Nuther flinter question....

[Flatlander.54]

K flinter guys, heres a question for ya. I got some flints for the new Austin & Halleck Mountain Rifle today. Installed a flint and tested it out for sparks. Im gettin sparks fine, but should the frizzen fly all the way open when the cock falls or just enough for the sparks to ignite the FFFFg powder? The frizzen on my rifle opens just enough to allow the sparks in and to touch off the powder. I havent actually loaded up and shot it yet, just experimenting with flint position. Thanks.

[flintlock]

Yes, the frizzen should fly all the way open when you shoot...

First I would remove the lock and try, I have seen some flintlocks that were not inletted properly and the main spring was actually in a bind...Anyway, remove the lock and see if the frizzen opens all the way...If it works properly off the gun, you need to use lamp black on the back of the lock and remove the  wood that is interfering...

If that doesn't  work, try putting the flint in with the bevel up, so it hits the frizzen at a higher location...

If that doesn't work, fashion a wrap for the flint made of lead, just take a round ball, flatten and cut to fit...this adds a little weight and makes the flint more rigid in the cock...I actually make my wraps longer than most and drill a 1/4 hole in it so I can wrap it around the cock screw, so the wrap can't fall out when replacing the flint in the field...

If none of these work, you are looking at re-tempering the frizzen spring so it is softer or re-tempering the main spring so it is harder or bending the cock to change the angle that the flint strikes the frizzen so it scrapes instead of digs into the frizzen.

[Flatlander.54]

 Thanks for the help flintlock, I think the problem fixed itself though...the frizzen is now opening all the way when the cock falls, I guess it just needed several tries to "loosen" up a little.  A drop or two of oil here and there should keep it goin goo now. Weather permiting I wil get out and throw some ball tomorrow. Thanks again for the help.

[Winter Hawk]

It could be that the flint was too close to the frizzen.  Glad to hear that it worked out.

-WH-

[Flatlander.54]

Winter you may be right, when i set the flint in place i tightened it down with the edge of it touching the frizzen. Ive since noticed that now that the frizzen is opening like it should there is about a 1/16" gap between the edge of the flint and the frizzen face. At any rate its working like a charm, throws sparks really well.  Still havent had a chance to fire it up yet though. Need to make a trip to the fabric store for a few different samples of different thicknesses of pillow ticking. Thanks again guys, Im sure ill have more questions later on.

[lonewolf5348]

I set up my flintlock 1/2 cock and 1/16 away from a closed frizzen  i favor tom fuller black English flints but been having excellent results with Missouri flint that run about a dozen for $8.00 bucks.I also find 2 to 3 grains in the pan of goex 4F works the best,on humid days will switch to 3F.
I try also to make a habit to tap the powder charge away from the frizzen vent at the range you will see a faster ignition lock time,but I do here from other shooters some flinters like the powder near the vent liner,seem trial and error to see which one works best for your rifle

[Flatlander.54]

Thanks for the advise Lonewolf, I may reposition the flint and see if i get more/less sparks. I have also read that keeping the priming charge away from the vent hole makes for faster ignition, and it does make sense. Seems to me that with no powder blocking the veny then it would be easier for the flame to get through, I dunno I may be wrong on that.
 Still havent had a chance to fire this thing up yet, been working late this week and now the weather is threatening rain the next 3 days. The weekend is supposed to be nice though, hopefuly Ill get to throw some ball then.

[captchee]

Couple things to think on .
 Most production flintlocks have to small a flash hole  and often times the hole is to far down in the pan .Traditions is very bad about this 
 Drilling the flash hole out 3/32 will help immensely in the ignition time.
 Your flash hole should also never be covered with powder ,with having the flash hole to far down in the pan  its easy to do . This causes a fuse burn and slows ignition tremendously .

 Now as to setting your flint . commonly  about 1/16th is  a good starting point . However realize that not all locks will allow this. In fact  some locks that have a long fall  like those often found on period weapons,  will never come even ½ inch from the frizzen  even if using a 1 1/8  flint .
When you run into this , a good rule is that the flint should strike ½ to ¾ of the way up the frizzen and at a slight downward angle

 You may  need to find which way your lock likes its flint , bevel up  or bevel down . One way will clearly spark better then the other .

 Now as to your frizzen sticking . Many quality locks have a main spring and frizzen spring that are matched  . By being matched this doesn’t mean that they are equal in strength.
 However what it does mean is that the frizzen spring is only strong enough to hold the frizzen securely shut  while giving enough resistance to allow good spark. At the same time there must be enough climb when the frizzen cams over to  not alow the frizzen to slap back and break your flint .

 Many times I find that when folks bring in their flintlock with  problems such as yours  it’s a simple mater of  eather they have not properly cleaned their lock after shooting and the fouling is gumming the frizzen . OR  the frizzen cam  has a small bur on it . With no prior lube being placed along it  path on the frizzen spring , it drags tell that bur wears off .   

[Flatlander.54]

 Well I finally got to throw a few balls this evening, and it went pretty good. I was limited on time and daylight was fading pretty quick so I set up an old piece of plywood at 30 yards and used a dark spot to aim at. Shot 4 times and the group was about 10 inches low, but nice and tight...about 1 1/2" shooting offhand. Had never fired a flinter before so it was an experience for sure.
 Only had one misfire and I attribute that to not having a pick to make sure the vent was clear. The flash before ignition didnt bother me at all, just need to get used to the slight pause before the main charge goes off. Im sure the pause may even get a little shorter when I get a priming charger that throws an equal amount of FFFFg everytime. I think i was getting varying delays due to varying amounts of prime in the pan.

[lonewolf5348]

Only had one misfire and I attribute that to not having a pick to make sure the vent was clear
 
I would look into a upgrade on the vent liner or recone the vent liner a little larger,I use to run into the same problem with the older t/c ventliners but now the newer vent liners are .070 and never need cleaning.I inlarge a few of the older style vent liner that have the screw driver slot in them the new t/c vents use an allen key.
I also would look into a pan charger they throw 1 grain each time I favor 2 grains in my locks