GRRW Flintock Giving Me Fits

[Okurok]

I have a GRRW halfstock flintlock that is not sparking very good. I'm not familiar with flintlocks and not sure what the problems may be. I think that the mainspring may not be strong enough because it's not flipping the frizzen forward when you fire it. The face of the frizzen is rough from the flint suggesting to me that it's soft. I would welcome any suggestions on how to make this lock spark better. It will not fire the gun more than 1 in 10 tries. I have tried a different flint that sparks good in a Chambers Ketland lock.

The first picture shows the fired state of the lock.

 

[deerstalkert]

you need a longer flint. it should be 1/16 or so from the frizzen at half cock. nothing i can see wrong with that frizzen.

 

[smo]

Turn the flint over, bevel up and make sure it’s sharp and the proper size for that lock..
It won’t hurt too give that a try.
Make sure the lock is traveling as required outside the stock and don’t over tighten any screws..

 

[deerstalkert]

question. if you flip the frizzen open from the shown state does the cock follow it forward?

 

[Sidney Smith]

Ditch that flint and replace with one that is longer, and has a nice sharp edge.

I see a lot of guys who seem to think as long as it's a flint, it's going to create sparks. Right now son, you're trying to pick your nose while wearing boxing gloves.

 

[rich pierce]

I don’t like a couple of those gouges on the frizzen. I’d take the frizzen off and gently smooth the face on a grinding wheel. Then see if following the advice above, longer flint, it catches as it is doing now. The face looks well worn as though this gun has been shot a lot. If so, doubting the mainspring is too weak.

If it’s too soft, I do not advise using the various hardening compounds which only add carbon about 0.001-2” deep.

Best options are to test the frizzen face hardness with a fine file compared to a lock sparking well. Then, if soft, 1) re-harden the frizzen and see if you get success. If successful, temper it overall at 425 degrees for an hour in the oven and a little extra at the toe. 2) deep case harden it in a charcoal pack for an hour. Temper as above. 3) affix a thin, hard, high carbon sold to the face. Techniques include soft soldering, brazing, and riveting. I don’t advise doing any of this yourself unless you have experience. Brad Emig at Cabin Creek is the go-to for such work.

 

[ronaldrothb49]

The only thing I would add to what has already been said is to get a thinner piece of leather to hold the flint. The flint has to be locked in place for the best spark and the thicker the leather you use to hold the flint the harder it is to get it locked in place.