Loading the flintlock so it will fire after the first shot

[paulvallandigham]

Sorry, Jim. BUT, I Have never referred to these chambered breeches as NOCK breeches, ONLY as Nock-Styled Patent Breeches. I do so for the very reason you illustrate.

Thank you for the illustrations. A picture is worth a thousand words, particularly when introducing new shooters to what is in their gun. :hatsoff: :hatsoff:

 

[caionneach]

I think I'll emend my range practices with the following:

1)Use the vent pick or tooth pick to plug the TH when swabbing the barrel;
2)Use saliva or alcohol (maybe, whiskey?) to dampen the swabbing patches.

Somehow I think whiskey is more "period correct" than rubbing alcohol, but that's just me.

Kenneth

 

[hanshi]

Don't waste good whiskey; it's a sin. :nono:

 

[Mattole]

Since I am a follower of Dutch's Accuracy System, I run a slightly dampened cleaning patch down the bore between each shot. I'm in no hurry, and I like the addition to the ritual...

So you're a paying customer to Dutch Schooltz and blackpoweraccuracy.com? I like the idea of swabbing with a damp patch between shots. If I'm not mistaken, other techniques include precise weight of lead round balls, precise thickness of wadding and patch material.

Yes I purchased his booklets several weeks ago and am still working with my ml to see which ball/patch/powder charge it likes best. Swabbing between shots has already made shooting much easier than what I experienced before...

 

[Swede50]

I bought a new TC Flint Lock a couple of years ago. I have found out that using Windex for my cleaning patches works good and don’t stay wet causing a buildup of crud down the barrel. If I start having misfires due to crud in the breach I put my thumb over the touch hole pour an ounce or two of rubbing alcohol to flush out the breach let a little run out through the touch hole and pour the rest out. I then stand the rifle upside down to dry out. May not be period correct but works for me.

 

[caionneach]

Don't waste good whiskey; it's a sin. :nono:

You're right. I can't see myself doing that to good whiskey.

 

[Flint1]

I stopped cleaning between shots about 2 years ago. I was having some problems with the touchole being blocked by crud pushed down by the patch. Now I rarely have those ignition problems and since I am strictly an offhand shooter I notice no difference at all in my accuracy. Shooting an entire match--25 to 30 shots--is no problem. No reloading problems--not even in my .40 with a .400 ball and .018 pillowticking patch--lubed by dawn heavily diluted by water. No reloading problems in my .54 with a .530 ball and the same patch. My theory is after the powder is pored down the bore the damp patch around the ball cleans the grooves as the ball is seated--pushing any crud on top of the powder charge and not behind it. After my shooting session it takes no more patches to clean the bore than it did when I wiped between shots.

 

[BigDogg]

I don't know if this helps...but I pick out my vent hole BEFORE I pour my main charge down the barrel. I noticed that before, when I picked the vent after pouring the main charge, I would often just get a flash in the pan. I figured that maybe I was pushing the powder in the barrel AWAY from the vent hole, and getting misfires. So I started picking before the main charge was poured down. It has seemed to solve the problem for me. I shoot a Lyman GPR, and I also swab with a damp patch between shots, in lieu of blowing down the barrel, and getting tossed out of my gun club. :idunno:

 

[paulvallandigham]

If you pick the TH before you load the powder, all you are removing is any powder residue that is sticking to the sides of the TH.

The purpose of picking the vent( TH) AFTER loading the main charge, AND Seating the PRB, is to open a small channel into the main charge, so that the heat generated by the burning priming powder outside the barrel, can enter and ignite more than one or two granules right next to or in the TH. Those outer granules can take on moisture, and may just fail to ignite. You have a greater chance of getting the main charge to ignite, with a hole into the powder that gives you access to MORE granules of powder.

It helps if your TH is either coned on the inside, or has a coned TH liner in the barrel. I have the Chamber's White lightning TH liner in my .50 cal. rifle, as well as in my 20 ga. fowler. Because of the cone on the inside, powder remains close to the outer edge of the TH, even after I pick a hole into the main charge.

