How much prime?

Sorry guys, couldn't find it in a search. Just got my new .62 flinter today. Won't be able to try it out until Friday. Since I've never used a flintlock before I have to ask. My priming flask, throws three grains, is this too much, too little, just about right. I have a Siler lock with a 3/4 inch flint if that helps, and it throws lots of sparks. Thanks for the help guys. You helped start this addiction, now help a brother out.

You'll have to try it out-that's 1/2 the fun! I've found two pushes of the plunger with my 3 gr. valve (don't cover the vent). Others may offer other ideas, but you have to find what your gun likes. Good luck! :thumbsup:

Fill the pan plum full. As long as you can close the frizzen your not using to much.

:v With a Siler, they have fairly large pans, more prime gives a bigger area to catch a spark. The top of my pans are level with the vent so more is better in this case. :v

I fill the pan about 2/3 and after I close the frizzen I shake it so the prime goes to the outside of the pan. My experiments have shown this practice gives a slightly faster ignition in my rifles. It really doesn't take a lot of prime to get a flinter to fire. More isn't always better. The heat from the flash is what ignites the main charge. Too much prime or filling the pan so there is a trail of powder from the pan to the main charge creates a fuse which actually slows ignition.

HD

I pretty much go by eyeball.
The entire bottom of the pan must be covered and some extra powder doesn't hurt so I usually put in about 1/2 a pan full and spread it out with my finger before closing the frizzen.

I do eyeball the vent hole to make sure it isn't covered.

You will have to determine this for your purposes, but in my Siler's I find that not more than 2 pushes of the 3 grain valve works about the best.
One push should do the job if placed at the optimum position. Best to try and find out what works best for you.

Its yours to play with so have fun finding out what works best. It don't take much pan power,some one said about two pushes with a three gr. charger, that is about what I use.

This much


Its about all the pan will hold without the pan cover packing it.
Using less just increases the chance of a flash in the pan.

Dan

fill it full but level just under your touch hole, if you don't have much prime under your hole then take a dremmel and hog out the bottom of your pan where it butts up against the barrel, make sure you polish your hog marks so as not to get fouling build up.no room for being cheap when it comes to a hunting situation, hang fires suck!and a lb of prime will last a long long time even when filling your pan full
:thumbsup:

My squirrel rifle w/ a Siler works well w/ whatever goes in. When hunting squirrels or snowshoe hares, the reload is usually hurried and I don't pay much attention to the prime but this LR has always gone "bang".....Fred

I shoot flintlocks with a variety of locks and pan sizes, and have always used only a small amount of prime in all of them. I rarely fill the pan half full, even on the Cochran locks which have small and shallow pans. More is not necessary.

Spence

Dawg says

Too much prime or filling the pan so there is a trail of powder from the pan to the main charge creates a fuse which actually slows ignition.

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I'm going with that, sometimes I end up with just a line of prime that doesn't even 1/2 fill the pan and stops 2/3 the way to the hole. It'll be plenty fast. The fuse effect is overlooked by some people; a flash is faster than a fizzle.

Greenmtnboy said:

fill it full but level just under your touch hole, if you don't have much prime under your hole then take a dremmel and hog out the bottom of your pan where it butts up against the barrel, make sure you polish your hog marks so as not to get fouling build up.no room for being cheap when it comes to a hunting situation, hang fires suck!and a lb of prime will last a long long time even when filling your pan full
:thumbsup:

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Totally agree and thats how I do it. Never understood skimping on prime.

Swampy said:

Never understood skimping on prime.

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With me it's not matter of skimping on prime, it's just that I see no need for a pile of prime when a pinch will do. It's what my old grandmother called "an ample of sufficiency?". :grin:

Spence

You will know when you have it right as there will be little to no delay between the pan charge igniting and the main charge going off. I use about three grains of 4f for my pan charge. I shoot a .50 T/C Hawken. Part of the fun of shooting flint lock muzzle loaders is finding out what works best for the weapon. That is why I went with a flintlock as opposed to a caplock.

I have had both a little and a lot work Ok, your gun will tell, you try different amounts, I use 3f, and cannot tell the diff twixt it and 4f. Pletch did some photograpy on ignition which kind of busted some old thoughts on the matter, you will get so many different opinions here it will likley make your head spin,have someone watch as you shoot and try different amounts.If hunting and walkimng around it will probably not be where it started out but will most likley work as well, I have come to the conclusion that within reason most any amount will do well.

Most of the time the amount does not matter much, ideal situations, etc.
However.
Heat is what fires the gun. Skimp on heat and sooner or later, in the wind (ever hear to old tale of blowing the fire/prime out of the pan? it happens), in -20 weather, wrong phase of the moon etc it may bite you. If I put in near full pan of powder I know that lack of prime is not the reason for the flash. Its one less variable.

Powder in the pan tends to settle to the lowest point.
This is the same priming charge after 5 hours in a shoulder holster. (Its bear season.)


No matter where it settles to there is powder virtually anywhere in the pan that the spark falls.

I use 1/2 to 1/3 this much on the range (unless the rules call a flash in the pan a score shot) where it does not matter much. Out in the woods? It gets 3/4 full or more.
If the vent is set similar to this there is no risk of burying it if this is a worry.


I have seen rifles that I used extensively with no problems get the vent bored out by a subsequent owner because he believed the "use just enough powder to coat the bottom the pan" BS.

They made those pans this large in originals for a reason. If a thin coating was all that was ever needed the would have made smaller pans.
The easiest way to resolve this is to ask:
"If your life depended on this thing firing how much prime would you want in the pan?"

Dan

The testing that TG mentioned to was fun to do and I thought helpful. I think that most locks are reasonably forgiving about variations in the amount of powder. As he says your lock will let you know. One suggestion that I found helpful was to get prime as close to the barrel wall as possible. It's kind of a bonfire effect: The closer you are to the fire the hotter it is. All other things being equal, the fastest ignition occurred with prime against the barrel.

Regards,
Pletch

I just fill the pan to the bottom of the touch hole. The "pinch of powder" approach doesn't work for me. Keeping the flint sharp and getting a good shower of sparks seems to be the most important aspect.