Flint and steel

[Ad Astra]

After reading Kilmeade's book about Andrew Jackson and the Battle of New Orleans, I've been on a flintlock kick.

It started with a dusty Kentucky rifle with a broken mainspring. I got one off the bay, fixed it, and things have been rolling!

Next I had to refinish it, using dark kona to antique the kit's too-red cherry stain.

(Better shots will come. Just wanted to share something else)

Then I remembered a flintlock pistol I had. The touch hole was too high, so I lowered it ... and got a horn or two ...

While I was making sparks, I dug out a kit I had never mastered and started practicing ...

But this, THIS is the mind-blowing part. I needed some flints, didn't want to pay $3-4 each ... googled "chert" ... ephipany: we call that river rock around here!

Took a hammer and picked up some rocks from the neighbor's plant bed. WHACK! And sparks flew.

Took the best looking flake and stuck it in the lock ... shower of sparks in the pan!

This changes everything!

Any knappers or flintlock shooters? I know we have some BP folks.


AA

 

[Billski]

I'm not into rifles or pistols, but I'm trying to make some fire with magnesium and steel.

It's a kit from Harbor Freight hardware store.

The directions say that sparks from magnesium are white, and that means the hottest.

But I can't make it work.

Has anyone else tried a magnesium and steel kit to make fire?

 

[Ad Astra]

I'm not into rifles or pistols, but I'm trying to make some fire with magnesium and steel.

It's a kit from Harbor Freight hardware store.

The directions say that sparks from magnesium are white, and that means the hottest.

But I can't make it work.

Has anyone else tried a magnesium and steel kit to make fire?

Yeah. The one from HF is fairly low grade magnesium, and the ferro rod is questionable too. The same block\rod is available from other sources and will do a better job. Just scrape off a pile of shavings, mixed with other tinder, and throw a shower of sparks on it.

Far easier than the old school flint and steel I have pictured. There's also the various spark shower survival one piece units.


AA

 

[joamo]

I used to shoot a left hand, Dixie Tennessee Mountain rifle. While I used mostly purchased flints, I did try some cut agate flints that were available at the time. They worked well but seemed to dull relatively quick.
The BackyardBowyer, Nick Tomihama, has several flint knapping videos.
Do you use charcloth with your flint and steel?

 

[Ad Astra]

I used to shoot a left hand, Dixie Tennessee Mountain rifle. While I used mostly purchased flints, I did try some cut agate flints that were available at the time. They worked well but seemed to dull relatively quick.
The BackyardBowyer, Nick Tomihama, has several flint knapping videos.
Do you use charcloth with your flint and steel?

Yes, and a few other things. Fire tube etc. Since I have some stump killer (saltpeter) on hand, want to try soaking some cotton rope in that.

Hm, maybe a matchlock musket is next!


AA

 

[Hoka Hey]

I'm not into rifles or pistols, but I'm trying to make some fire with magnesium and steel.

It's a kit from Harbor Freight hardware store.

The directions say that sparks from magnesium are white, and that means the hottest.

But I can't make it work.

Has anyone else tried a magnesium and steel kit to make fire?

Char cloth is the key.
Take something like an Altoids tin, punch a hole in the lid with a nail. Fill tin with patches of 100% cotton cloth. Gun cleaning patches are excellent for this. Put tin in fire with the hole facing up. Could do it on your gas grill. Look for a jet of flame to exit hole. Remove tin and let cool. You’ve now made char cloth. Keep it dry.

This stuff quickly turns a spark into a flame. Get a spark on a small wad, blow on it gently, and Shazam!

 

[Ad Astra]

And now I'm wondering what would happen if you put a bit of ferro rod a flintlock...


AA​

 

[Billski]

I'll give it a try, @Hoka Hey

 

[Ad Astra]

American flints/chert aren't supposed to be nearly as good as black English flints ... Yet I am seeing a shower of red sparks I am certain will fire a flintlock!

Maybe my home-knapped flints won't last for 40 shots like a Brit one, but those sparks are a thing of beauty to me.


AA

 

[BigFoot]

I love muzzle loading but have always used percussion. Flintlocks fascinate me and kind of scare me at the same time. Are they pretty safe, a flash in the pan that close to my eye just gives me pause..........

 

[Rory1262]

a flash in the pan

I never realized where this phrase came from until now!
You still see it used for somebody like an athlete that makes a great debut but doesn't live up to it.

 

[Ad Astra]

When you can pick up a rock off the ground, and conjure fire - the gift from the Gods - it's a great feeling.

Prometheus - Wikipedia

Also, the flintlock was perfected in the mid-1600s and stayed unchanged until what, 1830s? About 230-something years?

Firearm evolution just stopped- it was the best they could do! Amazing to think.

@BigFoot , Scott; the flintlock pistol is a little safer - that FTCHKAPOOF-BOOM is at arm's length. It's true a crosswind can put a rifle's pan of sparks in your eyes ...

And they taught volley-fire to prevent individuals from setting off each other's flint-priming ... good times.


AA

 

[Raissermesser]

Any knappers or flintlock shooters? I know we have some BP folks.AA

I once found the junk pile of an early 1800s blacksmith. In digging on a signal, I found an odd shaped quartz pebble and gave it a second look. It was a home made rifle flint. The thing had been shaped in a triangular cross-section, and you could see where the screw tightened down and the worn edge where it struck the frizzen. It was badly worn, which is probably why it was discarded.

