With no prime in the pan!

[hanshi]

An errant spark from the flint can certainly find its way into the flash hole. Not likely but it can happen at any time. I've fired more than once just from a kernel or two of powder that migrated through the vent and into the pan. Let's be safe at all times.

 

[Joel/Calgary]

In Ontario you must empty th pan and plug the touch hole for the gun to be considered legally unloaded. With perc. removing the cap from the nipple is enough.

Check your hunting regulations, because I am under the impression that it is Federal law that dictates that in Alberta one must remove the flint as well as the priming before transporting between hunting locations. As for how many actually obey this.... "don't ask, don't tell" seems to apply.

Regards,
Joel

 

[Birddog6]

You bet ur butt it will go off ! :shocked2: Years ago Packdog & I were at the deer camp & we came in to eat lunch, he asked me the same thing. I said Yep, it will fire. He brushed ALL of the powder out of the pan with a brush & fired it & the second time he tried that baby went off ! :wink:

Also, that is why I always say Never Never Ever knap a flint on a loaded rifle........ Don't block the hole or feather it or toothpick it, Don't Take a Chance. Just change the flint & shoot the rifle & then put the old one back & knap it if you want to knap it.

Keith Lisle

 

[matt denison]

Rule of thumb as I learned it years ago:

1 in 5 tries will set off an unprimed pan.

May not hold exactly true but has kept me safe for all these years knowing that just 'cause it isn't primed doesn't mean it can't go off.

 

[roundball]

To prevent any possible external source of ignition and/or moisture form getting into a freshly loaded bore through the vent I do the following to 100% seal it:

I bought a roll of the type of duct tape that does not leave any sticky residue...GI OD matte finish dry adhesive duct tape, Gaffer's duct tape, Grip duct tape, etc.

When I load in the garage at 4:30am before leaving for hunting, I slip on the leather hammer stall, and press a 1/2" wide strip of this dry duct tape across the pan, then flat up against the vent on the breech flat, then over the top flat, etc.

Get to my stand, peel off the tape and stick it on the stock for use in knapping a flint, or for the return ride home, prime the pan and start hunting. It's a simple, quick, 100% reliable insurance policy against accidental ignition through the vent...a modern concession I have no problem making when using my Flintlocks.

 

[Dphar]

To prevent any possible external source of ignition and/or moisture form getting into a freshly loaded bore through the vent I do the following to 100% seal it:

I bought a roll of the type of duct tape that does not leave any sticky residue...GI OD matte finish dry adhesive duct tape, Gaffer's duct tape, Grip duct tape, etc.

When I load in the garage at 4:30am before leaving for hunting, I slip on the leather hammer stall, and press a 1/2" wide strip of this dry duct tape across the pan, then flat up against the vent on the breech flat, then over the top flat, etc.

Get to my stand, peel off the tape and stick it on the stock for use in knapping a flint, or for the return ride home, prime the pan and start hunting. It's a simple, quick, 100% reliable insurance policy against accidental ignition through the vent...a modern concession I have no problem making when using my Flintlocks.

If I have enough fire around to set off my rifle through the vent while in a leather gun cover an AD is the least of my worries.
Dan

 

[roundball]

To each their own of course...but after walking through the woods in the dark to get to a stand I want to take, the last thing I'd want to have to fool with when I get there is a big leather gun case
:v

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

I still think it highly unlikely to discharge but not impossible.

This is correct.

I've seen it myself!

A lot depends on how the flint is set, type of flint, how new the flint is, how brittle, etc. If you get a real "sparker" of an ignition system (flint & pan) there's more of a chance that it will light-off without any powder in the pan at all!

Why tempt fate?? We're all only in this to have fun. A bad AD isn't any fun at all!

Dave

 

[Dave K]

Happened to me once. I thought I lost spark on my flinter, but I didn't! I cleaned out the pan, thinking it was now safe (it is considered unloaded by the state of Ohio). I was of course outside in the squirrel woods and I snapped the lock to see what I needed to do to get spark. I watched one lonely spark, make a circle around that pan and just like that it appeared to get sucked into the vent. That gun went off and scared the heck out of me. Though my state calls it unloaded with no prime in the pan. I treat it like every gun and that it is a loaded gun.

