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Author Topic: Flintlock hunting: How often re-charge the pan?  (Read 648 times)

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Offline Rum River

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Flintlock hunting: How often re-charge the pan?
« on: November 22, 2005, 01:30:42 AM »
Just out of curiosity, how often do you other flintlock hunters dump the FFFFg from the pan and replace with fresh?

If it's a dry day, do you even bother?
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Rum River

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Offline PA-Joe

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Flintlock hunting: How often re-charge the
« Reply #1 on: November 22, 2005, 01:40:28 AM »
Only if it's raining and I can't cover the pan. Sometimes during lunch break.
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Offline roundball

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Re: Flintlock hunting: How often re-charge the pan?
« Reply #2 on: November 22, 2005, 05:04:24 AM »
Quote from: Rum River
Just out of curiosity, how often do you other flintlock hunters dump the FFFFg from the pan and replace with fresh?

If it's a dry day, do you even bother?


I use 4F prime all the time and it's very susceptable to moisture...depending on humidity / fog / mist / rain, I refresh it every 30-60 minutes...if it's a dry day I'll go an hour, but never more than an hour.

It's easy to see when it's being affected too...every now and then flip open the frizzen and slowly tilt the lock one way or the other...if the powder flows easily like water in a pail, then it's still fine...but as soon as you see that you have to tilt the rifle further and further so the pan gets steeper and steeper before the powder slides, then it's already caking up, already too late.

I won't sit on a deer stand holding a flintlock with prime in it that's in that condition...IMO, less than a penney's worth of 4F is not worth the risk of missing a buck due to a possible ignition problem...only takes a few seconds to dump the prime and refresh.
 :grin:
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Offline DoggerelPundit

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Flintlock hunting: How often re-charge the
« Reply #3 on: November 22, 2005, 05:56:06 AM »
Uncle Waugh says "a little bear fat 'round the edge gap where the fizzen meets the pan. Them mountain boys didn't have no Durs Egg waterproof locks!"
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Offline Birddog6

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Flintlock hunting: How often re-charge the
« Reply #4 on: November 23, 2005, 02:05:14 AM »
I have a lil pan brush made of horsehair glued into the tip of a antler tip & it is hanging on a lil strip of leather right on the front of my possibles bag. On damp days I dump the pan & brush it out & reprime about every 30 min. On a dry day about every hour.  It is quick, easy & you lose 3 grains of powder each time so loss is minimal.
On damp wet days I prime with 3F from my powder horn.
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Offline roundball

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Flintlock hunting: How often re-charge the
« Reply #5 on: November 23, 2005, 02:48:52 AM »
Quote from: Birddog6
I have a lil pan brush made of horsehair glued into the tip of a antler tip & it is hanging on a lil strip of leather right on the front of my possibles bag. On damp days I dump the pan & brush it out & reprime about every 30 min. On a dry day about every hour.  It is quick, easy & you lose 3 grains of powder each time so loss is minimal.
On damp wet days I prime with 3F from my powder horn.


...and Birddog6 is the guy who taught me about refreshing my prime...
BD6, where have you been...haven't seen much of you lately
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Offline Birddog6

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Flintlock hunting: How often re-charge the
« Reply #6 on: November 27, 2005, 07:16:35 PM »
Quote
...and Birddog6 is the guy who taught me about refreshing my prime...
BD6, where have you been...haven't seen much of you lately


I have been really busy the past couple of months trying to get caught up so I can hunt & etc.  Just finished completely re-escavating a new 800' drive & new culverts & etc. & that was quite a task as we raised the drive about 2" most of the length, but it is finally finished.  Then we moved about 500 tons of fill dirt & rock & built a new parking area & I put up a greenhouse for the wife & it seems the lists of things I should do never ends.....  

But now I am in Deer Mode  & I am deer hunting usually on Fri. & Sats. and working on a few rifles & some hawks during the week in slack time.

I hope all is well with you & your family.

Birddog6

Note:  On the ignition & primer charge..........  You also might want to insure you start out the hunt with a new flint & test it a couple of times prior to loading the weapon, to insure it is sparking good & etc. Now on even a new flint after a few firings (5-6 times) I will knap the edge of the flint very lightly across the face of it so it resembles shark teeth. When you fire it & it chips these lil teeth off the in turn flakes back & make more fresh edges on the flint, so it kinda resurfaces itself & works quite well keeping the edge sharp & a new place scraping the frizzen each time. Then reknap about every 10 shots or so. If you let it get too dull, when you knap it it will not knap easily as you are trying to take off too large a flake.   So basically sooner is better than later.   :-)
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Offline RussB

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Flintlock hunting: How often re-charge the
« Reply #7 on: November 27, 2005, 09:46:37 PM »
Quote from: roundball
Quote from: Birddog6
I have a lil pan brush made of horsehair glued into the tip of a antler tip & it is hanging on a lil strip of leather right on the front of my possibles bag. On damp days I dump the pan & brush it out & reprime about every 30 min. On a dry day about every hour.  It is quick, easy & you lose 3 grains of powder each time so loss is minimal.
On damp wet days I prime with 3F from my powder horn.


...and Birddog6 is the guy who taught me about refreshing my prime...
BD6, where have you been...haven't seen much of you lately


And, Birddog6 was the one who caught me up on refreshing the pan pretty often too. I don't refresh as much either of these two, but I feel  sure it is no less than six or eight times in a day.

Side note; I had also been wondering what BD6 had been up to. Good to know it was only hard work, and not his health.
BTW Birddog....That vent liner you sent me awhile back sure improved the ignition, it is fast!
Fastest flinter I have ever owned.....by far....Thanks again.

Russ...
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