Converting Flintlock to firing condition

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Roy1

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I am interested in acquiring a flintlock musket from http://www.militaryheritage.com/muskets.htm

They ship the reproduction muskets in a "non-firing state" but claim that a gunsmith can drill the hole necessary to bring them to firing condition.

I have several questions related to this:

1) How easy is it to do? Is it reliable? How much might it cost?
2) How would one go about acquiring ammunition, etc for muskets that have calibers such as .69?

Any advice would be appreciated.
 
Shipping the muskets as non-firing replicas, probably makes sales easier, and reduces the liability issue if there is a mishap. Where are these made? What is the quality? Do the locks work? The price is less than guns made in the US or Italy. India? If the gun is good quality, made to be fired, but unvented, it is very easy to drill a touch hole. You would have to proof test the gun, because the maker didn't. Shooting supplies are readily obtained. A smoothbore gun can be loaded with blank, ball or shot. In the photos on the site, the guns look good. Personally, I would really want to see one before committing. Perhaps your post will turn up someone here who has personal experience with one.
 
Drilling the hole is simple - 5/64" in the right place which is determined by the pan position (assuming the pan and flintlock plate are properly placed relative to the breech. Shooting a flintlock safely requires some knowledge - there are some books available from most decent gunshops (or Ebay) and many of the better shops have a decent inventory of basic supplies. Talk to a local gunclub- there are likely blackpowder shooters there who can assist you in approaching BP safely. There is some variability in the quality of Indian made repros - sounds like you're looking at a Brown Bess - I would ask the question again in the Black Powder forum. Old style firearms are a lot of fun, but there are reasons why development continued to cartridge guns, so be alert...
 
Thanks very much! That's helpful. Any further comments from anyone else would be appreciated.
 
Hi
The guns sold buy Military heritage are the same basically being sold by Loyalist Arms here in N.S..They are made in India and they have had mixed reviews in the past.The stocks are made of Rosewood and is heavy and can be a bit britlle.The locks seem to spark nicelythough.These guns were meant mainly for the reanactor who couldn t afford a high price custom.I have been told that the ones sold by Loyalist arms are of a bit better quality.Oh yes all these guns have barrels made of seamless tubing not standard gun barrels.That said if you buy one it it fairly easy to drill the barrel for a touch hole just remember to drill it in the right spot.Visit track of the wolfs web page and look at their flintlocks and it will so you the exact spot to drill .
Also I don t know if you would be interested but I have a Scottish musket replica listed here made of parts from the rifle shoppe for sale.PM me if you are interested

Jeff
 
Chasseur mentions that the barrels are made from seamless tubing. Almost 35years ago, I was involved with the manufacture of reproduction guns - Indian Trade Guns. It was then that I first heard of the use of seamless tubing for smoothbore barrels. We used drilled from solid 1137 barrels, but spent quite a bit of time talking to the salesman at the steel distributor about tubing. His company supplied the tubing for single shot breech loading shotguns being made in Canada, and for reproduction muskets which were in use in a popular historic site. Tubing is a very cheap way of making a smoothbore barrel. B1018 grade mechanical DOM tube is entirely adequate for the pressures produced in a smoothbore gun. It is ductile, and will bulge or split on failure, not shatter. However, it is possible that there can be folds or seams in the tube resulting from the drawing process, so very careful inspection is necesary. I machined a few barrels from tube. One trade gun, and a few .75cal musket barrels. They shrugged off heavy proof loads. It is terrible stuff to machine, though. Probably because of its ductility.
 
I think I would be a bit leery about guns made in India with no flash hole drilled. My big fear would not be that it was made of tubing but not knowing what the quality of the metal was in the tubing; would it be brittle because of excess phosphorous for example or would the barrel work harden with shooting and become brittle.
I would strongly suggest a copy of Lyman's Blackpowder Manual for loads, pressures and general information. I would also suggest installing a touch hole liner rather than simply drilling a straight hole. You will find that it will greatly improve ignition. I would further suggest pulling the breach plug and making sure that it was threaded into the breach and was a snug fit. I would seal the threads with some sort of filler such as loktite when re installing. This prevents the fouling getting into the threads and corroding them over time.
In the long run, a second hand Italian replica might be a far simpler and just as economical way to go.

cheers mooncoon
 
Yes I saw on another forum someone complaining about a faulty and dangerous breech plug on a muskeyt from military heritage.The threads were machined badly and were chewed up as well.Basically you get what you pay for.
 
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