MY "vent pick" is hand make. I taper the steel pick to a "point" which I then file down a bit. The taper provides enough elongated steel to go into the TH and go across the width of the bore. I then file two opposite sides of the rounded "Point", to make a Paddle-like Nose to the pick. This allows me to run the pick into the main charge, give it a quarter twist, back and forth, and with draw it, leaving a hole, by pushing some of the powder away from the pick.

I can't remember the last misfire I have had due to the main charge failing to ignite. ( I had one a few years ago when I was stretching the "life" of an old flint too far, and it simply could no longer produce sparks.) :thumbsup:

I am loading 2Fg powder LOOSE in my rifle, and that gives me "room" in the bore to move that main charge out of the way.

If you are loading 3Fg powder, it will compact more than my 2Fg. That gives you less space to move powder after you seat the PRB. In such cases, I found that putting the vent pick into the barrel, before loading 3Fg powder and the PRB is the best way to create that hole in the powder charge. You want a pick that is small in diameter than the TH, so that air can still escape past the pick and out the TH as you seat the PRB on the powder charge. That escaping air will force "fines"( smaller granules and chips of powder than 3Fg) out and into the TH liner, giving you better ignition. :hmm: :thumbsup:

 

[BigDogg]

Thanks Paul, I'll give that a try. It does make sense. I was using 2F, but just got a can of 3F to try out. Just to see if it improves anything. Plus I want to try 3F in the pan. I really like the idea of only carrying one powder for everything. Thanks for the help. :hatsoff:

 

[hanshi]

In the hunting woods where it really counts, I reload by inserting a pick in the vent hole during the loading process. It forms a powder cavity plus keeps the vent open.

 

[Zonie]

While I agree that plugging the vent while loading a traditional flintlock with the vent directly into the powder charge works well I must mention that those of you who have one of the Italian replicas which use a Chambered breech will have better luck if the vent is left open while ramming the patched ball.

By leaving the vent open on these Italian guns, the loose powder will be blown back thru the small flame channel that connects the vent with the powder chamber.
For these, many have found that picking the vent after ramming the ball and before priming the pan will enhance the guns ignition.

By the way, this 'picking the vent' on these guns is not intended to correct a plugged vent.
There may be two or three granules of powder in the vent hole and these will ignite from the pans flash.
Picking the vent forms a hollow cavity made of black powder right inside the vent hole.
This cavity exposes many more granules of powder to the flash from the pan.

To picture this first think of a layer of powder laying on the end of a small tin can.
Now, picture the end of the can removed and the entire inside of the can coated with powder.

Although the cone formed from a pick doesn't produce a cylindrical cavity like the can would, it does create a conical cavity that exposes much more powder than would be exposed if it didn't exist.

 

[H. E. Schwalm]

Agree, spit patch and a dry patch every shot and shoot all afternoon without violent ramrod action.

 

[rr11]

When hunting when I reload I use my vent pick, has always worked for me.

 

[DNF38]

I use patches lubed with beeswax/crisco or beeswax/olive oil and I never have to swab. I've tried spit patches, and moose milk on the patches too. But with those liquids on the patches I get fouling and have to swab. I think the wax coating on the bore keeps the fouling down to almost nothing. :wink:

 

[jerrywh]

The controversy over patch lube has been going on forever I guess. After 45 years of thinking nobody knew more about muzzle loaders than me I finally decided to take the advise of a couple of old shooters from canada. The correct answer is close to what RW1 has stated in this thread. I use 50% dawn liquid hand soap and 50% winter type windshield washer fluid. Windex and alcohol would be the same. I keep my patches in a snuff can soaked with this stuff. I can load forever without ever cleaning the bore and at the end of the day my bore is hardly even dirty. Another tip is this. Most guys use way too much powder when target shooting. If you have a 54 cal. drop down to about 50 grains unless the target is over 85 yards then go to about 75 grains. You will get better accuracy with less velocity anyway.
Do yourself a favor. just try it. It doesn't freez at -30° either