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flint slow fire

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Joined
May 19, 2011
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how big can i afford to drill my liner my first hole was done with #50 drill bit.I will be using fff i tried 2ff but the precision whent to snut.
The action is fast,the flint sparks like crazy, the hole is perfect with the action. The last flinter i had was almost like shooting a percussion. Would .060 be to big since i will be using fff
 
A small correction i should of mesured the drill bit first i drilled .077 so it's big anought, so i guest i will have to look for something else that is not to par.
 
Are you using real black powder? Sounds like mine when I used pyrodex, long slow burn, and a lot of mis fires.
 
When using 2Fg powder in that flintlock, DON'T compress the powder charge like you would if shooting a percussion action. Load to a mark on your loading rod, where the PRB just begins to grind against the powder granules. Remember to tilt the barrel of your gun to one side, so that the powder SLIDES down the barrel, rather than free falling down a vertical barrel. That long barrel will act as a "drop tube", used by BP Cartridge shooters to compact their powder charges in their casings. Holding the barrel vertically will cause the same compaction in a MLer. The Flintlock begins a flame at the back of the charge, which then has to burn its way through the granules to speed ignition. If you leave the powder charge loose, it has both the space between granules and extra oxygen to help it burn quickly through the powder charge. The space between granules of 2Fg powder is larger than the spaces between granules of 3Fg powder. In calibers under .45, the powder charge is so long compared to the caliber, that you can loosely load 3Fg powder in those flintlocks, and achieve similar burning results as you would from percussion ignition guns.

Conversely, a Percussion ignition Actually injects a HOT FLAME with force to blow a hole through the powder charge. Compacting the powder charge in a percussion action is the BEST way to achieve quick ignition in that system.
 
well i am pretty happy, many things to try i am sure it's not major just a bug in the way i load. The liner is a white ligthing and is perfectly centered to the pan so back to the shooting range tomorrow and that my friends i anjoy a lot.That compressed charge could be one of the problem i do press maybe to much and will pick that vent every time and for ff powder does not shoot good it will at least double the size of my grouping
Thanks a bunch will let you know who it came out
 
Had a great time at the range and , my problem was a bit of everything,
first loading: when i use a tight patch i tend to also press the powder and i did not pick the vent so i did some test . So when i pick the vent on a press charge there was a big difference and when not pick a get a slow start. Then i tried what i call my easy load but just normal seating of the bullet on the powder WOW now there was a big noticeable difference and not picking the touch hole on this test there was no need it always whent off . Then the pan, now i place the powder to the liner and filler up, another WOW, Than the flint i took a better care of it, made sure she was square so it would give a maximum of spark, keep it clean and sharpened it when it gave me a blank. Made sure the primer FFFF was fresh. For now i dont wipe between shots i may try that when i do some serious load testing for now it's learning and breaking in the rifle i am still flinching even on the bench so i have a ways to go and enjoying every minute . Gentleman thank you for 2 cents and the little push that i needed i will have to pay attention to details they are finick creatures these guns and i am loving it.I am using FFF for now, The FF does not group FOR NOW ho fun fun .
 
I found that compressing 2Fg powder in my flintlock created larger groups. Then I ran some tests over the chronograph, and I saw a much wider Standard Deviation of Veocity no matter how consistently I tried to compress my powder charge.

When I switched to "loading to a mark", set so that the PRB just begins to grind the powder granules, my SDV dropped a lot. When I then began sliding the powder charge down a tipped barrel, the SDV dropped even more. The velocity was not the same speed as I got when compressing the charge, but adding 5 grains more brought the velocity up to that old "standard" and brought the POI back up to what I had when I was trying to compress the loads. The difference was that Now my groups were about 1/2 what they had been before, and I began to see consistent groups, every time I went to the range.

Try everything. See what works.

MY rifle began its life as a percussion gun, and I did all my load development with that gun with a percussion ignition system. When I had the gun changed to a Flintlock, my gunsmith warned me that I would have to rethink everything I thought I knew when the gun was a percussion action rifle. He proved to be correct. I just didn't understand that I might have to change my entire loading technique to get the tiny groups I used to get when the gun was a percussion action. I began tilting the barrel with I pour the powder down several years later, after my brother told me about BP cartridge loaders using 24" drop tubes to compress their 3Fg powder charges in their casings, and how the target shooters with match grade ML barrels were pouring the powder in with the barrel held vertically, to achieve the same result. I realized then that pouring my 2Fg powder down my 39" barrel when it was vertical, would be compressing the powder in my barrel just as much as if I were using that 24" drop tube, or compressing my powder with my ramrod when I loaded that PRB.

The Other evil that plays hobbs with your accuracy is that leaning lots of weight on your ramrod, or Bouncing the rod on the round ball, will distort the shape of the ball. The accuracy changes won't be noticed much at 25 yards, but out at 50 yards, you will see a lot of unexplained wide impacts on the paper. At 100 yds, I have seen rod bouncers unable to put a ball on a 12" square target. Mark the ramrod, or loading rod( range rod) and load to the mark by using your fingers to move the ball down that last inch to the mark. Clean that barrel between shots, so you don't build up residue on the face of your breechplug, or shorten that powder chamber in your Nock-style breech. Shortening the barrel length changes the position of the ball, and that changes the harmonics of your barrel, sending your ball someplace ELSE! :nono: :shocked2: :idunno: :hmm: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
 
I get a some hang-fires too, when I do, I stop, and scrape the breech plug with a brass scraper, and pour out the ash. Then prick the vent and then I change the flint, and put a little moose milk on the hinge of the frizzen. Seems like the latter is the most important sometimes. When the frizzen joint gets scuzzed up, it moves slower, and fewer sparks are produced.
That seems to solve the problem for me. I don't drill out the vent liners. White lightnin liners seem to do fine for me on a clean gun.

Lisle George
 
George: I would rather see you take that pivot screw out of the frizzen, once a year, wipe off the screw, then remove any rust with steel wool, and oil it well, with a good oil.

Moose milk has water in it and that can induce rust between uses. It also tends to collect residue faster than oil, or a good synthetic grease.

Both that pivot pin, and the Cam that rubs against the frizzen spring, need a drop of oil added to them before every shooting session, and another after you clean the lock after each shoot. The place on the top arm of your frizzen spring where that cam rubs needs to be polished mirror smooth, and greased or oiled frequently to keep it that smooth.

The less friction you have to that cam, the faster that frizzen will open and let your sparks hit the priming powder. If as ou cock open that frizzen, you see the cam actually pushing down on the top arm of the Frizzen Spring, you need to remove metal from that cam, so that NO movement occurs when you open the frizzen. That spring's ONLY job is to hold the frizzen closed when you point the muzzle of your gun straight down. The speed of the falling Cock( hammer), and the sharpness of the flint's edge will cut steel and create all the sparks you need for ignition. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
 
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