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Author Topic: Skunked by a Hangfire  (Read 1018 times)

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Offline TKO

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Skunked by a Hangfire
« on: October 18, 2004, 04:24:30 PM »
Went flinting in the rain (downpour).  Had my muzzle taped off with electricians tape and handi-wrap over the flint/pan.

Had a doe come out of the woods into the field I was watching and she came from my right to the left, broadside at 30 yards.  I waited until she got two steps from entering my shooting lane, removed the hadi-wrap and cocked the hammer.  She stopped and the rain didn't.  After 10 seconds or so, she stepped into the shooting lane and I dropped the hammer on her.  My pan fizzled.  It made smoke and a sound like a dynamite fuse running down and I held fast. This lasted for about 2 seconds then silence.  She is looking at me (I guess she heard the noise) and I start to lower the rifle and BAM.  I launched a powerbelt into the soft earth about six feet infront of me.   :eek:   I don't know who crapped themselves first, me or her, but we both got a shock!

I started to laugh and she started to run.

Maybe tomorrow it will be a dry day.
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Offline quickdtoo

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Skunked by a Hangfire
« Reply #1 on: October 18, 2004, 04:34:13 PM »
I seal my frizzen with a mix of neatsfoot oil and beeswax, about the consistency of snowseal. Put a bead all the way around the pan and close it after priming, then smear a little tween the barrel and frizzen. I never seal the bore, got a borebutter patched round ball down there, I just keep the muzzle down. Never had any kind a hangfire...works well for me and it do rain here, about as much if not more than anywhere else! On my "other" guns, I do seal the bore with duct tape.
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Offline Birddog6

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Skunked by a Hangfire
« Reply #2 on: October 18, 2004, 04:46:42 PM »
I seal mine pan with my grease the same, plus I carry the rifle with the lock tilted out, so the powder is away from the vent hole. I want the vent hole open all the time & no powder in it to fuse to the charge.
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Offline TKO

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Skunked by a Hangfire
« Reply #3 on: October 18, 2004, 04:49:23 PM »
Thanks for the suggestions, guys.  By the look of the forecast, I meight get to use them tomorrow. :D
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Offline THE#1hunter

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Skunked by a Hangfire
« Reply #4 on: October 20, 2004, 05:48:00 AM »
TKO, I also was out the first day in Pa, I had a chance at a nice doe, but somehow I missed, thats never a good feeling but I guess it happens to everyone...But yea, the weather wasnt the best was it :) , just a typical day in Penns woods :lol: Good luck to ya :D
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Offline savageT

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Skunked by a Hangfire
« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2004, 06:18:10 AM »
I just don't know how Dan'l Boone got his bear with his flinter?????  I seal the muzzle with a small balloon stretched over the barrel, but I use percussion cap and keep the hammer down until I'm ready.  I honestly don't know how you guys in PA can use those finters in the rain??  Gotta hand it to ya for your determination.  Hope you have better weather than we do in NY.........
Jim
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Offline quickdtoo

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Skunked by a Hangfire
« Reply #6 on: October 20, 2004, 06:58:30 AM »
Quote from: savageT
.... I use percussion cap and keep the hammer down until I'm ready.  


Jim, water can easily find its way to defeat your cap thru capillary action and your day could be ruined. A "cow's knee" will help "waterproof" your ignition. It's just a piece of waterproofed(greased) leather that forms a little tent over the action with a couples leather strips to hold it in place, can easily be removed when the time comes. The hammer should never rest on the cap/nipple, a blow to the hammer could set it off. You can also use a short piece of surgical tubing slipped over the cap and part of the nipple to keep thing dry. Be sure to use grease of some sort on the nipple threads or water will find its way to your powder in time.  hth,  Tim
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Offline filmokentucky

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Skunked by a Hangfire
« Reply #7 on: October 20, 2004, 07:37:34 AM »
SavageT - Listen to quickdtoo on this one. Hammer down on the cap is an invitation to disaster. As for cowsknees and flintlocks, a few years back, I was deer hunting during primitive season here. It was early December and a light, freezing rain started falling. No game was moving and I quit for the day. The fowler had been loaded for hours and the gun was covered with a thin coat of ice. Not wanting to carry it home in a loaded state, I aimed at a nearby stump and fired. It lit off first try. The old ways do work and are usually less expensive and complicated than some new-fangled gizmo. 'Course, I have been accused of being old fashioned a time or two--I'm still not sure those cartridge guns are ever going to catch on. When they've been around as long as the flintlock, we'll see....
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Offline savageT

