must admit i do like the tiny priming flask,
last Q flints
do you measure the size of the hammer/frizen ?
does it matter if the flints are slightly wider or smaller?
anyone knap there own?
ballkeeper
Agree and more: I am not a flint shooter but when I was taught how to do it my mentor (something of an expert on duelling) told me to put a straightened paper clip into the flash hole and prime only up to the base of the flash hole, then remove the paper clip. He told me that this gave faster ignition because the burning powder was not impeded by powder in the flash hole. I was sceptical that this would work at all but it performed faultlessly. The gun I was privileged to be allowed to use (an original Manton no less!) had been breathed on and gave very fast ignition - approaching that of a percussion lock. Kinda spoilt me for lesser guns.
True freedom includes the freedom to make mistakes or do foolish things and bear the consequences.
TANSTAAFL
Sorry if my post comes across as snyde, just trying to lighten it a little and not intended as a personal sleight - clearly I failed.
I have never seen a flask kaboom either but I know the victim of the incident personally and I have seen the damage it did. He put large holes in all of his flasks and blocked then with corks - his idea was that the cork would blow out thus reducing the pressures and potential for fragmentation. This was superseded when the MLAIC changed the rules and he now uses flasks only for filler and shot.
True freedom includes the freedom to make mistakes or do foolish things and bear the consequences.
TANSTAAFL
My point was simply to note that if you don't have anywhere to put things down on, then they are unlikely to attract unwanted sparks from other shooters adjacent. In the club here in UK which I shoot BP - either pistol or rifle - I fetch my phials for the handgun from the otherwise closed shooting box, and load them into the chambers. Then cap up and shoot.
With my rifle I use replicas of WoNA-era cartridges kept in a brass cartridge box behind the line, load up on the line, and cap up when I'm ready to shoot.
When I used to shoot with the VAA I'd load my rifle off the line, carry it vertically TO the line, and cap up after lying down to shoot it. Just as everybody else did.
A lad at the club bought an original Manton flintlock pistol, I think he paid about £900 for it. It was in a well used condition but not poor, if you know what I mean.
He decided it is too valuable to use and did not want to risk damaging it by using it so it now hangs on his wall at home.
That's a real shame. We are not helped here by the law that equates a 200-year-old single-shot antique with a firearm like a .50cal BMG long-range rifle.
I'm in the same boat with my two Canadian Sniders, one a family heirloom that saw service in 1871 during the last American invasion of Canada. Sure, I could sell two other guns so that I could legally shoot them, but I have no wish to have to lose two of my little collection to do so.
Having shot both pistols of a pair of Wogdon duellers I can testify that they make a Pedersoli repro feel like shooting a cap gun.
Last edited by tacfoley; 18-06-2020 at 06:10 PM.
That was relatively cheap. Manton favoured using old horseshoe nails to fire forge his barrels. It gives a very distinctive angular pattern Damascus effect, however they are not very strong and so perhaps your lad did the right thing.
Speaking purely personally, I find it a little sad when an old gun is too valuable to shoot so this kind of thing is not for me but I know a lot of folk enjoy collecting.
True freedom includes the freedom to make mistakes or do foolish things and bear the consequences.
TANSTAAFL
Last edited by gtpkeeper; 18-06-2020 at 05:40 PM.
ballkeeper
A lovely pistol. Please tell us all about how you go about shooting with it.
I'm assuming that you've seen capandball's channel on Youtube? He is Dr Bálasz Németh, Hungarian BP shooting champion many times over and secretary/organiser of the MLAIC. He and his partner run a gun store in Budapest called kapszli.hu. He is the main Pedersoli importer/dealer in Eastern Europe - even I have had stuff from him over the years that the UK dealer could not get hold of.
I know some one who drilled 4 holes in the loading cap of his cylinder flask then coverd the holes with gaffer tape, his idea was if a spark somehow got into the flask the pressure build up as the powder goes up in smoke will exit via the weakest point, this been the gaffer tape covering the holes. Good idea but I think the pressure build up will be so fast that the cylinder flask will blow up anyway but the holes will limit the size of the inevitable bang.
When loading my muzzle loaders I use paper cases made from perming papers, one of the best ideas for muzzle loaders ever (admittedly I don't have any flint locks)
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