up your item (ield style lock) and send it Priority Mail-Delivery Confirmation directly to TC's Service Manager Tim Pancurak;
3) Include a nice memo about TC's products, but that the lock on your flintlock is simply not reliable enough to be accurate for target shooting, and certainly not reliable enough for serious hunting, etc...ask him if he'd personally look it over and get it fixed so it's 100% reliable, so you can count on it, etc...make sure the central theme of the memo comes out loud and clear the lock is not reliable, not dependable, etc.

In every case, I/We have either gotten the lock back with the redesigned parts on it (no charge) and in some cases, have received complete new lock assemblies, depending on how old the one is that was sent in...ie: they may have made so many improvements since it's particular age, it's cheaper for them to just grab a new lock off the shelf and mail it right back to you.

I quit dealing with TC's clerks years ago...I only deal with the Service Manager, and I never call / warn them ahead of time...I figure if they receive / open a box with a TC part in it and have it in their hand, then they're on the spot with having to send SOMETHING back to me, so there's a far greater chance they'll do it right the first time...but if you call and ask first, then they can say no, talk you out of it, and then what are you going to do?

Never been disappointed with my approach yet and is the reason I'm explaining it...make your own decision of course.
:winking:

Here's an excellent set of Flintlock information sites:
[url] http://blackpowderhunting.org/flint1.htm[/url] - top
[url] http://www.hunting101.com/gunsandbows/muzzle/the[/url] complete hunter muzzleloading001.htm
[url] http://members.aye.net/~bspen/flintlockfaq.html[/url]
[url] http://members.aol.com/illinewek/faqs.htm[/url]

Enjoy!

"Try wrapping the flint in lead."

Many muzzleloading firearms manuals warn about the additional stress that lead jaw pads place on investment cast parts. Leather is much ligher and reduces your lock time.

In all fairness I must add that ignition in the pan was not a problem for me today. That happened only once, my first shot. I pricked the t-hole put fresh powder in the pan and boom.

The flints being loose and my own pathetic efforts were the main cause of a bad range session. I had two pan flashes without ignition when I used the FF powder none after switching to FFF.

The gun fired with lock speed very close to percussion I just failed to my job as a shooter for the most part. 1000's of rounds I have shot with muzzleloaders and I still wasn't up for the job.

Yes you can say that the flashes in the pan and a failed flash may have made me flinch but that really is no excuse.

Try a thinner flint leather. Too "cushy" means the flint can move around and it cushions the blow (less sparks).

You need to read the whole artical.The part about springs could have much to do with the stress you refer to :hmm: They say you cant teach an old dog new tricks,or was it you can lead a horse to water but a pencil must be lead. :grin:
Really the only bad thing i have heard is that a lead wrap could possible bend a hammmer over time.I would think that a very stiff main spring and or frizzen spring would be something to look at more than a thin lead wrap around a flint if problems are coming from stress.
I could be wrong,have before but thats my story and im sticken too it :haha:

Must be something wrong with me, but I can honestly say I've never noticed the primer flash..I don't even see the flash or smoke from primer. I barely hear a poof noise and that's it. Flinching is not a problem with me..what I will do is start a move to look down range when my flint gets dull and the lock time begins to slow down. I catch myself starting to look and don't, but it results in a bad follow through. So a good sharp flint is number one with me.
Sounds like you may be thinking about the flash too much and anticipating it.

Pittsburghunter:
I would follow roundballs advise and also get one of the new vents installed. That is upto date lock, right size flints, and best vent on the market. Problems solved.
As for flinching forget it's a flint lock and concentrate on your sights and target. You will not see the flash if your watching your sights.
Fox :thumbsup:

Actually, swampman, you are again wrong. Lead is not going to break a cock, unless it is already flawed, and it does not slow down locktime. The added weight does slow the beginning of the movement of the cock, but once the cock turns over the top of the arch, it speeds up, negating any delay at the start. The best part of using lead is that the added weight helps to drive the flint into the hard frizzen, and cut out bits of steel during the stroke. If the angle of the flint to the face of the frizzen is 55-60degrees, the flint will self-knapp, and throw the sparks into the pan. The sparks will be hotter, because of the violence that extra weight gives to removing the steel from the frizzen, and the sparks will dance in the pan, rather than hit once and die on the bounce up. More sparks, hotter sparks, and a flint edge that does not collect steel and become dull. The extra weight you seem to worry about amounts to a very few extra Grains of weight. I use a .50 cal ball, and flatten it. It starts out weighing I believe, 170 grain. I cut away at least half of it to fit the width and length desired, and probably more than that. I have never weighed my flint wrap either before or after use. But it doesn't weigh much. That thick, Tanned leather wrap this young man is using is acting as a Shock Absorber, and he will never be able to grip a flint properly using that thick a piece of leather. Now, I have seen Besses using such thick wraps, but that is because the mainspring on those gun will shatter large flints on the first blow without using that shock absorber. Why the owners don't take those locks to someone who knows what they are doing and reduce the tension of the springs is beyond me. Its not that hard to do.

Went out again today and the results were a little better but I still have work to do. I used the second of two English flints I had for work today and managed to chew through it pretty good. I was not helped by the fact that I forgot to bring bore cleaner or alchohol with me so I ended up using spit to clean out the bore before shooting and my between shots.

The rifle was less reliable than the first time I went out but my flinching and such went away from the last time. so I ended up with a three inch group at 50yds which ain't bad considering the cold and wind I was shooting in. I think I need one of them super liners you folks were talking about because I had four good pan flashs that did not ignight the main charge. I may look into the updated lock as well.

If your going to get new vent linners anyway you can always do a little experyment with the one you have.On my shennadoa i drilled the vent hole out a couple of times with small bits and used a larger bit to cone the vent on the out side.It always goes boom.Goes boom a little faster after learning a few other tricks also.I still aint a great shot with a flintlock yet and im just dying to go shoot if i ever get a decent weekend again weather wise.