One lock or powder better than another?

I will definitely read that thread.

Rookie question to the thread in general:

how much does this factor come into play with one brand or another?

Is there any brand that is better or worse in this regard?

mbokie said:

I will definitely read that thread.

Rookie question to the thread in general:

how much does this factor come into play with one brand or another?

Is there any brand that is better or worse in this regard?

Click to expand...

I'm not sure if you mean lock brands of powder brands.
Pletch

I didn't even think about powder, so let's go with both.

This will get allot of people excited! My answer, which is short, is YES. But, saying that is like saying is a Chevy better than a Ford. You will always find someone that likes their equipment better, because it works well for them. You can't argue with success.

mbokie said:

I didn't even think about powder, so let's go with both.

Click to expand...

Boy is that a loaded question. And, as Dave says, you're going to get opinion.

Dealing with powders, I have Goex and Swiss. I have a long range bullet gun that likes Swiss, but my Lancaster flint likes it too. For most stuff either is fine. Some folks report one kind to be dirty, but I think that's a humidity issue and don't blame the powder.

When it comes to priming powder I really like Swiss Null B. It's the fastest we have currently. I carry 3fg in my horn and NullB in a flat horn in my hip pocket. I have a bad hand and find it much easier to use a flat horn than plug and unplug a powder horn. Handling the main horn twice is less efficient for me. Opinions will vary on this.

I have favorite locks like everyone else. I have 3 really good large Silers (reported on timing them yesterday). All are unique, tuned by different guys. I think Silers in general are very good locks. I also really like Jim's Late Ketland. Many of my friends use them for building southern guns. It's quite fast and very easy on flints. I timed an L&R Manton that was a fine lock. I like the Davis Yeager and Twigg locks. By now you realize that styles should be considered in making a choice. An obvious mismatch would be a Chambers late Ketland on a massive Yeager gun. The Late Ketland would be perfect on a iron mounted southern squirrel gun.

One last thing - It pays to know who built the lock that you are looking at. Since Silers can be bought as a kit, you never know who did the assembly. I like to buy from people I know and trust.

Regards,
Pletch

It surely makes a big differance when your lock is looked at and tuned by someone who knows locks.

I absolutely love my Davis "Twigg". Have guns with a big Chambers Virgina lock and a L&R Manton that work just fine.

The worst problems I ran into was with two Chambers Late Ketlands. Absolutely horrible, we were lucky to get 3 shots from a flint before the flint exploded. They are fixed now but it took a while and a lot of money in flints.

So I'm getting from this and the longer responses, that you just go to it and see what works best for you.

BTW, mods, I didn't mean to split this into a new thread. :redface: I most humbly apologise.

To everyone, thanks for the responses.

I have a Pedersoli, still as green as grass, and Pedersoli is the only flint I've fired. Loved it and had to have one.

For myself, as a total know nothing on flints and MLs in general, I'm betting it was the expereince and not the rifle alone that turned my crank.

But I have it now and will be using it. The shop sold me FFF and FFFF, both in goex, to get me going. But I gather that FFF may be all I need.

Still, as soon as it warms up, I'll be out there making smoke and learning the skill.

Thanks bud.

I have so much to learn.

But it's all good.

Getting there must be a large part of the journey. :thumbsup:

Well I'm not a rookie and I still wonder about that, myself. I haven't had experience with that many locks so the opinions of those who have had lots of experience carries a lot of weight. I've only used Dupont, Goex and Elephant. Honestly, I could get along with any of them. I buy powder primarily based on price. That's why I pay attention to what others report. Probably the best thing to do is to use a lock that's correct for your particular rifle and correct for the general "period" of the rifle.

In production locks, anything from Chambers is #1. The rest line up below. Swiss powder is undoubtable the best, but more expensive.

I am not a builder, just a admirerer. I have One Davis and Five Chambers, one was built by Bud Siler.
Any lock can work well if tuned by a compitent builder. But for the novice, a off the shelf Chambers or Davis lock is the way to go. I was told by someone who guns are displayed in many books and magazines, that a off the shelf L&R lock is a kit at best. :v

What do you have from Pedersoli? As long as you are using real black and don't overload the pan you should have no trouble. For $10/hour you can play indoors at Shooters. It's too cold outside to play around Waterloo.

I use 3F in my 40s to 62cals and prefer Schuetzen brand over Goex. Both hit the same place for same charge, Goex is $1 more/pound and I have to use TWICE as many patches to clean up my MZLs when using Goex ... dirty she is!

I could do that. I fired a shotgun in there when I bought it, but didn't know it was for hire.

I'm guessing it has to be during regular business hours.

I have patches now, so I'm ready to roll.

3f in the Gun
4f priming only

A Pennsylvania with double set trigger in .45, 41 5/8" barrel.