• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades

Which flints work best in your small Siler?

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Jun 2, 2022
Messages
1,658
Reaction score
3,639
Location
Elam's Prairie, AR
Good morning all...

I recently got back into bp shooting, and purchased a handbuilt .40 (my first rocklock) with a small Siler. I'm not sure the flint that I have in the jaws is the best one for the job. Most of the time it seems to spark alright and fires with no issue, but I have been getting clacks more often, no matter how I'm positioning my flint. Turning the bevel down doesn't work, with this flint at least, the edge of the flint is past the frizzen when it comes down. The flint has a sharp edge on it. I have about 1/8" clearance at half cock. The lock is clean and oiled and greased in all the right places. The frizzen pin is straight and polished. The mainspring and frizzen springs aren't weak and feel like they are of the correct ratio to each other.

Am I missing something? Bad geometry? Which flints give you the best performance in your small Siler?

flint1.JPGflint2.jpg
 
I have a gun that does this with regularity…for my gun, the frizzen spring was a bit too strong and would occasionally not allow the frizzen to fully open.

That’s a beautiful looking lock portion of your gun. I just love these guns….
 
I have a gun that does this with regularity…for my gun, the frizzen spring was a bit too strong and would occasionally not allow the frizzen to fully open.

That’s a beautiful looking lock portion of your gun. I just love these guns….
Thanks sir, found it on GunBroker...shes a great shooter when she goes off 😂
 
Looks like you need to polish the frizzen spring and frizzen toe contact points to a mirror finish. Then time the opening of the frizzen to snap open at about 35-40deg. It should snap open about when the flint gets to the bottom of the frizzen face. I would also polish the sides of the frizzen and inside of the bridle plus the screw to free them up.. Done right you won't remove any metal. Chances are the insides also need polishing.
 
sometimes those turtle back flints will cause the top jaw to strike the frizzen before or instead of the flint.
Exactly right...I have removed a small portion of the top jaw to negate this, but it just barely seemed to do any good. So do you think a thinner/flatter flint would be more of what I need? The size of this flint is 5/8"x5/8"
 
Looks like you need to polish the frizzen spring and frizzen toe contact points to a mirror finish. Then time the opening of the frizzen to snap open at about 35-40deg. It should snap open about when the flint gets to the bottom of the frizzen face. I would also polish the sides of the frizzen and inside of the bridle plus the screw to free them up.. Done right you won't remove any metal. Chances are the insides also need polishing.
polish with a fine steel wool? Buffing wheel?

How would I check the opening point of the frizzen? Just slowly ease the hammer down until it snaps open?

How would I change this timing?
 
The way to tell is the space between cock and closed frizzen at half cocked, the older ones only allow a short flint(1/2x1/2 or 5/8 x5/8) the newer tumbler will allow a 3/4 x 5/8
 
polish with a fine steel wool? Buffing wheel?

How would I check the opening point of the frizzen? Just slowly ease the hammer down until it snaps open?

How would I change this timing?
1. Use a stone and oil for the flat surfaces. I use polishing sticks from Rio Grande for the curved areas, but they might be available elsewhwere. Very fine grit wet or dry sandpaper and a dowel will work in a pinch. Clean it up and grease(not oil) all the contact points. Maybe a drop of oil on the tumbler shaft. I use a round toothpick for the grease every time I clean the rifle.

2. You don't need the hammer. Leave it at half-cock, and slowly ease the frizzen open until it snaps on its own. You can eyeball the angle to get started. You can also feel if there is a gritty feel to the movement. Then you can try the hammer. A good polishing might be enough to make it work. In your right hand picture the frizzen should have already been open on its own. The flint is well clear of the corner.

3. I eyeball the spot on the frizzen toe where I want the frizzen to snap open. Then I stone an angle on the front side of the toe. The frizzen is hard enough that you can't hardly mess it up, but it doesn't take much of an angle to make it snap open. Sort of a stone and try it method.

If that lock is very old it might have one of the softer mainsprings. I had one on a used rifle, and it was upgraded by Chambers. New spring and tumbler. It was a good sparker when I got it back.
 
Last edited:
Knap it back some. I can’t get a pic of what I use but they are smaller which makes sense. TOTW had a good supply and good info on the sizing.
But Log Cabin will also have good stock and information
 
For those who think their frizzen doesn't open fully, try this. Put your thumb against the front of the frizzen in fired position. Cock and cycle the lock, and see if the frizzen strikes your thumb. It usually does. The rebound of a frizzen is so fast that you may not see it happen otherwise.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top