Flints

[Gtrubicon]

Where to buy good flints? I’m using flints from track, French and English. Is there better available?

 

[deerstalkert]

I have always knapped my own, but that fatal condition called age has made me decide whether to do that or use my energy to build. Build won.
I bought 2 dozen english from octobercountry.com at 2.68 per. not overly impressed looking at them but they do shave sparks well.

 

[david_1]

Tracks are pretty good, but you have to ask to hand pick them to keep the humped ones out. I also have gotten good flints from Stonewall Creek Outfitters. https://www.stonewallcreekoutfitters.com/flints/
and Heritage-products.com

 

[TDM]

Try Stonewall Creek Outfitters too.

 

[TDM]

Tracks are pretty good, but you have to ask to hand pick them to keep the humped ones out. I also have gotten good flints from Stonewall Creek Outfitters. https://www.stonewallcreekoutfitters.com/flints/
and Heritage-products.com

You type faster than I do!

 

[Gtrubicon]

I think my lock is hard on flints, last shooting session I got 27 shots from 1 flint. Today I shot just over 40 and I went through 3 flints, the third is in the gun with 10 shots on it. All black English flints from track. Is this the norm?

 

[david_1]

I think it depends on the flint, I've had some that cracked bad and unusable after 10 shots and have had a lot of them last 40 to 50 shots or more with a little knapping in between.

 

[Gtrubicon]

I need to learn how to knap a flint, I re knapped 2, only 1 worked for 3 shots.

 

[david_1]

As they get used and shorter, I'll either double leather them or a small stick behind the flint to push the flint forward and get that extra few shots or so out of them

 

[Gtrubicon]

As they get used and shorter, I'll either double leather them or a small stick behind the flint to push the flint forward and get that extra few shots or so out of them

That’s great, I was wondering if I should shim them to position better to the frizzed. Thank you! It won’t be till next weekend when I get to shoot again.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

The humps can be ground off with a greenstone. Maybe not hysterically correct but it fixes about half the flints we get these days.

 

[deerstalkert]

I need to learn how to knap a flint, I re knapped 2, only 1 worked for 3 shots.

Jim Kibler has a good video of sharpening flint. 3 shots is unacceptable.
i am on shot 73 with one flint in my SMR. geometry makes a lot of difference. spring tension on the frizzen also matters. I have a large siler that has the softest of falls to the cock and a frizzen you can blow open with a sneeze, and it showers sparks like a sparkler at 4 July!

 

[Gtrubicon]

The humps can be ground off with a greenstone. Maybe not hysterically correct but it fixes about half the flints we get these days.

I’m a contractor, I have 4 different tile saws with Diamond blades, I’m gonna set one up and see what I can do with these flints on a Diamond wet saw.

 

[Gtrubicon]

Jim Kibler has a good video of sharpening flint. 3 shots is unacceptable.
i am on shot 73 with one flint in my SMR. geometry makes a lot of difference. spring tension on the frizzen also matters. I have a large siler that has the softest of falls to the cock and a frizzen you can blow open with a sneeze, and it showers sparks like a sparkler at 4 July!

I will look this video up, thanks for the reference.

 

[Nazgul58]

I too have a tile saw. The diamond blade cuts flint/agate easily. Bought some agate and cut some to try. They work, got 20 shots from one of them. They are ugly and I have to work on the geometry more but the experiment was successful.

Use the saw to remove humps and resharpen the flints as well.

Gives me something to do, and......... I am cheap!!

Don

 

[Commodore Swab]

Why has nobody asked about the lock? There are different flints that work better in certain locks. If the springs or frizzen friction is too much any sharp flint will be destroyed quickly. Without reworking a lock that has strong springs you may be better off getting flints from veteran arms.

 

[Don Steele]

As prices for flints have risen so dramatically in recent years, I explored options to simply knapping off bits as needed in an effort to get more shots from each flint. I found that inexpensive Diamond hand files work better towards that goal than any knapping tools or techniques I have used over the years. To further enhance my flints, as necessary… I picked up a package of Diamond grinding wheels for $10.00 at Harbor Freight. They are small, designed to use in a Dremel type tool and work VERY WELL.

Notice, a small stick already in place to shim it forward a bit. In my experience Using the files or Dremel doesn’t shorten the flint as quickly as knapping.
Hope this helps.

 

[Grenadier1758]

I think my lock is hard on flints, last shooting session I got 27 shots from 1 flint. Today I shot just over 40 and I went through 3 flints, the third is in the gun with 10 shots on it. All black English flints from track. Is this the norm?

I think you are getting to the crux of the flint issue. The composition of the flint plays a part in flint life, but so does the geometry of the lock. What lock are you using? Some locks are easy on locks right from the start. Others have to be tuned to get the flint from being bashed against the frizzen to scraping the frizzen. Sometimes it pays to have the lock professionally tuned to get the strike angle correct and the springs balanced for best performance. The angle that the flint strikes the frizzen can be adjusted by placing a piece of leather lacing or a matchstick under the rear edge of the flint.

Knapping a flint is a skill that can easily be acquired. I use either a knapping awl (I use a 16 penny nail with a notch at the tip) to take small shards of flint from the edge or I use Larry Callahan's excellent flint tool to flake off small shards from the edge of the flint. I know of many shooters that one of his tools in each of their shooting pouches. Look at his multi-tool.

http://www.bagmolds.com/UNZIPPED/htdocs/1.shtml

 

[Gtrubicon]

I think you are getting to the crux of the flint issue. The composition of the flint plays a part in flint life, but so does the geometry of the lock. What lock are you using? Some locks are easy on locks right from the start. Others have to be tuned to get the flint from being bashed against the frizzen to scraping the frizzen. Sometimes it pays to have the lock professionally tuned to get the strike angle correct and the springs balanced for best performance. The angle that the flint strikes the frizzen can be adjusted by placing a piece of leather lacing or a matchstick under the rear edge of the flint.

Knapping a flint is a skill that can easily be acquired. I use either a knapping awl (I use a 16 penny nail with a notch at the tip) to take small shards of flint from the edge or I use Larry Callahan's excellent flint tool to flake off small shards from the edge of the flint. I know of many shooters that one of his tools in each of their shooting pouches. Look at his multi-tool.

http://www.bagmolds.com/UNZIPPED/htdocs/1.shtml

The lock is an L&R Durs Egg.

 

[Grenadier1758]

The L&R Durs Egg lock is a decent lock that will benefit from the polishing of internal parts. You don't want to remove metal, but you want all parts that rub to be smooth and lightly greased. I have L&R Manton locks and L&R Late English locks. All needed a bit of smoothing. I did send my Late English locks off to get updated tumblers and springs as well as the modification for a flash guard. But then, my locks were new, old stock at about 20 years old and L&R had improved the internal parts. Still, the internal polishing is a good practice.