I am new to flinting and have some questions

[shotgunner]

I just bought a T/C flintlock hawken to finish up the PA deer season. So far I have learned not to use too much priming powder, and to follow through as best as I can. My questions are, What is the best priming powder, where do I get flints and what do I look for? Can the flash hole be altered to improve ignation? At this point I am using Porodex R and a .490 round ball. This is an older T/C and I am guessing that it is rifeled for round balls, will it shoot with power belts? Thanks for the help, Shotgunner

[roundball]

I just bought a T/C flintlock hawken to finish up the PA deer season. So far I have learned not to use too much priming powder, and to follow through as best as I can. My questions are, What is the best priming powder, where do I get flints and what do I look for? Can the flash hole be altered to improve ignation? At this point I am using Porodex R and a .490 round ball. This is an older T/C and I am guessing that it is rifeled for round balls, will it shoot with power belts? Thanks for the help, Shotgunner

I shoot a few TC Hawken flintlocks year round and while there may be a variety of choices, I can tell you what I've settled on which works perfectly in them:

1) Your first ignition problem is trying to use Pyrodex in a flintlock...wrong ignition temperature...need to use actual black powder in a flintlock;

2) I use Goex 4F to prime, and Goex 3F for the main charge;

3) If the vent liner is the old style with a small hole and a screwdriver slot, replace it with TC's new style vent liner, and designed to accept a hex wrench instead of a screwdriver;

4) I found 3/4" black english flints, bevel up, are outstanding in TC Flintlocks, averaging 40-60 shots per flint;

5) If your rifle is more than 5-6 years old, you may have the old style lock assembly...TC has significantly improved their locks with a better frizzen, and a taller hammer...it it's the old style, the best thing to do there is to mail it to TC service manager Tim Pancurak with a nice memo asking if he'll make it more reliable, and he'll install the improved parts, no charge under lifetime warranty;

[shotgunner]

Thanks, that was exactly the kind of responce I was looking for. I will try the things you suggest and see what they will do. Here in PA our late deer season is flintlock only, or crossbow, and this is the first year we have had any tags left. I do find that it is a lot of fun and plan on spending some time experimenting this summer. If you ever need any help with skeet shooting let me know. Shotgunner

[Will Bison]

Yup, get rid of the Pyrodex. In fact stay away from all the subs at least until you get the gun running well.

Three or four f will do OK for prime powder. In fact you can run everything on three f and be done with it.

Good flint can be had from Track of the Wolf, Dixie and others.

On a flint gun the lock is everything, without a properly operating lock you may as well just carry some slow match and make a hand cannon out of it. If the TC lock won't work you may want to consider an after market lock.

The vent liner is very important and should be coned on the inside. If it simply has a hole drilled in it the powder will act as a fuse and result in hangfires. Position of the flash hole is also important. The hole should be centered longitudinally with the pan and be at the very top of the pan. In other words, the vent should be centered fore and aft and located at the joint of the pan/pan cover.

The flint should just clear the frizzen at half cock. The tip of the flint should be pointing about 2/3 to 3/4 of the distance up on the frizzen. Open the pan and lower the hammer, the flint must just clear the side of the barrel and of course must not make contact with the pan or other lock parts. Bevel up or down is a matter of experimenting for best spark. I have even put flints in backwards and had good results.

Dry fire the lock a few times and observe the sparks. A dark room is best for this test. Now prime the pan and see how quick it is, it should flash every time. Next prime the pan and turn the gun upside down and pull the trigger. It should flash upside down.  Up to this point we have shown that the lock sparks, it ignites the pan and does all this pretty darn quick.

Load the gun and fire a few rounds. From the instant the trigger breaks to felt recoil should be so quick that you don't have time to flinch. By breaking down the ignition process you can zero in on any problem area.

Good luck.

[fffffg]

clean gun soon after shooting with water and murphy soap oil about 4/1 will work. use alcohol and murphy soap oil  in cold weather.     after cleaning  dry with dry pathces and oil after dry..  i run a oil patch down bore for several days after cleaning to make sure barrel is dry and not rusting on nice gun..  you can order flints from track of the wolf, black english is my favorite..  put track of the wolf in your search engine and they will have almost everthing you cant find..  . go to rondevues this summer and you will get hands on help and meet some great people..  great stress relief for tedious jobs in the city.. consistent wiping and tight patch on wipe jag with cleaning  liquide  is important to accuracy between shots  to remove hard fouling. also  the patches must fit tight around ball and be lubed exactly the same from round to round.. i use  tc lube in winter on patch and pure neatsfoot oil in summer.. look at pathces after firing and they should not be cut . it will take some getting used to but youll have great fun.. listen to your gun, dont tell it what to do. good luck dave.

[shotgunner]

First off I would like to say that everyone who has responded has been more than helpful. I have been shooting and reloading for a long time, casting bullets, trying wildcats etc. It is a good thing to have people who are helpful without having a "I am better than you" attitude. I think I will find the black powder shooters to be very down to earth, like the trappers. Thanks for making me feel accepted.
    I changed to the new flash hole and went to Goex for the main charge. I put a new flint in, not black English, but what my local store had. There has been a big improvement in ignition already. Now I have a click-boom, instead of a click................boom. I will look into a new spring for the lock and learn to tune the flint. I can see myself spending some time this summer with this one. Shotgunner

[Tom H.]

Shotgunner, I don't think that I noticed it anywhere, but I also put a pin of some sort into the vent when I am loading so it doesn't inadvertantly "fuse", and take it out before priming.  Before I take the shot I give the rifle a rap opposite the lock to put the priming powder out and away from the vent.  This has really gotten the rifle to go off when I want it to.

Good shooting.

Tom

[fffffg]

shotgunner,,  a 16 or 12 gauge fullstock  smoothbore flinter   of custom quality is a real hoot...   to hold the lead on a moving bird, with  a dirty gun (becouse of a buisy day)   is one of the ultimate shotgun chalenges.. i have a feeling you would ejoy it..  dave

[shotgunner]

I found a gun store with Goex, it is getting hard to find, and will get there this week. Because of a heavy snow with a 1/2" of ice I have not been hunting this week, I get one more chance this weekend. I did some shooting and was able to hit an apple at about 40 yards. The 50 caliber ball did quite a job of making apple sauce. This is fun and The smooth bore has always been an interest. I almost got a hammer gun years ago to duck hunt with and then they required steel shot. Maybe I could do it with Bismuth. Shotgunner

[fffffg]

number 4 bismuth works well with bp  for jump shooting ducks for me.. dave

[crazy frenchman]

Shotgunner, if you are having hard time getting BP local, try getting shipped direct to you from Powder, Inc. Hope this will help you, good luck.

[Mulegunner]

Shotgunner;

Fellow PA hunter too.

1) what is pyrodex??....just kidding........always blackpowder in the flinch locks
2) 3f works down the tube and in the pan just fine.  
3) late season means empty the pan every hour or so and put a fresh charge in the pan.   More often if its damp or completely raining out!

Its addicting once you go out late to hunt those white tails that have been chased since October :wink:

[shotgunner]

I see what you mean about the late season. This year it was the only snow we had. A little hard to remember that it was a mild fall. That sounds like good advice about the pan powder, I will try it. Thanks, Shot....