Wolfhound76

Nothing wrong with them if you can get real blackpowder for em. I'm stuck in an area that unless I order some, I've got to do without. Since I have no need for a large batch of BP, flinlocks are out.

livbucks

I agree, Roundball.
Even though flinting is not as difficult as one would think, the discipline required adds a whole new sense of accomplishment. I could hardly contain myself when the first shot went off, (actually I couldn't contain myself). I can't imagine what it will feel like to take a deer with it. The anticipation builds over time with all the practice and preparation of your setup. Truly a whole different experience. I chose a flint for that reason. I'm not sure that an inline would have done it for me. Plus the fact that the late ML season in PA is flint only. Between bowhunting and flinting, I hardly have interest in my centerfire guns, although I will continue to rifle hunt with family, our deer camp traditions and all.

livbucks

I use 777 in my flint barrel.
In the pan I use ffffg Goex. I bought a pound that should last me many years of fun. In PA, flinting is common enough that some "mom and pops" still sell it.

Bob1961

livbucks....i don't own any more centerfires....i hunt all seasons with my flinter even rifle and in the rain....

james B....next to my friends inline there was no noticble difference in lock time to his inline and he noticed it too....

rusty....beware of the bug if you do very contagess....

charley....big difference in a lock time when you polish one up on the inside....even my T/C's lock is burning fast now and with the set trigger set at bout 15 oz....no click-fssss-boom just click-boom....

johnch....you use a flinter on deer only if you have to....not that you want to....the priming charge does get wet if you don't take the care to keep it dry....i always keep my hand over the lock or some other part of my jacket or arm or what ever i have handy at the time....

cayugad....very true in all of what you have said even bout the compound bow....i even thought when i owned my scoped high power rifles it was going to nice taking deer at longer ranges but it turned out it wasn't cracked up to be....especialy after starting bow hunting first and haveing to get close i mean count the eyelashes close....even with my flinter i wait till they get as close as possible just for the excitment it gives me....

roundball....your pictures of your deer are real nice bet ya was real excited when it happened.... in your pictures you look like stumpkiller from another forum maybe i'm wrong sorry if i am....maybe you couldn't get the same name or i'm just thinking of a different picture....once again i'm sorry for any confusion....me bad or what....

thank you all for replying to my post....didn't want to start a debate and all of you responded very objectionitly thank you...................bob

cayugad

I've just gotten into the flintlock scene. It is a .50 caliber T/C Hawkins. After some good advise from Roundball, I had Thompson Center replace the entire lock. The ignition time now is excellent. I am using a amber french flint and with 4f Goex as the primer, it is as fast as most of my cap locks.

I have been working up a load but so far 65 grains of 3f Goex seems like the best with a roundball. The rifle also seems to like Buffalo Ballets and I have even shot a few maxiballs out of it with good results although I have not tried at a distance yet.

My next rifle will be a custom made flinter. I want at least a .58 caliber but would actually like something bigger then that with a roundball twist rifled caliber. My .62 caliber smoothie just will not shoot a roundball accurate enough at long distances for my standards...

roundball

Livbucks, I wish you 100% luck with your flintlock deer hunting...it'll probably have an impact on you like no other deer you've taken...be prepared to get some good photos with your flintlock in the picture, make multiple copies, and put all the details on the back...your great, great grandkids will need to see it

roundball

Nope...I'm 'roundball' over on that forum too...yeah, I call my photo collection "poor man's mounts"

eldeguello

True! Shot at 100 yards with a .45 cal. Hawken, Bill Large 1/72" twist barrel, 90 grains of T7 FFg, 230-grain TC Maxi Ball/wonderwad, CCI # 11 primer. MV 1750 FPS.....

Bob1961

maybe the picture is the one i saw of you way back when i first joined there....ya know how the memory gets over forty.......................bob

eldeguello

Not only is there nothing wrong with flintlocks, it so happens that the flintlock, in its' various forms was in use for a longer period of time than any other ignition system, including our present-day gadgets. Many a wilderness wanderer preferred the flintlock to later designs, because a piece of flint could be picked up most anywhere, thousands of miles from the nearest source of caps or fixed ammunition! All one needed to carry was lead for bullets, a bullet mould, and powder.

As most flintlock shooters know, a well-tuned flinter can have a lock time of 1/1000 second or less. The location of the touch-hole is very important as well as the adjustment of the lock.