This past year, I picked up 2 flintlocks — both production models. I’ve had numerous issues with ignition, getting good sparks, hangfires, misfires and pan flashes. It was so frustrating that I bought a percussion lock to swap out just so I could take the Kentucky rifle hunting at some point. I even considered selling that lock and all but giving up on flintlocks.
Fast forward to now, I still don’t really trust my flintlock rifle accuracy enough to hunt deer with it. Off-hand accuracy is better with a longbow right now. But it’s coming along. I took my trade gun out to the dove fields & duck marshes and have been able to get consistent, fast ignition even in thick, pea-soup thick fog. I still flinch sometimes. On the wing, I managed to get a dove. Ducks were a big challenge though. Those teal fly in so fast. I think they can see my movement, then the smoke & can change direction before my shot arrives. Thankfully, there are usually some coots will sit still enough for me to take something home.
So what has changed? How did I manage to get my equipment working reliably in poor conditions when I previously couldn’t get it to work in ideal conditions? I think it’s just time and effort. I had a similar experience when learning percussion guns. At first, it was all hangfires. In fact, the previous season, I had taken my percussion smoothbore out to the same marshes, under the same foggy weather & had worse ignition. Time and effort can fix a lot of problems that I too readily attribute to poor equipment.
So for you folks who have been shooting flintlocks for many years, you have my respect for the time and effort you’ve put in. And for those of you who are just picking it up and getting frustrated, I encourage you to keep at it. Time and effort can work wonders.
That being said, here are a couple of tips for the newbies that I learned.
1. when loading, I pick the vent first. I want to clear that pathway before dumping powder in.
2. After pouring the powder in, I look into the vent to visually see that the grains of powder are right up next to the vent. I want the powder from the main charge to be as close to the pan’s priming charge as I can get it without actually touching each other. If the lighting isn’t good, I’ll use a pocket flashlight to shine into the vent. But with just turning the vent into the sunlight (even if it’s overcast), I can usually see it. If I can’t, I’ll rap the side of the stock until I see those grains. Ideally, I want to see a couple grains dribble out. But a visual is fine.
3. Prime with homemade, 4F or something fast. I fill the pan level. This is where homemade powder really shines. Because I’m not corning it, it crushes easy. So no matter how full it is when I pour it in, it will crush down level & fully close the frizzen.
4. This really should be before #1. I have gotten really particular about keeping my flints sharp. I’m checking them every few shots, looking for chips & dull sections. Lead .50 balls flattened on an anvil make for great wraps and have worked better for me than leather. After each shot, I’m wiping the flint, the pan and the frizzen clean.
5. Before loading the first shot, I’ll dry fire (spark but no powder yet) one time. I have no idea why this has worked but I used to have a misfire (no pan flash) on my first shot. Every time. It cost me a turkey last spring and some clays at the range. When I drop the cock on the frizzen before loading, the next one always seems to go off without a hitch. I can speculate as to why this is. But it has been a consistent game changer.
I hope that helps a few other folks who are, like me, new to flintlocks. There’s some fun to be had if you stick with it.
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