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Flintlocks and manual transmissions

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One of the 1960 issues of Civil War Times claimed that North ?? Carolina cavalry preferred flintlock carbines over percussion. Best I can recollect, it was a matter of loading a self-priming flint gun on horse back, rather than fumbling with that dxxx little cap.

1636121070485.png


This British .65 cal. carbine had been bought from a home in (N, S ??) Carolina about 1941. I got it from that collector in 1955. Great condition, kicks noticeably. Wonder if it came in through the port of Wilmington, early in Mr. Lincoln's war?
 
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cornstalk said:
Muddly, that's hilarious and yet can be so true. I love flintlocks, always have. To me they create a visceral experience that no other firearm does for me. Get everything right and there is only a mili-second perceived delay between squeezing the trigger and the ball going down range, miss any one of things needed to make that happen and the delay becomes noticeable. Maybe that's part of the beauty of flintlocks. But I can go you one better. :) Yesterday my Flintlock/Percussion double barrel smoothbore arrived. I don't mean flintlock on one side and percussion on the other, I mean flintlock and percussion on both sides. It's so cool. And if firing with a cap there is a little door to slide that covers the flash hole. Firing with flint and the door of course has to be open. One more thing to remember to do. Haven't shot it yet, still drooling over it. (and waiting to finish repairing my roundball mold so i can run ball for it) An awesome hobby for sure that unfortunately is slowly diminishing as we die off.

But hey, we used to be able to say that about the muscle cars we drove a kids, but they have made and continue to make an excellent comeback (probably because of us but oh well). So hopefully the same thing will happen in muzzleloading.
Click to expand...
Pictures please!
 
I used to laugh at the term follow thru when it comes to unmentionables, even unmentionables that are powered by the holiest of holy black.... until I started shooting flinters.
 
Loyalist Dave said:
Hmmm...,

View attachment 102601

I have 12 flintlocks...
I drive a Subaru Forester with a manual transmission....,

LD
Click to expand...
Go find someone with a older Mack with a 673 Thermodyne and a Quadreplex transmission. 400 rpm between gear changes. 5 speed main ( 4+ overdrive 5th ) with a 4 speed compound, ( 3+ lo lo ) 2 shifters. Neither transmission syncroed. Every 3rd shift you put your left arm through the steering wheel and shifted both levers at the same time, ( If you were good at it ) THEN, you’ve driven a standard.
The pattern was - main 1, compound lo lo- main 1 compound lo split- main 1, compound direct- main 1 compound hi split- main 2, compound lo split- main 2, compound direct - main 2, compound hi split - main 3, compound lo split - main 3 compound direct - main 3, compound hi split - main 4, compound lo split, main 4 compound direct - main 4 compound hi split - then main into overdrive 5th leaving the compound in hi split. At 80,000 lbs and 170 hp. Running over a horse poop in the road required 3 gear changes.
 
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Least stolen vehicles in the U.S. are manual transmissions. In 40 years of law enforcement, never, ever, and I mean never even heard of a single event of "gun violence" involving a flintlock. Only two involving percussions. One CCW with a revolver and one suicide. Clearly, we are not a threat to polite society nor are car thieves much of a threat to old guys with stick shifts.
 
sheriff john said:
Least stolen vehicles in the U.S. are manual transmissions. In 40 years of law enforcement, never, ever, and I mean never even heard of a single event of "gun violence" involving a flintlock. Only two involving percussions. One CCW with a revolver and one suicide. Clearly, we are not a threat to polite society nor are car thieves much of a threat to old guys with stick shifts.
Click to expand...

A coworker recently said something about the new generation not being able to read cursive nor drive a stick; therefore, we could have our own encrypted language and have theft proof vehicles in a few years…
 
JohnL said:
I’m still learning; I just purchased my first flintlock rifle recently. It’s going to work out well; I learned to drive on a Ford 8N tractor! 👍
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LOL - that one made me smile! I learned to drive on a Minneapolis Moline "BFW" - propane fueled - no cab or power steering of course - they had not been invented yet.
 
I have three flintlocks and a 92 Ford pu truck 4x4 five speed manual trans. I drive that truck a whole lot better than I can shoot them flintlocks. All four are fun things though.
 
sheriff john said:
Least stolen vehicles in the U.S. are manual transmissions. In 40 years of law enforcement, never, ever, and I mean never even heard of a single event of "gun violence" involving a flintlock. Only two involving percussions. One CCW with a revolver and one suicide. Clearly, we are not a threat to polite society nor are car thieves much of a threat to old guys with stick shifts.
Click to expand...
It’s not our guns that are a threat to polite society, it us, the crazy eyed, Constitution defending, Bible believing, Bambi murdering, tax hating, pickup driving, lunatics. It’s US they want to get rid of. I believe it was Maxine Waters iirc who said when this generation dies off all the issues of acceptance ( of various groups ) will no longer be a problem. I’m sure she assumes the “gun problem” will die with us.
 
I have a flintlock and a percussion, both with set triggers, but unless I force myself to concentrate on setting the triggers, I just squeeze the trigger just like all the modern rifles I have and the the trigger pull is no harder than some of the BLs I shoot...

(BTW...do motorcycles and tractors with manual trannys count here) :)
 
Springerpanhead said:
It’s not our guns that are a threat to polite society, it us, the crazy eyed, Constitution defending, Bible believing, Bambi murdering, tax hating, pickup driving, lunatics. It’s US they want to get rid of. I believe it was Maxine Waters iirc who said when this generation dies off all the issues of acceptance ( of various groups ) will no longer be a problem. I’m sure she assumes the “gun problem” will die with us.
Click to expand...

I have a feeling if they successfully managed to get rid of guns from the likes of our lot, then we all would quickly find out that the so-called "polite society" would suddenly be not so polite...especially to us subjects (formerly armed citizens)
 
cornstalk said:
Here you go. This is not a conversion, it was clearly built this way from the beginning. Poses some interesting questions about the early percussion days.

View attachment 102700
Click to expand...
Very cool!!!! In the context of the conversation, kinda of a clutchless standard transmission, like an old Packard. Or maybe, like a belt and suspenders.
Robby
 
Muddly said:
I remember when they used to say " Learn to drive a manual. Then you can drive anything."
Quite true!
I've come to realize that, if you can accurately and consistently shoot a flintlock, you can accurately and consistently shoot anything else.
The discipline required to master a flintlock really is far and above any other type of rifle. The lock/ ignition time absolutely highlights any failure by the shooter. Throw in set triggers, yes they're wonderful, but they do add to lock time. You pull the trigger, it trips another trigger which THEN trips the sear. Single triggers remove the middle step. Every little bit helps...
Been chipping a lot of flint lately, in my new Pennsylvania Hunter. I've also noticed an improvement in accuracy and consistency with my sidelock and unmentionable percussion rifles.
So, there you have it. The flintlock. The manual transmission of the rifle world. If you can shoot one of these, you can shoot anything!
Click to expand...
I like what you say, with the exception of your comment about set triggers extending lock time. That may indeed be the case if you have a very finely tuned single trigger that releases from the pressure of the heat radiating from your trigger finger. Few of us have those. The main advantage of the set trigger (as I see it) is not that they are faster, it is instead that they release with very little movement of any part of the body, allowing the gun to remain steady until the projectile clears the barrel. They also allow for a deeper sear notching that does not rely on extremely shallow engagement to reduce trigger pull; thus safer.
 

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