Where to get the best flint

[Don Steele]

We have a fellow from New Hampshire who Winters down here in Florida and shoots with us. He knaps his flints off of spalls he picks up along the shore where he lives in New Hampshire. Says they're ballast stones brought over then jettisoned when ships loaded up with cargo from "the colonies" back in the day.
Who would have thought..???? :idunno:

 

[burlesontom]

"I think every ship that came from England brought barrels of gun flints."

This is for your entertainment.
https://youtu.be/7XPEoiY3NnI
^^^ Post from Colorado Clyde.

That was a great video. If you watch at 4:19 a guy shoots his rifle and the guy to his right gets blasted in the face from the gun firing. That was funny. And shows why standing next to a flint shooter you need to be aware of the touch hole blast.

I bet we could all make our own flint if we could get flint like that.

 

[ron wehmeyer]

I saw that too , looked like he got his ear hair singed . I realize the fellows in the film are experts with yrs. of experience but that English flint seems to work easier Texas chert . RW

 

[Davemuzz]

There is NO place in Hawaii that has Chert, Agate or Flint. Last I checked lava doesn't spark well.

That all depends on how " fresh" it is.

Or how quickly it is cooled.

Obsidian will spark (though I haven't tried it in a flintlock) and can be found on Pu'u Wa'awa'a, a cone on the north flank of Hualalai Volcano.

:grin:

The volcano is spewing huge amounts of lava......I gotta go hunting NOW!!! :rotf: :rotf:

 

[Cruzatte]

There is NO place in Hawaii that has Chert, Agate or Flint. Last I checked lava doesn't spark well.

That all depends on how " fresh" it is.

Or how quickly it is cooled.

Obsidian will spark (though I haven't tried it in a flintlock) and can be found on Pu'u Wa'awa'a, a cone on the north flank of Hualalai Volcano.

:grin:

The volcano is spewing huge amounts of lava......I gotta go hunting NOW!!! :rotf: :rotf:

OK....just don't make an ash of yourself. :haha:

 

[Davemuzz]

There is NO place in Hawaii that has Chert, Agate or Flint. Last I checked lava doesn't spark well.

That all depends on how " fresh" it is.

Or how quickly it is cooled.

Obsidian will spark (though I haven't tried it in a flintlock) and can be found on Pu'u Wa'awa'a, a cone on the north flank of Hualalai Volcano.

:grin:

The volcano is spewing huge amounts of lava......I gotta go hunting NOW!!! :rotf: :rotf:

OK....just don't make an ash of yourself. :haha:

:hmm: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

 

[Quicksand]

How about the white quartz rock found in any cow pasture in middle west Georgia. The Indians used it for arrow heads so you should be able to shape it. I remember giving a "flint and steel" fire starting demo in the "Boy Scouts" and using a file,
quartz rock, sparrow nest, and a piece of "charred
cloth". Worked great! Lots of sparks. My main concern with "flints" is how to size it and fit
it to my gun (Lyman Great Plains .50 flintlock).
I got some English 6 from Track.

 

[Rifleman1776]

white quartz rock found in any cow pasture in middle west Georgia

Quality and characteristics of any rock can vary greatly from location to location. You won't know unless you try it. Here in Arkansas we have an area known for it's quartz mines. I have tried quartz (from just one of the mines) for sparking ability and it was a total 'no go'. But, from another mine a few miles away theirs might make good sparks. Just dunno. :idunno: Not far from the quartz mines novaculite is mined for whetstones. It is also cut for gunflints. I have tried but sparking results were poor. However, the company has made and sold them for many years although I personally do not known anyone who has used them with success. Go online and check out the hardness scales for stones. Quartz, novaculite and flint are all about at the 7 range. But that doesn't mean all are good sparkers. (BTW, yes, I know, it isn't the stones that are sparking)

 

[tenngun]

We have lots of flint growing wild, however it can have a lot of impunity in it. I’ve picked flint up that couldn’t spark, pieces that looked like the 4 of July, pieces that shattered on the first strike.

 

[Rifleman1776]

flint growing wild, however it can have a lot of impunity in it.

Not just grow wild, they run around with impuntity as well. I set traps for them. Caught one yesterday. Had to chop it's head off to make it stop kicking.

http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr329/Rifleman1776/flint trap.jpg

 

[azmntman]

:rotf:

ALERT (for real).....dont scroll past the one photo, ya get that dang "yer PC is infected" message trying to get ya to click to fix (dont do it) and wont let ya X out. Scam city

 

[nkbj]

Broke down and ordered some from track seeing as there's a bunch of sighting in to do with the 1816 flinter with the sight stuck on the replacement rear band. But needed a new musket nipple wrench any how so it was a good excuse to give 'em a call.

 

[shootrj2003]

No true flintsman asks another man for his knappings.

Nay, one should learn to identify the stones among his surroundings that will give fire unto his piece. Then, he shalt learn to knapith them unto a proper style gunflint.

Only then can he be considered a TRUE flintlock shooter.

Seriously, I hear it all the time from the flint crowd: "you can find flint just lying all over the ground, unlike percussion caps!" but I'd wager 90%+ of them couldn't find a piece of flint on the ground in due time let alone shape it into a usable gunflint.

 

[shootrj2003]

You can find flint all around if your in a spot that has flint all around and it’s easy to Knapp it to shape if you know how to Knapp flint and you find good knaapable flint among the flint that’s all around its best however to have extras while hunting critters,and look for extra when hunting flint.try not to mix the two activities.

 

[shootrj2003]

Have often thought about obsidian,I have been TOLD,that obsidian will not spark,however I have also been advised that any stone hard enough can/ will spark?ihave no experience in it,except an obsidian necklace I won’t sacrifice,if obsidian will then will glass? Glass makes beautiful arrowheads also And fits the hardness requirements too.Please fill me in from your experiences.

 

[oldwood]

A farmer friend of mine has a couple Indian dwelling sites in one of his fields . He showed me some flint shards he had found on the sites over time. The pieces of flint looked like they would fit in my Siler lock , so I tried them. They sparked enough to shoot a couple shots. The flint wasn't the quality of English , but did spark enough to set a flintlock off. I know little about flint Indians napped into tools they used ,so that's where my interest stopped. ..........oldwood

 

[oldwood]

Back in the early 1970's , there was a fellow in a town called Belpre , Ohio , just south of Marietta , Ohio ,on the river , that sold English flints that were oiled somehow , and baked in an oven. I used them in a repro Brown Bess at the time . They seemed to last longer , and sparked well. Over time, I lost track of the guy ,because flint became prolific ,and cheaper than his..................oldwood

 

[smoothshooter]

No true flintsman asks another man for his knappings.

Nay, one should learn to identify the stones among his surroundings that will give fire unto his piece. Then, he shalt learn to knapith them unto a proper style gunflint.

Only then can he be considered a TRUE flintlock shooter.

Seriously, I hear it all the time from the flint crowd: "you can find flint just lying all over the ground, unlike percussion caps!" but I'd wager 90%+ of them couldn't find a piece of flint on the ground in due time let alone shape it into a usable gunflint.

I can.

 

[M. De Land]

There are things that I want to know, things that I need to know, and things that I know.

I don't know where to find flint in "the wild".....but I don't need to know that. There are other people who know that...and that's all I need to know.

Until you bust or loose your last flint and there is no re-supply at hand. Then all you know is your out of the shooting business for awhile.
It would be hard for me to find and fashion a usable flint without the proper tooling along in the wild and I knapp all my own flints.
We have a lot of quartz here in AK that can be made to work but hammer stoning them into a usable a gun flnt would be tough in the bush me thinks. I need to actually try that and see for myself.