No idea how they shaped it, but it didn't look knapped. THere seemed to be file marks on the bottom, or maybe they put groves in it from side to side to help it stay in place.

 

[Raissermesser]

When you can pick up a rock off the ground, and conjure fire - the gift from the Gods - it's a great feeling.

Prometheus - Wikipedia

Also, the flintlock was perfected in the mid-1600s and stayed unchanged until what, 1830s? About 230-something years?

Firearm evolution just stopped- it was the best they could do! Amazing to think.

@BigFoot , Scott; the flintlock pistol is a little safer - that FTCHKAPOOF-BOOM is at arm's length. It's true a crosswind can put a rifle's pan of sparks in your eyes ...

And they taught volley-fire to prevent individuals from setting off each other's flint-priming ... good times.


AA

It was the best they could do with existing technology. It took advances in chemistry to come up with primers, and later in production to come up with metal cartridges. Consider that both lever and bolt actions are from the 19th Century, and semi-auto fire from the early 20th Century. Despite companies tinkering with caseless rounds and electric fire, we're essentially using the same type of firearms as were available roughly a century ago. The only difference is metallurgy, configurations, and powder chemistry.

 

[Raissermesser]

I love muzzle loading but have always used percussion. Flintlocks fascinate me and kind of scare me at the same time. Are they pretty safe, a flash in the pan that close to my eye just gives me pause..........

Know a former DNR officer who told of a fellow at a primitive hunt check station who got to wondering if he had loaded with blackpowder or had accidentally loaded with smokeless. For whatever reason he didn't want to run one of those rods with a screw on it down the barrel to remove the round and then dump the powder. Instead, he stuck it around the corner of the check station, and, with everyone in the clear, pulled the trigger.

It was smokeless powder. And suddenly, he no longer had a muzzleloader.

 

[Raissermesser]

American flints/chert aren't supposed to be nearly as good as black English flints ... Yet I am seeing a shower of red sparks I am certain will fire a flintlock!

Maybe my home-knapped flints won't last for 40 shots like a Brit one, but those sparks are a thing of beauty to me.


AA

I found one once, and wasn't even metal detecting. I was walking across a culvert over a creek on the farm, looked down, and saw one on the creek bottom. Managed it recover it. It showed signs of use. Unless someone had been hunting back there without permission, it probably dated from the early 1800s or before.

 

[Raissermesser]

I love muzzle loading but have always used percussion. Flintlocks fascinate me and kind of scare me at the same time. Are they pretty safe, a flash in the pan that close to my eye just gives me pause..........

Define safe. Have never really been a fan of muzzleloaders, especially since the kit prices seemed to go up after the 1970s (though have thought of a Brown Bess from time to time), so my interest is mostly historical. John Smith of Pocahontas fame once had his powder horn go off while he wore it, either from malice, a malicious prank, or shear accident. It nearly killed him. The BP enthusiasts here will have to comment, but possible problems might be a spark in the barrel when you reload. In battles, sometimes they'd misfire, and, in the noise and the smoke, the shooter might not notice it. After some US Civil War battles, some recovered muzzleloaders with several rounds in the barrel. One BP enthusiast showed us a mark he had on the ramrod that lined up with the end of the barrel. If that mark was above the barrel, he knew he didn't have the round rammed all the way down.

 

[jason10mm]

To be fair, I've seen my share of reloaders have near misses and, fortunately, no serious injury kabooms with poorly handloaded ammo or, in one case, a 9mm that snuck into a .40 magazine (one reason why I try to stick to 9mm and .45 So bad accidents can accompany any shooting event, especially when folks are assembling the combustible part themselves!

There are a bunch of sayings that have their origin in firearms. Going off half-cocked, bite the bullet, hoisted by your own petard, taking everything "lock stock and barrel",

 

[Ad Astra]

... especially since the kit prices seemed to go up after the 1970s (though have thought of a Brown Bess from time to time), so my interest is mostly historical.

They HAVE gotten too spendy. When I was a kid, a pound of BP was $8- you could shoot, seemingly forever, with it.

... John Smith of Pocahontas fame once had his powder horn go off while he wore it, either from malice, a malicious prank, or shear accident. It nearly killed him.

That's gotta hurt! (Though any cows watching from afar had a good laugh- perhaps milk came out of their noses)

One spark will do it. Cannoneers have a swab for that, but they were *always* in a hurry to reload ... must have to do with the advancing bayonets.

... One BP enthusiast showed us a mark he had on the ramrod that lined up with the end of the barrel. If that mark was above the barrel, he knew he didn't have the round rammed all the way down.

Every ramrod I have or make has this mark. You can only blow up once.


AA

 

[Ad Astra]

Shot the Kentucky pistol last week, inordinately proud that my home-chipped garden-rock pickup flints worked perfectly!

Hot spark and a much faster locktime than I remember. I WAS using The Holy Black (FFFg) and it wasn't shave soap ...

Taking it out again this weekend and needed some .440 lead balls. So I cast a bunch up last night.

Note to self: Always buy steel Lyman molds. Even used off the bay. They just hold heat so much better than aluminum Lee molds.

Don't chide me about the sprues. I haven't cast in a year! Toward the end, had tiny sprues.


AA