 

[Greenmtnboy]

guess that is why they make frizzen stalls.
that would be and eye opener. :shocked2:
i use one on loaded pans. think I will do so on an empty one for now on.
how would you live that down! AHH HONEY I JUST SHOT THE _____ YOU FILL IT IN? :redface:

Please note,
greenmountainboy is not me
Greenmtnboy
I was wondering why I got several email from forum buddies wondering when I changed my name.
maby one of us should change our title enough so as not to get confused with each other.

 

[Twisted_1in66]

I'd once heard that you didn't need much powder at all to fire your rifle if the lock is set up well. Story goes you can lick your finger, rub the pan, prime it and then turn the pan entirely upside down to dump all the powder out and there will still be enough powder sticking to the moisture from your finger to fire the rifle. So I tried it...3 times in a row....Fired the main charge every single time :shocked2: :shocked2: :shocked2:

So, I always use a hammer stall if I have a load in the barrel.

Twisted_1in66 :thumbsup:

 

[goon]

The vent on my Bess is big enough that a few granules of powder often make their way into the pan when I load. I wouldn't call it "self-priming", but I also wouldn't call it "safe" just because I hadn't consciously primed it.

But any gun is only as safe as that hollow space between one's ears. :wink:

 

[BadHorse]

Anybody have a flintlock fire with no powder in the pan?

funny you ask! couple of months ago, i was at a buddies cabin, we had been on a scout, afterwards we were just hanging out and talking and i decided to do a bit of maintenance on my lock (a delux siler), pulled it off and and cleaned and oiled it. when i reinstalled the lock like a dumbass i pulled the cock back and yanked the trigger, to my surprise and the other 2 gentlmen in the room it went BOOM! so, can a flintlock go off with a clean lock? heck yes! test all you want, the gun will not cooperate. the first time you arent paying attention, well here are a couple of pics of the 101 year old cabin i shot and killed.

 

[hanshi]

Now you got to field dress it and cook it! :rotf:

 

[BadHorse]

Now you got to field dress it and cook it! :rotf:

how do you think i got my camp name of Termite?

 

[kentucky bucky]

Yes, it has happened to me once. I was shooting my .36 mtn rifle with a Chambers Late Ketland lock and I had to re-set my flint in the jaws. I blew out all of the prime, fixed the loose flint, and tried it to see if it would spark correctly. To my surprize, it fired just as fast an sure as it did with a primer charge. It has a Chamber's vent liner and you can see powder grains up against the touch hole when loaded right. I guess it just takes one well aimed spark to hit the center of the touch hole. Luckily I had the caution to aim it at the target as if it were "live fire", which it turned out to be!

 

[jrmflintlock]

It happened to me a long time ago with my Traditions kentucky Rifle. I was very new to rock locks and was stump shooting with my buddy when I loaded my rifle and my rock was too dull to lite my prime. So I dumped the prime and claened it with my pan brush. After I knapped the rock I put the frizzen down and checked to see if it would spark and the gun went off. I guess there could have been a few granials of powder but it does not take much.

Look at it this way.. When you want it to, it won't and when you don't want it to it will!

Morpheys law !! :grin:

 

[David Teague]

Yep, I had it happen once when I changed out flints during a shooting session.

The last flint I had with me was to long for the lock and I was trying to shorten it enough to work.

Had the rifle lock up and muzzle pointed down range when I was checking for spark. I got "one".. and it went right down the vent... :shocked2: BOOM.

Got my cheek slashed by the knapping debris shot from the pan, face burnt from the hot gas and some burnt powder in to the skin... :shake:

just not my best day at the range. :surrender:

I went home and cleaned out my face wounds...

and ordered in some new flints. :haha:

 

[matt denison]

If you shoot it ya' gotta eat it. :rotf:

 

[JMinnerath]

A "cabin" with a satellite dish on the roof?
:rotf: