How many shots?

[Rat]

My flints seem to last "forever". But, I don't shoot dozens of times, really most of my shooting is just a few shots (six-seven?) to make sure she's "on", or when playing around with lube changes, different size balls, patch thickness and stuff like that. So I don't change flints often, but don't hesitate if it's feeling or looking dull, I'll change it BEFORE it stops working. But yeah, never counted. I've never had a flint come loose in the jaws.

I have a Chambers lock on my Jeager, (Birddog6) when I first got it I thought it was going to be a real rock crusher as the main spring and frizzen spring are quite stiff. However, they seem to last "forever" in it. But again, I'll change flints before they fail, and usually put in a new one before hunting season. Or not, if it's nice and sharp and sparks good.

On my Bess, (Pedersoli) the mainspring is quite soft, as is the frizzen spring. Flint life seems to be forever on it also, which would make sense. It does not spark quite as well as the Jeager, but I have it at 100% reliability after coning the touch hole and making the pan a little deeper.

So I would guess that I change flints around the 30 shot mark, maybe a bit more, but that is just a guess. With some knapping (I have never knapped my flints, but save them all if I need to do that...I have a very good supply of fresh ones) I'd just guess I could get around 70-80-90. ? Hope that helps.