After you poor your powder down the bore just rap the gun next to the lock a couple times to settle the powder in the drum under the nipple. Pulling the nipple prior to every shot can wear the nipple threads or cross thread those threads. Not good. Other option would be to use the cleanout screw but you can bugger up the slot as it is not very hard. I have hunted and shot my CVA caplock in foul weather with no trouble. Last year I hunted 7 days with the same load. All I did ws take the cap off at the end of the day and put a fresh one on in the morning. It rained for a short time one day so I changed the cap after wards for insurance, misted another day (all day) so I kept the lock under my arm or covered by some wool, and snowed another day. Hunted two more days after this. Fired her off on the last day. No hesitation at all and the ball went right where it was supposed to.
The only time I "prime the nipple" is when I forget to load powder before ball. Stay at this game long enough and it is bound to happen. I have been doing it for 25 years now.
Posts: 513 | Location: MO | Registered: 14 March 2003
as far as pulling the nipple off to prime ( if thats what you meant) i wasnt going to prime it that manner ,I have a tool that looks very much like the brass tool that you might prime a flintlock flashpan with , all i have to do is put it over the nipple and push down a few times as it is spring loaded and it drops powder right into the nipple.Do you think by doing this would there be any disadvantages?
Posts: 869 | Location: Bellerose,NY USA | Registered: 27 July 2001
There are many tools in the world that are useless or nearly so, or superfluous to the job at hand. Nipple primers are one of them. If your guns flash channel is properly designed, or fitted, the nipple properly installed, etc. the caplock DESIGN IS MEANT TO WORK WITHOUT PRIMING. Test it. Put a damp patch on a proper jag and rod, hammer on half cock, unloaded gun, and work the patch up and down in 10 inch strokes a couple of times. Air will "swoosh" in and out and you will hear it. That means the flash channel is clear. If you patch out an oiled bore before loading, hear the air movement, its clear. Snap a cap with the barrel pointing at the dirt or grass to see the cap pressure move something. It is clear. If you leave a well oiled bore for storage vertically put a bit of patch under the hammer against the nipple to take up excess oil. Then patch out and load. IF you have more than a rare problem, something is wrong with your cleaning and oiling process. Sometimes a nipple is poorly installed in a drum so it bottoms out cutting down on flame path. Sometimes on guns with a bolster, previous poor cleaning has nearly closed off the flash path because of caked on fouling. BTW most caps are non corrosive but their fouling will allow moisture from the air to settle and start corrosion. Drums, and flashole liners were not envisioned to be taken out for cleaning. If you know how well your gun shoots and you clean properly, the nipple should not come out till the flashhole starts to burn out and accuracy begins to change. Weigh all advice carefully. There are a lot more of good intentions out there than good advice. Good Shooting.
Posts: 23 | Location: USA transient | Registered: 27 June 2004
Dark English knapped flints gnerally work very well. Much better than the cut agate flints you will find at walmart and other gun stores. If your gun still does not spark well with these flints than either the angle at which the flint strikes the frizzen is not quite right or the frizzen is too soft. You can figure the angle is wrong if you keep shattering flints rather than getting sparks. In this case the flint is hitting too blunt and you need to angle the cock down to allow the flint to scrape the frizzen rather than hammer into it. Changing the flint to either bevel up or bevel down will change this angle of attack slightly also. Try your flints both ways as some flinters spark better one way over the other. White hot sparks are best, orange work well, If you only are getting acouple red sparks your frizzen is probably too soft and it needs to be rehardened. Track of the Wolf also sells Kasenit which you can use to help correct this or just refit another frizzen to the gun.
Posts: 513 | Location: MO | Registered: 14 March 2003
I have a Lyman flintlock. The flint that came with it lasted about 15 to 20 shots plus countless dry fires before wearing out. I replaced it with Thompson Center brand flints and only got about 2 to 3 shots out of these. I changed back to Lyman brand flints and am having much better luck.
By the way, I've had fewer missfires with my flint lock than with my caplock.
I have a Lyman flintlock. The flint that came with it lasted about 15 to 20 shots plus countless dry fires before wearing out. I replaced it with Thompson Center brand flints and only got about 2 to 3 shots out of these. I changed back to Lyman brand flints and am having much better luck. By the way, I've had fewer missfires with my flint lock than with my caplock.
Is that before you knap or total? If that's all you get out of em, I'd be makin some changes. My flinters get between 60 and 100 shots out of english flints and wouldn't use cut flints ifn you gave em to me, they are just not worth the trouble in any lock I tried em in. Maybe a little heating and bending of the cock will make your flints last longer by changing the angle of impact slightly. Or using shorter flints will help but sometimes the screw will hit the frizzen before the flint does with short flints, so a shorter screw is also helpful in that case. hth, WT
Posts: 1615 | Location: Washington State | Registered: 27 May 2004
