Flint or Percussion

Skinny 1950

Skinny 1950

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In my experience Flint ignition has proven to be more reliable than percussion with the two rifles that I have.
The thing with Flint is that it either works or it doesn't.... if it fails to ignite the charge then you have to fix it.
I find trying to figure out why a percussion rifle fails to fire is more difficult and as a result I like my Flinter a lot.
 
Been shooting flint for 30 years. In my opinion, the most important aspect of shooting flint is consistentcy. Find the routine that works best and don't deviate.
 
Flints are all about the lock. If you have a cheapo lock with weird lock geometry where the hammer slows down as it comes down then you will have nothing but trouble. If you have a well made lock it works great. I have a rather ugly Northwest Trade gun with a Siler lock and it is very reliable. I can't say I've had that much trouble with percussions either.
 
I would recommend starting out with a percussion gun because there is less to learn to get them to fire reliably. Also most any percussion gun will detonate the caps while as said above, cheap flint locks are a royal pain in the bum and a source of endless frustration. Having said all that I do shoot flint by preference most of the time and my comments are aimed at people just starting out. Further, if I were on a trip, miles from nowhere, I would choose a flintlock every time. If you fall in the water, you can with difficulty eventually get your gun to fire and from there on should have no further problems in the absence of another dunking. If you get your percussion caps wet, in my experience, that is probably the end of them and your nearest source of new one by definition is many miles away. Damp caps you can dry out but really wet caps, probably not

cheers mooncoon
 
I prefer a flinter, and consider them very reliable if I remember to clean the flash chanel every shot , and use good English flints. I have several Investarms / Lyman locks as well as L&R locks and realy don't find any difference in reliability between them. I also like 4F to prime with.
 
What sort of percussion guns are you having trouble with? Caps not going off, wonky ignition and hang fires, or no bang at all?
There are several different types of channels between the cap and the powder charge and some can be a pain.
Best is something like an underhammer or revolver where the nipple is directly in line with the hammer and the charge. No bends or corners or much chance of the hammer not having a good square wack at the cap.
Ones with the nipple screwed directly into the breach plug usually isn't bad but can be a pain to deal with if there is an issue. Usually there is a clean out screw that can be removed to clean out the passage.
Guns with the bolster between the barrel and the nipple have a sharp 90` and are sometimes not in the ideal position relative to the breach plug. They can be hard to clean out but can usually be taken all apart for cleaning.

Honestly, I'm happier with a flinter too. As mentioned, start with a good lock and there's very seldom much trouble that can't be fixed by a quick knapping, new flint, remembering to put powder in or admitting that it's time to get out of the damn rain.
The last 2 are more common than I like to admit.
 
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Found a recent problem with the cap source. Due to whatever problem none of my usual CCL caps were available so bought a stock of Dynamit Nobel and promptly started getting 50% non ignition with first fall. Tried shaving the nipple, filling in the nose of the hammer all to no avail. Finally got a new box of CCL and voila -no problem. Now I can use up the remainder at the range rather than on the trail.
 
Never had any problems with percussion cap guns. Either from a revolver to the sidelocks I've had. They do need to be clean and free of any oil or dampness though and the nipple and touchhole cleaned out now and then during shooting. Since BP is hard to find I like being able to use Pyrodex. But flints are intriging.
 
I had the exact same problem & tried the same fixes but in my case CCI were the cause - soon as I switched to remington the gun fires first pull every time. Had the issue on 2 guns and both were fixed by cap change.


wr.sainsbury said:
Found a recent problem with the cap source. Due to whatever problem none of my usual CCL caps were available so bought a stock of Dynamit Nobel and promptly started getting 50% non ignition with first fall. Tried shaving the nipple, filling in the nose of the hammer all to no avail. Finally got a new box of CCL and voila -no problem. Now I can use up the remainder at the range rather than on the trail.
Click to expand...
 
Here is a picture of my percussion lock (CVA) which has given some trouble, I think the 90 degree turn to the flame path in the drum is the problem.
Once it starts working it tends to keep working.

 
Welcome to the world of Blackpowder.

I shoot both regularly, but do prefer flint over percussion. If you are just starting out, I like Moocoon would recommend that you start off with a percussion cap as there is less of a learning curve and hickups in the beginning. I would suggest that you join up with your club or local BP group to get out and shoot with regularly as well as to socialize with and learn from those who have been there and have the experience and know how with both pc and flint. This is a lot easier than trying to learn it all on your own.

