Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 16

Thread: Brown Bess has lost its spark, help please

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    ammanford
    Posts
    345

    Brown Bess has lost its spark, help please

    B.B is v frustrating now as even with new flints it rarely sparks (I have even got over my flinch with it as I pull the trigger in a very very hopeful expectation rather than any degree of certainty).
    I note that the Frizen is scored in line with the hammer stroke and when new it was scored perpendicularly to the hammer stroke.
    How would I re score it ? or do I need to retemper, how would I do that please ?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Huntingdon
    Posts
    9,253
    Quote Originally Posted by robkayak View Post
    B.B is v frustrating now as even with new flints it rarely sparks (I have even got over my flinch with it as I pull the trigger in a very very hopeful expectation rather than any degree of certainty).
    I note that the Frizen is scored in line with the hammer stroke and when new it was scored perpendicularly to the hammer stroke.
    How would I re score it ? or do I need to retemper, how would I do that please ?
    Sounds to me like you need a selection of things to try - before you buy a new frizzen, that is.

    1. Try REAL English Brandon flints of the correct BB size.

    2. Try an artificial agate flint.

    3. What are you using to hold the flint in the cocking piece? Leather or lead? Sometime using leather means that the edge of the flint vibrates against the surface of the frizzen - perhaps judders is a better word - rather that the correct scrape the produces the sparks.

    4. Not trying to be a PITA, but I'm assuming that the flint IS right way up?

    Last but not least, frizzens DO wear out, especially if they were, ahem, not very good to begin with...

    tac
    muzzleloadingforum.com

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    doncaster
    Posts
    2,468
    ken at henry kranks said you can reface the frizzen with carbon steel, Power Hacksaw blades are ideal (ken said some do this from new as it improves the spark and it takes a long time to ware through) the Power Hacksaw blades are bigger than normal hacksaw blades so one can be found that is about the right width (if there is a metal working company near you then they might give you a old blunt one for free, they can be snapped to the correct length)
    "Men occasionally stumble on the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened" Winston Churchill
    http://planetairgun.com/index.php

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    ammanford
    Posts
    345
    I use lead to hold it, the BB is a cheap Indian repro, I have tried different orientations of holding the flint.
    Your reply has been v helpful, thanks. Do you have any links to where I can get a new Frizen or any of the aggregate flints. Thanks

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Bristol
    Posts
    6,259
    You can probably case harden the existing frizzen if you don't want to weld on a piece of harder steel. It will take several hours in a fire though (and some case hardening compound).

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    doncaster
    Posts
    2,468
    taken from http://britishmilitariaforums.yuku.c...k#.VGypYMlj61g

    You could try the following if you need to smooth and reharden the frizzen, but are naturally relectant to remove metal from an antique:

    Reface the frizzen with a piece of carbon steel that is thin and flexible. This material is well-known to you - it's a hacksaw blade. Find a metal-working shop and ask for a worn-out hacksaw blade of sufficient width to cover the frizzen - after grinding off the teeth! The act of grinding off the teeth will probably detemper it a shade as well. A section of the blade can then be precurved to fit the frizzen and soft-soldered to it. You do not have to remove any metal from the old frizzen. Just make sure that the face is well tinned.

    If the blade is so detempered that it does not spark well, it's no great problem to harden it again before soldering. A lot easier than rehardening the original frizzen, and if it is not satisfactory, take another piece of hacksaw blade. A typical hacksaw blade will provide refacing material for a cabinet-full of flintlocks. When the facing gets tatty, simply unsolder it and make another.
    "Men occasionally stumble on the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened" Winston Churchill
    http://planetairgun.com/index.php

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Manchester
    Posts
    8,331
    Have you checked the face of the frizzen is grease free?

    Just wiping it with you finger can stop it sparking, especially if you have grease on your hands from the patch.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    ammanford
    Posts
    345

    Thanks for suggestions

    I will try degreasing it with brake cleaner and use a old hacksaw blade to resurface the frizzen. I will get back to you to let you know how I got on.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Manchester
    Posts
    8,331
    Quote Originally Posted by robkayak View Post
    I will try degreasing it with brake cleaner and use a old hacksaw blade to resurface the frizzen. I will get back to you to let you know how I got on.
    Brake fluid is Hygroscopic and absorbs water from the atmosphere. I would avoid that. Just use lighter fluid to degrease the flint and frizzen, it is also good for degreasing bullet moulds. But DON'T SMOKE while you are using it.(You probably know that anyway).

    Before you alter the frizzen try roughing it up a bit with a coarse file or piece of grindstone and see if that helps.

    Its not the flint that makes the spark it is slivers of metal cut off by the flint that are white hot.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    leeds, west yorkshire
    Posts
    12,947
    brake cleaner not fluid
    i would do what enfield says though

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    London
    Posts
    89
    Have you looked at fitting a replacement

    https://www.peterdyson.co.uk/acatalo...cessories.html

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    doncaster
    Posts
    2,468
    Quote Originally Posted by jennings View Post
    Have you looked at fitting a replacement

    https://www.peterdyson.co.uk/acatalo...cessories.html
    this frizzen needs fitting, translation, you have to drill the pivot hole, cut and file the thing to fit with no guarantee that it will work! (translation for the translation, you spend hours measuring, drilling and fettling the new frizzen only to find that the hole you have drilled is slightly out of line therefore courses the frizzen to lock up in use at this point you throw the new frizzon out of the window, grab the old frizzen, take it to a local metal working workshop and ask them to solder a bit of hacksaw blade to it and it will probably cost less and last longer)
    "Men occasionally stumble on the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened" Winston Churchill
    http://planetairgun.com/index.php

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Edinburgh
    Posts
    16
    I would tend to replace the mainspring before messing about with the frizzen!

    In many cases, and particularly with the Indian muskets, the mainsprings are pants... Get one from Peter Dyson, or make one yourself - it's not that hard - all you need is spring steel, a hacksaw, file blowlamp and pliers.. spring steel from Dyson as well!

    If that does not give you results, then try case hardening the frizzen face using Kasinit. I would go for refacing as a last resort.. it's hard to do well (it needs brazing by the way..) and does not improve the appearance of the thing...

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    ammanford
    Posts
    345

    Case hardened

    Finally fixed. I bought some case hardening compound and used the oxy acetylene but to no avail. I tried several coats, fast quenching, slow quenching, quenching in air, oil and water. Wing of bat and blood of virgins (quite hard to source I can tell you), but the frizzen was still as soft as a politician's hands. I sent it away to
    https://www.peterdyson.co.uk/acatalo...cessories.html
    . He put it in a kiln with charcoal. He was not happy with the first hardening and did it again for a £25 total. It is now faultless and sparks every time , 100 % ignition. Wellington would have had a round the clock guard on the guy in 1813.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Macclesfield and Ely
    Posts
    1,065

    Geometry

    Been told the Geometry can be wrong on these. Indian Repros. You may need 7 to make 1 good one !!!!

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •