Repalcing a flint

[gary b]

when I put a new flint in how do I adjust it?
I have never had to replace one myself, as you can tell i'm new at this

 

[Coot]

There is no one precise answer to replacing flints as each gun has a bit of "personality" & this results in exceptions to many of the "rules". That said, you should start with a proper sized flint. The flint should be about the same width as the frizzen (alternately called the battery or steel). You want to make sure that the flint is not so wide as to hit the barrel or edge of the pan which would damage both the metal & the flint. For most guns, the flint works best with the bevel of the flint in the "up" position. A few guns prefer the bevel down but if in any doubt, I would start in the "bevel up" position & only try down if either getting poor sparking or rapidly using up the flint. With the lock at half cock and the frizzen fully shut, set the flint in the jaws so that the sharp edge almost but not quite touches the frizzen. If in doubt for spacing, you could use a matchbook cover as a gauge. This distance seems to works well for most guns. A few seem to like the flint touching but as with the bevel, try starting with a small gap. Check to make sure that the flint does not touch the pan or barrel when the lock is in the "fired" position. If your flint is too long to fit all the way back in the jaws and not push against the frizzen at half cock (which results in opening the pan a bit which can lead to losing prime at worst and admitting moisture to the prime at best), you need to get shorter flints. Most guns use rectangular flints but a few like shorter square flints. If the flint is just barely too long, you can generally cut a hole in your leather or lead flint wrap to let it go all the way back to touch the jaw screw. Sometimes you can flake a bit off the back of the flint to get by but easier to just get proper sized flints. Tighten the jaws down firmly on the flint in it's wrap & work the lock to check for good sparking. After a few shots, check to see if the jaws need any retightening. The whole process of changing a flint is actually easier than this post makes it sound but I have tried to cover most possibilities. Good shooting.

 

[Tsegoweleh]

Oatsayo My friend,
You want a flint that is as wide as the steel (frizzen)
use a very thin piece of leather to wrap around the flint and push it into the jaws of the cock.
Set it all the way to the back.

Close the steel over the pan and set the cock to half cock. The flint should not touch the steel. Any amount of clearance is fine. Just shouldent touch.
If the flint touches the steel try notching the leather where it touches the jaw screw. If that still isent enough you can use a round file or grinding wheel to carefully knotch the rear of the flint.

You will have to try to see what your gun likes, The flint with the bevel edge Up or down.
idealy it should strike the steel as high up as possable but with a glancing blow as opposed to a direct slam. A direst slam will break your flints.

happy to help if you need more info.

 

[redwing]

Don't get tied up with the flint has to be a fraction of an inch from the frizzen. This is true if you are using a large Siler. This would not be true if you are using the Chambers Late Ketland. The point here is that some locks leave the flint an inch or more from the frizzen. There is no hard fast rule that the flint needs to be as close as 1/32nd to be right. :shake: