Vent pick in the touch hole while loading

[Erwan]

so if right handed , tilt the gun to the left side , and bump the stock to seat some FFFFG inside the touch hole liner.

Sure of it ?
Since I learn shooting sixty five years ago (1957) when I was ten, everybody in the old men who teach me told : right hand -> Right side and Left hand -> Left side, the primer must be in the pan opposite of the hole and the channel free of powder. I've done it my whole life, and it still works great…

 

[Omahkapi'si]

I spent $2.99 on that vent pick and I'm darn sure gonna get my money's worth by clearing the vent hole whenever I want to.

 

[Brokennock]

I love these guys who word their reply to imply that you shouldn't have to do anything but load prime and shoot and if you do something is wrong with you, your gun, and your family lineage,,,,,, then say, "but do what you choose."
Because allegedly their guns never build fowling at the flash hole and the pan never gets dirty .

Sounds a lot like, "my way is the only right way, regardless of if what you are doing works and if not doing it results in ignition problems,,,, you just do what you choose,,,,, even if it's wrong."

Also sounds like their full of something one might spread in one's garden.

 

[BadDaditood]

I doubt it, it wasn’t a step in army loading manuals
We know it was done. Some guns had prick holders built into the gun.
I tried it and never saw it help and quit
I swab between shots, not needed but I do. Like chicken soup it can’t hurt. Or three vents in a pie crust. Just something some do and swear by the results
Powder, ball all the way down, clear touch hole . Every thing else we do, all our secret tips, are all the best way…. For us the doer

Whoa there!! THREE vents in a pie crust?!?
That there’s crazy talk, everybody knows you gots to have Five!! ;-)

 

[Philip Lebow]

I use a feather in the touch hole as well. Used to get a hiss-boom once in awhile before I became consistent. And I don't pile the pan powder over the hole.

 

[flconch53]

I don't know if it helps but I like the reassuring feel of the pick going through powder before I prime. The military didn't pick and they weren't worried about the gun self priming because they primed before they loaded the main charge anyway

 

[Grenadier1758]

Most of us have a coned vent liner. When loading, the coned liner serves the purpose of allowing the loose powder from the main charge being pushed into the cone, bringing powder closer to the heat generated in the pan. The pick in the touch hole in some cases may block some powder access to the cone. After the main charge is compressed during loading, powder is not going to flow readily into the cone in the touch hole. I prefer to bump the breech after pouring powder to get some loose powder into the cone of the vent liner. I do pick the touch hole before shooting to ensure that the touch hole is clear.

While the preparation of the musket for loading following shots does not specify the whisking of the pan and flint between shots, that was part of the practice shooting to recognize that short term bit of maintenance. I have a whisk and pick attached to the strap on my cartridge box. This is very handy for a quick whisk and prick of the touch hole as I recover the musket after firing. Much better to have a musket that is more likely to fire than to have one that has a large buildup of powder fouling on the flint, in the pan and in the touch hole. Yes, failure to fires do occur in the line of battle.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Sure of it ?
Since I learn shooting sixty five years ago (1957) when I was ten, everybody in the old men who teach me told : right hand -> Right side and Left hand -> Left side, the primer must be in the pan opposite of the hole and the channel free of powder. I've done it my whole life, and it still works great…

I also recall reading in the black powder manuals of 40 years ago the direction to bank the powder away from the touch hole on loading. Of course the powder will get distributed all along the pan while carrying to the firing line or while carrying the rifle while hunting. This does work as so many of us have experienced. @Larry Pletcher has determined through experimentation and recording of data gathered with powder banked away from the touch hole, evenly distributed along the pan, or banked towards the touch hole (but not covering the touch hole), there is not much difference in timing. Banked close to the touch hole seems to provide a bit more heat to the main charge sooner and by precision timing measurements is faster. Not so much faster that a shooter can tell. Priming powder spread all along the pan provides more area for the sparks to find powder to ignite for more reliable ignition of the main charge. All three methods do work well. Use the one that works for you.

When I added the flash guard to my pan, I believe that having the flash guard directed more of the heat of the pan flash into the touch hole. I'm not sure that is necessisarily true, but it seemed so at the time.

