Questions on Flintlock Lock Design

A few decades ago I was hunting wild boar in Tennessee in a full on sleet storm. Primed that morning and the first mid day opportunity was a clatch. After that we hunted with tooth picks in the touchhole and a cows knee over the lock. When we finally found some hogs again we primed and stalked the devils. Results were a satisfying boom and pork on the ground. I have either refreshed priming regularly or hunted with the tooth pick since and it has worked well from a stand or still hunting. the center of the touchhole is slightly below the flat of the pan.

Do the tests in not so perfect conditions and report back..
Also for a small lock. L.C. Rice is coming out with one. Seen it at the Tennessee show and it is one of the best sparking locks I have ever handled ....Period

mikesto44 said:

Do the tests in not so perfect conditions and report back..
Also for a small lock. L.C. Rice is coming out with one. Seen it at the Tennessee show and it is one of the best sparking locks I have ever handled ....Period

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Ok. Not yet for sale? I looked on their website and didn’t see any.

I agree with Jim Kibler.

Ok, I'll say it:

https://kiblerslongrifles.com/colle...flintlock-3-month-wait?variant=32221827563638
You will not find a better lock for the money. Flints last nearly forever. They spark like crazy, the internal parts are made with extreme precision. The correct materials are used and properly heat treated. I never trouble with any that I owned.

Thomas792 said:

So what do you recommend in the small size (4 3/8” or smaller) with a waterproof looking pan. Want to make a pistol that looks similar to a later years Wogdon.

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Hi,
There is no lock you can buy that comes close to those on Wogdons. You need one with a plate no more then 4.5" long and preferably shorter. The L&R Manton would be a poor choice because it is too long and the curve on the bottom of the plate ruins the architecture of the pistol. Here are real Wogdons. These are smallish pistols and the locks are only 3 13/16" long. Larger Wogdons rarely have locks longer than 4 3/8".
"Hail Wogdon, Patron of the leaden death..."

I really don't know of a good choice. I buy castings from Blackleys in the UK but they take forever to arrive.

dave

Thomas792 the lock I mentioned is in the pre production stage. The example I seen at the show was just for showing the quality of their lock.
Like I said I have never seen a lock spark as well as that one did.
L.C. Rice was the one showing us how well it worked...
Just for information I have been shooting flintlock for 50+ years

rich pierce said:

Load the gun, place it under a mister for 10 minutes, let it sit an hour, then fire it.

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FWIW, one local woodswalk that was started by the same gents who organized the F&IW tacticals around Lake George used to do this, as the LAST shot on their course. Ot became sooooooooooooooo unpopular, that people stopped attending their shoots. They would dump X amount of ounces onto your loaded lock ... then wait 10-15 minutes.

Another question if I may. Some builders notched the patent breech to place the touch hole closer to the powder chamber. Does this have any benefit for quicker ignition? I think this would be a step too far for a build of mine (time and skill involved) when I finally begin.

The breech face is notched on many breech plugs, not a chambered (patent) breech, because the threads of the breech plug extended past the architectural desired placement of the touch hole. The notch provided access for the flash channel to the powder charge, so, this would be a benefit for ignition as the breech plug is not blocking the touch hole.

You see that feature mostly on high end sxs English guns. It was done to reduce the width of the gun across the locks. It also has some benefit for ignition time, in theory.