I'm Lazy

[Cattywompuss]

Anybody else's frizzen have a little channel in it like this?

I am too lazy to climb up and pull down my other rifles to check them at the end of this rainy Thursday. The rifle in the pic is a Schimmel-esque, poor-boyish, Lacastrian .40. I didn't build any of my guns. This one is iron mounted with no nose cap, but the muzzle end of the stock left very thick, theoretically for durability. It has "Stower's Thumper" carved in the flat of bottom of the butt. Whoever built it wanted to maximize compactness, as the ramrod channel is an open wound in the lock mortise. The muzzle has been filed to apparently adjust POI.

Also, for squeezing everything into this dainty stock, the mainspring is heavily beveled on the bend with a file to make it wedge into the stock and not interrupt the ramrod coming through the stock. It's not at all poorly done, but the smith/builder really squeezed everything they could into a svelte little gun. Barn rifle would be an apropos phrase if it weren't for the target rifle aspects as well.

Anyway, anyone else got a flash channel in the frizzen?

 

[Cattywompuss]

More pics for fun

 

[kyron4]

My Traditions does.

 

[Brokennock]

Yes.

 

[DuncNZ]

I have seen frizzens with a "flash channel " made when the flash hole has been set too high and the frizzen side is blocking off all or most of the flash hole .

 

[Brokennock]

Large Siler on a TVM Early Virginia.

 

[Grenadier1758]

But why have that channel. The falling flint will have pushed the frizzen out of the way of the touch hole as the flint is scraping the frizzen at about the time the pan is ignited by the sparks generated.

 

[Brokennock]

But why have that channel. The falling flint will have pushed the frizzen out of the way of the touch hole as the flint is scraping the frizzen at about the time the pan is ignited by the sparks generated.

Good question. I really don't know the answer.

 

[Grenadier1758]

As a means to aid self-prime? With a touch hole of 1/16", self-priming should not be happening.

 

[Rifleman1776]

yes

 

[smoothshooter]

I would think the groove in the frizzen is not necessary.
Some would say detrimental. It is very common, at any rate.
A lot of flintlock shooters do not like to have the priming banked up against the vent if they can avoid it because in some guns it slows ignition a fraction.

 

[Daryl Crawford]

Just a question. As the frizzen rises and the pan is igniting, could those little angles of the channel be thought to channel the spark/heat towards the touch hole as the frizzen flips up?
I'm spit balling here.

 

[springfield art]

Anybody else's frizzen have a little channel in it like this?

I am too lazy to climb up and pull down my other rifles to check them at the end of this rainy Thursday. The rifle in the pic is a Schimmel-esque, poor-boyish, Lacastrian .40. I didn't build any of my guns. This one is iron mounted with no nose cap, but the muzzle end of the stock left very thick, theoretically for durability. It has "Stower's Thumper" carved in the flat of bottom of the butt. Whoever built it wanted to maximize compactness, as the ramrod channel is an open wound in the lock mortise. The muzzle has been filed to apparently adjust POI.

Also, for squeezing everything into this dainty stock, the mainspring is heavily beveled on the bend with a file to make it wedge into the stock and not interrupt the ramrod coming through the stock. It's not at all poorly done, but the smith/builder really squeezed everything they could into a svelte little gun. Barn rifle would be an apropos phrase if it weren't for the target rifle aspects as well.

Anyway, anyone else got a flash channel in the frizzen?

Yeah, just leaves little more room for powder in there.

 

[Brazos John]

Could the groove be for priming the pan from the main load?
Load powder and ball, close the frizzen, turn the rifle on its side with the action down, bump the rifle, and powder from the charge exits the barrel into the pan.
Maybe for speed loading, or for shooting in the rain.
Would this be a reasonable method to prime the pan?

 

[smo]

I thought everyone knew that was too funnel rain into the pan…..

 

[Cattywompuss]

Since mine appears to have been done after the lock and rifle were complete(metals a different color), I suspect the original owner or builder did it, rather than being built in.

 

[hanshi]

I have more than one like that. No advantage nor any downside I can find.

 

[smoothshooter]

Could the groove be for priming the pan from the main load?
Load powder and ball, close the frizzen, turn the rifle on its side with the action down, bump the rifle, and powder from the charge exits the barrel into the pan.
Maybe for speed loading, or for shooting in the rain.
Would this be a reasonable method to prime the pan?

I guess it could be, but if the vent is large enough for that to happen it is probably too large. That can cause accuracy problems in a rifle and excess velocity loss in any gun.
Safety issue too. An overly large vent increases the volume and danger range of the side blast coming out the vent.
Long ago self priming was sometimes seen as a good thing with military smoothbore muskets, but accuracy was considered secondary to just getting the shot off. To my limited knowledge extra large vents were usually the result of excessive gas erosion and not something that was engineered into the design.

 

[Capnball]

Anybody else's frizzen have a little channel in it like this?

I am too lazy to climb up and pull down my other rifles to check them at the end of this rainy Thursday. The rifle in the pic is a Schimmel-esque, poor-boyish, Lacastrian .40. I didn't build any of my guns. This one is iron mounted with no nose cap, but the muzzle end of the stock left very thick, theoretically for durability. It has "Stower's Thumper" carved in the flat of bottom of the butt. Whoever built it wanted to maximize compactness, as the ramrod channel is an open wound in the lock mortise. The muzzle has been filed to apparently adjust POI.

Also, for squeezing everything into this dainty stock, the mainspring is heavily beveled on the bend with a file to make it wedge into the stock and not interrupt the ramrod coming through the stock. It's not at all poorly done, but the smith/builder really squeezed everything they could into a svelte little gun. Barn rifle would be an apropos phrase if it weren't for the target rifle aspects as well.

Anyway, anyone else got a flash channel in the frizzen?

I'm thinking it's a self priming feature. I mean, by the time the sparks from the flint hit the pan, that feature is way way out of the way. Now if you just load the barrel with powder and ball, you could just lean the gun towards the pan give it a tap and deposit a small amount of powder into the pan "From" the touch hole. Just something to try, thinking out loud here.
Neil