Balancing Springs

[TrapperDude]

Someone revived a necro thread, which I started reading, and in one of the first couple of posts, someone mentioned the concept of Traditions flintlock needing to have their springs balanced. Does that refer to adjusting the tension of the main and frizzen springs to achieve a force of impact of the flint against the frizzen so you get sparks but don't beat the flint to pieces prematurely?

 

[Grenadier1758]

The balancing of the springs will also hold the frizzen against the flint to get the most sparks, yet not be so weak as to fly away from the flint edge on impact (reducing sparks) nor fly back to strike the flint on the rebound and shatter the flint. You don't want the feather (frizzen) spring to be so strong that the pan is prevented from fully opening.

 

[Kansas Jake]

I have a traditions Shenandoah flintlock rifle. The frizzen often did not fully open and it had iffy ignition. I removed the frizzen and spring and polished both with emery cloth and then a small buffing wheel. It made a world of difference. The frizzen now opens fully when struck by the flint with reliable ignition of the pan powder and charge.

 

[TrapperDude]

Thank you both for your insights. I have been getting very reliable ignition from my Trapper, but with the flints only being good for about 30 shots on it, I'm thinking I'll have to carefully polish down the top convex side of the main spring to thin it and reduce the tension a smidgen. It seems that the frizzen can open all the way with a good bit less force than is being exerted against it.

 

[ohio ramrod]

I had a lock that was shattering flints until I polished and "weakened" the frizzen spring. Now it shoots well and flints last a lot longer.

 

[TrapperDude]

I had a lock that was shattering flints until I polished and "weakened" the frizzen spring. Now it shoots well and flints last a lot longer.

I'm glad to hear that that technique is valid. I'll definitely have that on my agenda in the near future. I think I'm going to work on both springs. The mainspring has some pretty serious force behind it as well.