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Skunked by a Hangfire
« Reply #8 on: October 20, 2004, 11:47:36 AM »
Thanks for the weatherproofing help guys!  Is there a site I could go to to see a drawing or photo of these percussion cap covers?  I'm not sure how a leather tent or sugical tubing is going to keep out water and still fire a cap off???
Jim
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savageT........Have you hugged a '99 lately?

Of all the things I've lost in my life, I miss my mind the most.

Offline quickdtoo

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Skunked by a Hangfire
« Reply #9 on: October 20, 2004, 11:58:26 AM »
The cow's knee covers the lock area, protects it from rain/snow just as a raincoat would protect a hunter. The surgical tubing need only be 1/4" long at the most, slip it over the cap so most of the sides of the cap and part of the nipple are covered. It completely seals the cap so no water can get to the priming or nipple. If you use musket caps, you need the flangeless type, won't work with winged/flanged caps.


http://members.aye.net/~bspen/wetflints.html
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Offline savageT

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Skunked by a Hangfire
« Reply #10 on: October 20, 2004, 02:25:30 PM »
quickdtoo,
Thanks again....My Tradition is equipped with a musket nipple that accepts flanged caps.  Where do I find the non-flanged type?  Do I break them off my conventional musket caps?

Jim
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savageT........Have you hugged a '99 lately?

Of all the things I've lost in my life, I miss my mind the most.

Offline roundball

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Skunked by a Hangfire
« Reply #11 on: October 20, 2004, 02:54:31 PM »
Quote from: savageT
Thanks for the weatherproofing help guys!  Is there a site I could go to to see a drawing or photo of these percussion cap covers?  I'm not sure how a leather tent or sugical tubing is going to keep out water and still fire a cap off???
Jim


"KAP KOVERS"

http://www.octobercountry.com/search.php?phrase=kap+kover&searchtype=standardsearch
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Offline quickdtoo

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Skunked by a Hangfire
« Reply #12 on: October 20, 2004, 03:50:42 PM »
Quote from: savageT
quickdtoo,
Thanks again....My Tradition is equipped with a musket nipple that accepts flanged caps.  Where do I find the non-flanged type?  Do I break them off my conventional musket caps?

Jim


Got mine from D&R Sports, I bought 1000 and split em with my huntin partner, total cost was $30, there's no hazmat fee on primers from these folks. They look just like big #11 caps and they have a lot of fire in em.

http://www.dnrsports.net/miva/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=DSC&Product_Code=RWS2105225
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Offline lostid

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nun
« Reply #13 on: June 03, 2006, 04:44:17 PM »
sounds familier,,check the dates
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Offline ButlerFord45

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Re: Skunked by a Hangfire
« Reply #14 on: June 03, 2006, 05:28:37 PM »
Quote from: TKO
Went flinting in the rain.........
 ..........My pan fizzled.  It made smoke and a sound like a dynamite fuse running down and I held fast. This lasted for about 2 seconds then silence.  She is looking at me (I guess she heard the noise) and I start to lower the rifle and BAM.  I launched a powerbelt into the soft earth about six feet infront of me.   :eek:   I don't know who crapped themselves first, me or her, but we both got a shock!


Nothing so frustrating as having a deer in front of me, but the rest of the story is awfully close,  shooting a woods walk in the rain, had a raindrop hit the pan as I was priming, the rest is identical to your tale of woe, nearly scared the crap out of me!
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Offline shotgunner

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Skunked by a Hangfire
« Reply #15 on: June 07, 2006, 07:44:18 AM »
I was out on the last day of the PA season. It was not raining but winds and snowing. I am new to the game and made the mistake of lubricating the frizzen, I thought I was done for the season. I droped the hammer 6 times on 2 different does and didn't get it to go off! Funny thing is it has me hooked, anxious to get back at it. I even bought a small game gun for the fall. I have a clean frizzen, a better flint and a better loading procedure. We will see if it works the next time. Shotgunner
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