 

[pmccoywss]

I also use a feather, as it helps keep powder in the barrel when I get overly quick and hard on the ramrod. If I have to go into battle again, my flinter is NOT the rifle I grab from the rack.

 

[hanshi]

But, did they alway go off?

They always did for the ones who lived through the battle.

 

[Erwan]

I also recall reading in the black powder manuals of 40 years ago the direction to bank the powder away from the touch hole on loading. Of course the powder will get distributed all along the pan while carrying to the firing line or while carrying the rifle while hunting.

Powder along the tray to the hole opening is normal, and it will get there anyway for sure, but almost closing the hole, which would tend to "clog" it, is not the best thing to do.
As for the rest, as long as you don't go over half the height of the hole, there isn't much difference in the firing speed, but you need a free channel, otherwise the flash won't work well and will tend to go up without inflammation.......
I learned in the blessed days when you could (no longer now and strictly forbidden: club and range only) go out in the country with a flintlock rifle: I've seen quite a few times when I had to put the pin back in the hole and prime again, just because I had forgotten the teaching of the old shooters, especially my grandfather, and all my powder had gone from the right to the left and against the hole and the flash had gone off without igniting the charge. ........... I had forgotten to tap or tilt the lock...

Most of us have a coned vent liner.

All my holes are "removable vents" with the channel tapered on both sides, which gives a "venturi" effect that is supposed to improve the velocity of the hot gases (they say), I have never noticed a really noticeable difference, but 98% of European rifles are now made this way, so........ I use that...

 

[Rifleman1776]

Don't use a vent plug. Never saw a need.

 

[Erwan]

Don't use a vent plug. Never saw a need.

Does this thing exist ?

 

[DuncNZ]

I am re reading Joseph Doddridge's book about the settlement of the western parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania 1763-1783 , on page 131 , on turning out for military duty he states
"Although there was no legal compulsion to the performance of military duty , yet every man of full age and size was expected to do his full share of public service . If he did not do so he was "hated out as a coward"
Even the want (lack) of any article of war equipments , such as ammunition, a sharp flint , a priming wire , a scalping knife or tomahawk , was thought highly disgraceful" .
I can only assume that a priming wire ( vent pick) was considered essential in those days when one's survival was at stake .
I also note a patch knife was not included in the requirements

 

[deerstalkert]

i only use a vent pick on my pistol. i put it in and then load. if i don't the patch and ball blows a jet of powder out the vent. like women, every gun has its own quirks! but of course my way is the only right way!

 

[DuncNZ]

I would say the flintlocks in Doddridge's time frame would have had fairly large flash holes and maybe needed the priming wire to both block the hole when loading and keep it blocked to stop powder loss , until the rifle was to be used .
Is it a flash hole on a rifle or pistol but a vent hole on a cannon ? or does the terminology interchange ?.

 

[deerstalkert]

AKA touchhole

 

[John May]

When I shoot my Matchlock pistol I always put a pick in the vent hole when I am loading. I've made a few from stripped household wiring, using a single copper strand around .040". Never had a problem (That was the kiss-of-death statement by the way)!

I have a friend who shoots original Flint Pistol and he uses a rolled up ball of cleaning patch in the pan with the frizzed closed over it. He's an ex-International shot and holds a couple of Club records so I will bow down to his experience.

 

[John May]

Frizzen, (darn spellcheck....)

 

[DuncNZ]

With a lot of things in muzzle loading what really matters is what works best for you .

In Doddridge's book there are instances of people being chased by Indians and snapping the lock several times before it went off , and loading while running ( Lewis Wetsel), I wonder if they used larger flash holes which were self priming or the sparks made their way through the flash hole .
I noticed one part where the men in a fort divided up powder and lead then ran their own balls with the advise of the commander to carefully remove the neck ( sprue) and scrape then for a little less ie; scrape down the ball for an easy fit for faster loading , and to use patches 100 finer than normally used and have them well oiled , cloth is measured in threads per inch , so I assume that 100 less threads per inch makes for a thinner cloth , and another where the women cut the patches ,
so no need for a patch knife , a short starter and no mention of a priming horn .