Placing the flint?

[Danny Ross]

How far forward can you place the flint in the jaws of the cock and still have it hold and not damage the jaws? Basicly how small of a piece of flint can you use effectively and safely in the cock? How tight can you tighten the jaws of the cock around the flint and not damage them. I have been shooting flintlocks for about four years but have had no one to ask these questions to until I joined here. I was putting a new piece of flint in one of my guns but thought the one I removed may still have some life in it and I just don't really know what the limitations are. I shoot traditional archery and I use my old worn out shooting gloves (deer skin) for the leather to hold the flint. DANNY

 

[Colin Sprute]

could you put extra leather behind the wore flint to act as a spacer?

 

[bpd303]

A small twig will work too.

 

[Twisted_1in66]

Hey Danny,

As others have already said, just put a spacer behind it such a a twig, wooden matchstick etc. You just want to make sure that it doesn't slip backwards in use so that the jaws of the cock are scraping against the frizzen.

If you have a decent edge on it; can keep it in place; AND can keep that correct angle of strike against the frizzen (55° to 60°); it should work fine. But you don't want it wiggling around in the jaws of the cock.

Twisted_1in66 :thumbsup:

 

[Alden]

I don't think it's JUST a question of a "spacer."

I would NOT clamp down on a flint with a jaw where the pressure is all up front -- that's an extraordinary amount of leverage on that little clamp that's then smashing into a metal plate. Do you WANT to break it!?

Also make sure the jaw top is not bottoming out on the cock...

 

[palonghunter]

Here's my 2 cents: flints are cheap. I sharpen them a couple of times then change them out for a new one. If there's not enough flint left for the jaws to grab, its time for a new flint.

 

[thecapgunkid]

Alden nailed it.

Don't stress your cockpiece. If after a knapping with some non-iron blows it don't go off, get a new flint.

I hate to say it this way, but does size matter?

 

[don hepler]

As a Machinist, I have learned a "feel" for tightening screws. In no other place have I seen such a variety of screw/torque values that need to be learned. On a flintlock, you have wood screws which are sometimes brass or steel. You have machine screws going from a brass or steel plate through wood into another steel plate. Due to the woods compression, all of these, just need to be snug. On the lock jaws, you are compressing leather to hold a stone, sandwiched between to metal jaws. The thickness, and stiffness of the leather, can vary quite a bit. However to get to the question about, " How tight", this is usually the largest screw on the rifle. Thus it gets tightened "more" than any other screw on the rifle. If the screw has a hole through it, I use a small finishing nail to tighten it, when it starts to bend, then that's tight enough. If it only has a screw driver slot, then you'll have to get a feel for it. Keep checking the torque between shots. Put a little grease on the treads, and you will reduce the wear, and chance of gualding.

 

[BrownBear]

I keep sharpening them until they're almost too short, then swap them out rather than shift them forward. Reseating forward with shims behind is just too much hassle with too much fiddling and results too variable for my taste.

I have a couple of rifles that take short flints, so it's not as though I'm going to toss them at that point. If not too thick and blunt, or if I can thin them enough, they move right onto the rifles that want shorter flints.

Start with a flint from good materials shaped well, and don't get hammer handed in how you sharpen it, and you can get surprisingly long life from it.

I do my sharpening by pressing the flint forward against the lowered frizzen. That naps off tiny flakes and does a beautiful job, leaving the flint in good contact all along the edge for great sparks along with the long life.

 

[rich pierce]

Great topic. Flint length and positioning are more important than width. There's no problem in using a flint to narrow or too wide. Just position a wide flint so it doesn't strike the barrel.

 

[Col. Batguano]

......... you will reduce the wear, and chance of gualding.

What is gualding? Is that the same as stripping?

 

[Zonie]

I believe hadden west meant to say galling.

For those not sure they know what galling is on metal parts it happens when two similar pieces of metal are pressed together and moved, relatively to one another without any lubrication between them.

On a molecular level, the movement causes the tiny spots where the two pieces are actually touching each other to heat up and actually weld themselves together.

Further movement causes the tiny welds to shear or break resulting in a very rough surface.

Lubricating the contact area provides a film of oil between the parts. This film prevents the metal from actually contacting the other piece so galling won't happen.

 

[Col. Batguano]

Makes sense. Thank you.

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

Except galling can happen whether the metals are the same or NOT the same! Had to say that, as a former machinist myself ...

It is especially more common on aluminum and SSs due to the atomic structure of their crystals.