Shovelbuck
Active Member
Now that I'm not the only one shooting flintlocks here, I thought this may come in handy to current or future flintlock shooters.
One of the key things to have them spark well is having a sharp flint. It must be sharp in order to shave tiny pieces of hot steel from the frizzen which ignite the powder.
There's several ways to keep it sharp but this one really works good and is simple to do.
With your gun un-loaded, lower the hammer down onto the frizzen slowly until the flint is at the "heel". See photo.
Next, while holding frizzen in that position, cock the hammer back and release it, allowing it to strike the heel of the frizzen. This will knock off the old flint edge, giving it a nice sharp, and square edge.
After doing this, you may need to move the flint forward in the jaws as it needs to be about a 1/16 of an inch from the closed frizzen when at half cock.
There's no set schedule for doing this. Some flints last longer than others. But with a good lock, a quality flint should go 25 to 45 shots before needing this done. Your millage may vary.
A word of caution, please wear eye protection while doing this as small pieces of flint will fly off at great velocity, and are very sharp.
One of the key things to have them spark well is having a sharp flint. It must be sharp in order to shave tiny pieces of hot steel from the frizzen which ignite the powder.
There's several ways to keep it sharp but this one really works good and is simple to do.
With your gun un-loaded, lower the hammer down onto the frizzen slowly until the flint is at the "heel". See photo.
Next, while holding frizzen in that position, cock the hammer back and release it, allowing it to strike the heel of the frizzen. This will knock off the old flint edge, giving it a nice sharp, and square edge.
After doing this, you may need to move the flint forward in the jaws as it needs to be about a 1/16 of an inch from the closed frizzen when at half cock.
There's no set schedule for doing this. Some flints last longer than others. But with a good lock, a quality flint should go 25 to 45 shots before needing this done. Your millage may vary.
A word of caution, please wear eye protection while doing this as small pieces of flint will fly off at great velocity, and are very sharp.
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