There good are several good books on the subject, ie: Sam Fadala and Lyman

I shoot both CCI and Remington caps with no issue. Make sure that they are seated properly on the nipple.

Good luck and have fun....
 
Skinny 1950, try some of the new Remington caps, they are the best I have tried in my CVA Hawken. A misfire is very rare with them, I even tried RWS caps which are supposed to be very good but they were still not as reliable as the Remingtons. Since I don't know your experience level with muzzleloaders, do you fire a couple caps before loading the rifle the first time after cleaning it to get rid of oil or solvent in the nipple/breach area? Also real black powder gives the best ingnition in my Hawken, Pyrodex gave me bad hang fires.
 
My shooting ritual starts with using a rag to clean the pan, wipe the leading edge of the flint carefully and the frizzen face. I ensure that the flash hole is clear and is half way covered with priming powder (fff or ff which ever is handy) Lastly, with the frizzen closed, I give the buttstock a rap with my knuckles to level the powder in the pan.
petew said:
I prefer a flinter, and consider them very reliable if I remember to clean the flash chanel every shot , and use good English flints. I have several Investarms / Lyman locks as well as L&R locks and realy don't find any difference in reliability between them. I also like 4F to prime with.
Click to expand...
 
Skinny 1950 said:
Here is a picture of my percussion lock (CVA) which has given some trouble, I think the 90 degree turn to the flame path in the drum is the problem.
Once it starts working it tends to keep working.
Click to expand...

I think the problems Skinny seems to be describing is because it appears to be a spanish made gun. Many but not all have a drum that is threaded almost all the way through the barrel to the other side. That means that is very difficult to get powder close to the primer because there are two 90 degree turns in the flash channel and the holes are relatively small. Those guns often fowl up around the flash channel and again will misfire.

More appropriate to percussion caps not going off, I have occasionally had caps that failed to fire because they were a bit damp but sitting the open tin in the sun (in summer at least) usually cures that problem. More commonly however, failure to fire happens when the hammer spring is relatively weak and / or the nose of the hammer rubs against the nipple, slowing the hammer down and giving a weaker blow to the cap. I probably should add; if you feel that is a problem, do not try to bend the hammer cold; be sure to heat the appropriate area red hot before bending and be sure to let it cool slowly to avoid having a brittle area

cheers mooncoon
 
Another thing not mentioned - some guns need a good thorough cleaning - acquired one that was unreliable despite consistent cap firing. Finally pulled the cleanout screw and gave it a good soapy water soak and high pressure via the nipple and low and behold, a 1/2 inch plug of fouling emerged with a needle fine path through from nipple to main charge appeared. Now it shoots 100% If you can, try pulling the breech plug if it sits back from the flash hole any great distance.
 
Steppenwolf said:
My shooting ritual starts with using a rag to clean the pan, wipe the leading edge of the flint carefully and the frizzen face. I ensure that the flash hole is clear and is half way covered with priming powder (fff or ff which ever is handy) Lastly, with the frizzen closed, I give the buttstock a rap with my knuckles to level the powder in the pan.
Click to expand...

All very good advice.

It's a good idea to wipe the leading edge of the flint as it will become covered with BP residue after a couple shots.

As for priming, I prefer FFF but FF will do in a pinch.

Something I've done before is mix FF with FFF, that way the FFF BP pretty much guarantees ignition.

Have fun... and be safe !!
 
lalunette said:
It's a good idea to wipe the leading edge of the flint as it will become covered with BP residue after a couple shots.

As for priming, I prefer FFF but FF will do in a pinch. !!
Click to expand...

Just to be a curmudgeon, I never wipe the frizzen except occasionally if it is raining, and the only problems with sparking can be explained by a dull flint. I do wipe the bottom of the frizzen (the pan cover part) in damp weather because the fouling on it is very hydroscopic and that dampness can foul the surface of the powder in the pan, preventing ignition. I normally prime with 3F and find a markedly slower ignition when using 2 F for priming

cheers mooncoon
 
I far and away prefer my rock locks over the cap locks. But there's simply no way I could ever say that a flint lock is more reliable or easier to trouble shoot without my nose growing to be the length of a walking cane. A cap lock is pretty simple after all where a flint lock has at least a half dozen factors related to getting the pan to ignite.
 
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