Howdy from Florida

[TrapperDude]

Hello from Florida. I spent a good number of years crafting my skills with semi-auto pistols and rifles of various types, both for Army qualifications and my own personal desire to see how far I could enhance my skillset. After several years of doing this, I took and interest in magnum revolvers, and those ended up being my last modern firearm purchases over the last few years.

Later, I decided to get a Uberti Remington 1858 New Army because cap and ball had intrigued me for some time. After a few trips to the range with it, I was thoroughly impressed with its accuracy and the force with which 30gr of Pyrodex would slam a ball into a plate at 25 yards. I developed a new respect for those old-school revolvers.

Eventually, I ended up taking an interest in learning about flintlock weapons, so I bought a Traditions Trapper. I've been very impressed with what it can do. I'm running a .490" ball over 40gr of fffg Goex and priming the pan with the same stuff, getting great results.

I've only run it out to 12 yards on an 8" target, so far. I will be running the target out to 25 yards after some additional practice with it. It is an accurate pistol, and follow-through isn't a problem--the delay is amazingly imperceptible. I just have to get used to the difference in balance and the overall geometry of it compared to my other weapons. Once I manage that with some dry fire, I expect much better results.

 

[Black Powder Guy]

Hello from Washington. I lived in southeast Florida from my teens to my late fifties. Started my love of guns there. Brian

 

[Codger Craig Wilcox]

Trapper, IF you are going to dry fire a flintlock, put a piece of hardwood, cut to resemble a flint, in the jaws of the cock. That way you won't wear out either your flint or your frizzen. And firing it without a flint OR piece of wood in those jaws will result in a severely bent topscrew.

Be sure to wrap your flint well with a small piece of leather. The olde Army guys used a very thin piece of lead wrapped around the flint, but that is too much weight for a civilian cock to handle. So, use thin leather. Many of us will use a graver to make small teeth on the bottom and top jaws, all the better to bite your finger... Actually, all the better to bite into the leather that is wrapped around your flint. And knap your flint often, to keep a sharp, useable flint edge. And always use care with the flints - old biologists like me know that it makes a sharper edge than almost anything else - it WILL gash your fingers in a hummingbird's heartbeat. That's about 1/250 of a second! Really sharper than a surgeons scalpel.

15 and 25 yards is good with a flint pistol - you will build experience quickly.

 

[TrapperDude]

Trapper, IF you are going to dry fire a flintlock, put a piece of hardwood, cut to resemble a flint, in the jaws of the cock. That way you won't wear out either your flint or your frizzen. And firing it without a flint OR piece of wood in those jaws will result in a severely bent topscrew.

Be sure to wrap your flint well with a small piece of leather. The olde Army guys used a very thin piece of lead wrapped around the flint, but that is too much weight for a civilian cock to handle. So, use thin leather. Many of us will use a graver to make small teeth on the bottom and top jaws, all the better to bite your finger... Actually, all the better to bite into the leather that is wrapped around your flint. And knap your flint often, to keep a sharp, useable flint edge. And always use care with the flints - old biologists like me know that it makes a sharper edge than almost anything else - it WILL gash your fingers in a hummingbird's heartbeat. That's about 1/250 of a second! Really sharper than a surgeons scalpel.

15 and 25 yards is good with a flint pistol - you will build experience quickly.

I was reading some of the threads here where they talked about using a piece of wood in place of the flint, and I was glad to see those threads. I had wondered how best to dry fire--there is no way I was going to tear up good flints doing that or beating up the equipment dry firing with empty jaws. Using a piece of wood crossed my mind, but I wasn't sure if it was appropriate. It's nice to see that that technique has already worked for others. I'm a big fan of using techniques that others have already successfully applied.

As for flints, I was amazed at how well it sparked after the sharp edge got knocked down. I used my first flint for 30 strikes without knapping it once, actually, and I only got two failures to ignite before it finally gave up the ghost for good.

I kept that flint and will knap it if there's enough left of it. It's a little short. How many strikes do you typically get from your flints?

 

[Old Timer 48]

Welcome!

 

[deermanok]

Welcome from Oklahoma.

 

[Eutycus]

Howdy and Welcome from Texas!

 

[Codger Craig Wilcox]

I was reading some of the threads here where they talked about using a piece of wood in place of the flint, and I was glad to see those threads. I had wondered how best to dry fire--there is no way I was going to tear up good flints doing that or beating up the equipment dry firing with empty jaws. Using a piece of wood crossed my mind, but I wasn't sure if it was appropriate. It's nice to see that that technique has already worked for others. I'm a big fan of using techniques that others have already successfully applied.

As for flints, I was amazed at how well it sparked after the sharp edge got knocked down. I used my first flint for 30 strikes without knapping it once, actually, and I only got two failures to ignite before it finally gave up the ghost for good.

I kept that flint and will knap it if there's enough left of it. It's a little short. How many strikes do you typically get from your flints?

Anything from a ZERO to 50 or 60. Generally reach the upper limit, but have had flints fly apart also.
I was lucky recently - I had two locks to put dummy flints in - and had been making an ebony handled knife. A piece of the wood, cut in half on a diagonal, supplied two "flints" - they were shaped exactly right, looked very realistic. Was giving a presentation at a nearby elementary school, and didn't want any of the kids to get hurt. I showed them how a flint lock works, and had ONE lock set up with a real flint. Then I passed around the two locks with ebony "flint" stones in the jaws. Saved a lot of Liability money going out to anyone.

