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POLISHING THE PRIMING PAN

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APG

45 Cal.
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So I am quite new to the flintlock fad. And I now have finally got my flintlock rifle ( Traditions Kentucky flintlock rifle with a L&R replacement lock) to fire pretty much every time I pull the trigger. I'm now wanting to polish the priming pan as it is pretty ruff and seems to get "gunked up" I do have a Dremel type tool but not sure which tip would work the best. Would appreciate any help given. Thank you in advance.
 
So I am quite new to the flintlock fad. And I now have finally got my flintlock rifle ( Traditions Kentucky flintlock rifle with a L&R replacement lock) to fire pretty much every time I pull the trigger. I'm now wanting to polish the priming pan as it is pretty ruff and seems to get "gunked up" I do have a Dremel type tool but not sure which tip would work the best. Would appreciate any help given. Thank you in advance.
Cratex mandrel and rubberized abrasive bullet points that fit your pan.

CRATEX products are made in four standard grit textures or compositions which differ in accordance with the mesh size of the abrasive grain used:

  • C - COARSE (Green)
  • M - MEDIUM (Dark Brown)
  • F - FINE (Reddish Brown)
  • XF – EXTRA FINE (Grey Green)
Gus
 
I did mine manually with sandpaper. Started with 220, then 440, the 1200. I had those grits in the drawer, so that is what I used. It was pretty easy, and if your finger gets tired, do another session the next day. I polist all my pans, and it makes cleaning so easy. In my opinion time well spent.
 
DO THIS.jpg


Either one of the above works fine.

LD
 
So I am quite new to the flintlock fad.
Couple hundred more years and we will have to quit calling it a "fad". 🤣

I tried polishing around the nipple area on a percussion snail and sandpaper stuck on some appropriate shaped sticks was the solution. Don't have a dremel. That would have worked better.
 
I've polished a couple of lock pans before but otherwise don't fool with it. So far pretty much all the locks were already polished a bit when received. I generally prefer increasingly finer grit sandpaper and do it by hand.
 
So I am quite new to the flintlock fad. And I now have finally got my flintlock rifle ( Traditions Kentucky flintlock rifle with a L&R replacement lock) to fire pretty much every time I pull the trigger. I'm now wanting to polish the priming pan as it is pretty ruff and seems to get "gunked up" I do have a Dremel type tool but not sure which tip would work the best. Would appreciate any help given. Thank you in advance.
This is what I use for polishing lock and trigger parts. It’s a hard felt tapered tip. I use fine rouge polishing compound. Once you get your pan polished it will be much easier to keep clean. I like mine like a mirror.
 

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Couple hundred more years and we will have to quit calling it a "fad". 🤣

I tried polishing around the nipple area on a percussion snail and sandpaper stuck on some appropriate shaped sticks was the solution. Don't have a dremel. That would have worked better.
Cr 1650, not counting snaphaunce and micholets till now. Almost four centuries.
Then crazy kids will do anything😂
 
Why Polish? Just to ease cleaning? Or does it keep moisture from clinging to the bottom of the pan?
Yes. Really doesn’t take that much effort all things consider. Something I was taught early on. Shoot in the upper 90°F and near triple digit humidity a few times like we see here in the Carolinas and you will become a believer in polishing the pan and the difference it makes when wiping it between shots. Or don’t and complain about misfires. Here is an old photograph of one of mine, no power tools used.
1665891200034.jpeg
 
I live, shoot and hunt in SE Texas…90 degrees and 90 percent humidity are spring days…

My guns work very well. Are original pans polished?
I can’t say about all the original guns, but in south Louisiana and central Mississippi I want my pan polished as slick as possible. Easy to tell when it’s clean and dry.
 
I live, shoot and hunt in SE Texas…90 degrees and 90 percent humidity are spring days…

My guns work very well. Are original pans polished?
I have hunted the Valley and agree that the weather conditions there are challenging. If as cast unpolished pans work for you, great. I’ve just found that a polished pan helps.

Wonder if back in the day if they could use high speed internet or if they were limited to dialup to communicate?
 
Just shot today with a musket with a kinda rough pan.
Between shots the burnt powder is tougher to clean/brush out of the pan. Is it a big deal? Maybe not. Would I like it to be clean with a simple swipe for multiple practical reasons during a shoot. For me “Yes certainly” so a simple polish seems like a fine idea.
 
I live, shoot and hunt in SE Texas…90 degrees and 90 percent humidity are spring days…

My guns work very well. Are original pans polished?
In the following illustration from Diderot's Encyclopedia, fig. 23 shows a "Pan Grinder" they used to cut the pan in the lock plate. A separate Bow (fig. 6) with the string wrapped around the cylinder turned it when cutting.

1665929055672.png


After cutting, they smoothed out the chatter marks with files and hand polishing.

Gus
 
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