 

[thomas]

Welcome to the forum.
Thomas

 

[LME]

Hello from Florida. I spent a good number of years crafting my skills with semi-auto pistols and rifles of various types, both for Army qualifications and my own personal desire to see how far I could enhance my skillset. After several years of doing this, I took and interest in magnum revolvers, and those ended up being my last modern firearm purchases over the last few years.

Later, I decided to get a Uberti Remington 1858 New Army because cap and ball had intrigued me for some time. After a few trips to the range with it, I was thoroughly impressed with its accuracy and the force with which 30gr of Pyrodex would slam a ball into a plate at 25 yards. I developed a new respect for those old-school revolvers.

Eventually, I ended up taking an interest in learning about flintlock weapons, so I bought a Traditions Trapper. I've been very impressed with what it can do. I'm running a .490" ball over 40gr of fffg Goex and priming the pan with the same stuff, getting great results.

I've only run it out to 12 yards on an 8" target, so far. I will be running the target out to 25 yards after some additional practice with it. It is an accurate pistol, and follow-through isn't a problem--the delay is amazingly imperceptible. I just have to get used to the difference in balance and the overall geometry of it compared to my other weapons. Once I manage that with some dry fire, I expect much better results.

The bug has bit you! It bit me 45 years ago . Its the most fun a man can have with his pants on!

 

[Notchy Bob]

Welcome, from Gator Country!

Notchy Bob

 

[TrapperDude]

Anything from a ZERO to 50 or 60. Generally reach the upper limit, but have had flints fly apart also.
I was lucky recently - I had two locks to put dummy flints in - and had been making an ebony handled knife. A piece of the wood, cut in half on a diagonal, supplied two "flints" - they were shaped exactly right, looked very realistic. Was giving a presentation at a nearby elementary school, and didn't want any of the kids to get hurt. I showed them how a flint lock works, and had ONE lock set up with a real flint. Then I passed around the two locks with ebony "flint" stones in the jaws. Saved a lot of Liability money going out to anyone.

50 or 60 is a lot of strikes. I am going to see what I can do with the flint I replaced at the range. Maybe it's salvageable. Do you have any old flints that are officially done? My common sense tells me what a finished-off flint would look like, but I don't have the practical experience to know if that common sense is right.

The bug has bit you! It bit me 45 years ago . Its the most fun a man can have with his pants on!

Yeah, trying to cut time to first round on target, transition times and split times with modern handguns is a blast, but the deliberateness of everything associated with muzzle loaders and cap and ball revolvers has its own charm. I particularly enjoy trying to duplicate the accuracy I get with my modern handguns using the black powder pistols. I run them with the charges at strength so I can experience what the original users experienced when black powder weapons were state of the art. It gives me much more appreciation for what historical warriors, frontiersmen and hunters had to work with as they made our country.

 

[nit wit]

Welcome from Maine
Nit Wit

 

[Neil55]

Welcome

 

[zerosprk]

Hi and welcome from northern New Mexico!

 

[Ninering62]

Hello from Florida. I spent a good number of years crafting my skills with semi-auto pistols and rifles of various types, both for Army qualifications and my own personal desire to see how far I could enhance my skillset. After several years of doing this, I took and interest in magnum revolvers, and those ended up being my last modern firearm purchases over the last few years.

Later, I decided to get a Uberti Remington 1858 New Army because cap and ball had intrigued me for some time. After a few trips to the range with it, I was thoroughly impressed with its accuracy and the force with which 30gr of Pyrodex would slam a ball into a plate at 25 yards. I developed a new respect for those old-school revolvers.

Eventually, I ended up taking an interest in learning about flintlock weapons, so I bought a Traditions Trapper. I've been very impressed with what it can do. I'm running a .490" ball over 40gr of fffg Goex and priming the pan with the same stuff, getting great results.

I've only run it out to 12 yards on an 8" target, so far. I will be running the target out to 25 yards after some additional practice with it. It is an accurate pistol, and follow-through isn't a problem--the delay is amazingly imperceptible. I just have to get used to the difference in balance and the overall geometry of it compared to my other weapons. Once I manage that with some dry fire, I expect much better results.

Welcome from a Md. Transplant to north central Fl.

 

[RedRiverII]

Welcome from Fla. Port Malabar RPC has a Black Powder club. Where are you located, North, Central, or South Fl.?

 

[toot]

Welcome.

 

[Ninering62]

Welcome from Fla. Port Malabar RPC has a Black Powder club. Where are you located, North, Central, or South Fl.?

What's around north central Fl muzzleloader wise? I come from a large & deeply rooted muzzleloading area, I've not seen anything around me muzzleloader wise that I'd want to mess with. I heard about some guys shootin traditional inside a 100yds & free standing not too far from me. But I only have 1 sidelock anymore & it's a custom Sporter & shoots modern jacketed or cast pistol bullets. I heard someone mention of an 800yd shooting range somewhere near Lake City Fl., but I don't remember who said it & can't seem to locate anything about it online. There are 2- 100yd public ranges within 30-45 min drive, but I have a 400yd range on the fam property that I'm stayin at. So no need for them. I hear a lot of shooting from all kinds of guns during deer season around here. Except for other muzzleloader blasts- notta 1 within ear shot in 7yrs of stayin here. That's all very strange for me. I need a free place to shoot my inlines to 600yds. Any suggestions?

 

[1950DAVE]

Welcome to the forum, TrapperDude. Lived in Astor, FL, on the St. John's 50 yrs ago for a while then in Umatilla. Sister just moved from Pedro back to NW AL after 30+ yrs.
Dave