# flint lock muzzleloader



## shawn dooley (Apr 6, 2016)

i need some advice..are they hard to keep clean.do you use the same powder you use in a inline muzzleloader.


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## SASS249 (Apr 7, 2016)

No harder to clean than any traditional muzzleloader.  If you spend much more than 10 minutes cleaning you are overthinking the process.

In a flintlock you have to use real black powder.  None of the substitutes will work well.


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## Steve-ALA (Apr 7, 2016)

What SASS said..............


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## shawn dooley (Apr 7, 2016)

Thanks for the info


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## lampern (Apr 9, 2016)

Look at the Thompson Center Firestorm

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/1073552270/thompson-center-fire-storm-flintlock-muzzleloading-rifle


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## GunnSmokeer (Apr 12, 2016)

can you use a little pinch of real black powder for priming the pan and for the first part of the propellant charge, under the flash hole, and then let the rest of your propellant charge be one of the modern black powder substitutes?


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## SASS249 (Apr 13, 2016)

GunnSmokeer said:


> can you use a little pinch of real black powder for priming the pan and for the first part of the propellant charge, under the flash hole, and then let the rest of your propellant charge be one of the modern black powder substitutes?



You can, but why bother?  One of the things you try to do is have as consistent a loading as possible.  By creating this duplex charge situation you have introduced another variable to the equation.  

I admit I am a complete traditionalist when it comes to muzzleloaders.  However, I have tried all sorts of things including what is described above.  What I got was a more complicated loading process and inconsistent ignition.


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## NCHillbilly (Apr 13, 2016)

To me, a flintlock is much easier to clean than a percussion or modern muzzleloader. No drum, nipple, or breechplug to have to fool with. And I find real blackpowder to perform much better, and also to be easier to clean than most of the modern substitutes, personally.


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## blood on the ground (Apr 13, 2016)

Good information guys!


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## F.A.R.R. (Aug 16, 2016)

Just make sure to also take off your lock and clean the back where the springs are---it will rust and ruin the lock if you don't


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## Rainmaker (Sep 18, 2016)

Good evening, 

SASS249, will you share your cleaning process? 

Also, how in the world do y'all effectively hunt whitetails with a flintlock. I have one, but have only shot it a few times in a couple of years. From an inexperienced point of view it seems there is so much more involved - complicated - than a percussion or inline. 

I don't own an inline, but for deer hunting I am thinking about it. 

Honestly though, if I could come up with a good setup for my flintlock I would take it to the woods. 

Looking forward to input from the flintlock experienced crowd. 

Thank you


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## NCHillbilly (Sep 19, 2016)

Rainmaker said:


> Good evening,
> 
> SASS249, will you share your cleaning process?
> 
> ...



A flintlock is no more complicated than a percussion gun, really. Only practical difference in the field is that you prime the pan with a pinch of powder instead of putting a percussion cap on the nipple. Otherwise, pretty much the same to hunt with. If you have the lock tuned and adjusted right, and a good sharp flint, it has pretty much no more appreciable delay than a percussion gun. I can prime a flintlock a whole lot faster than I can stick a primer in one of those inline rifles. I carry a couple-three extra patched balls in a wooden loading block hanging from the strap of my shooting bag, and a couple pre-measured powder charges. It takes maybe thirty seconds to reload. 

Keep in mind that deer were virtually eradicated from the eastern United States by folks carrying flintlock rifles, millions of deer skins a year were shipped out from the port of Charleston alone for decades. They will still kill a deer just as dead as they would back then. People toting flintlocks also defeated the British army.


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## Nicodemus (Sep 19, 2016)

Never underestimate a good flintlock longrifle. Sometime around 200, 0r 2001 at the Perry Buckarama, they had a muzzleloader shoot. Couple of targets, and I think the range was 100 yards. Everybody there was shooting those inline things, some with scopes. A friend of mine entered with his 45 caliber flintlock longrifle, and came in second overall, and I think he won the moving target.


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## stabow (Sep 19, 2016)

If you hunt small game with your flintlock you get to shoot more often you get the hang of it and see how reliable they are. Get the mind set that this is what I have and make it work. The more you use it the less complex it is.


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## SASS249 (Sep 19, 2016)

Rainmaker said:


> Good evening,
> 
> SASS249, will you share your cleaning process?
> 
> ...



I have used any number of different cleaning methods over the years, hot soapy water, balistol, a mixture of murphy's oil soap rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide and windshield wiper fluid.

All work about equally well.  At the range I tend to use the windshield wiper fluid.  It is cheap and does a good job.  I plug the touch hole and fill the barrel.  Let it sit for a while as I get the rest of my gear ready to go home.  After 5 minutes or so I pour it out then run patches through until they come out clean, run some drying patches through then a lightly oiled one.  I clean around the lock, touch hole frizzen etc with a wet patch then dry and apply light oil (except the frizzen).  I only pull the lock once in a while.  If it is fit well you really should not get much stuff behind it, but I pull it a couple of times a year just to clean and oil.  Whole process takes less than 10 minutes.

NCHillbilly, Nic and Stabow gave you some good info above.  I have never killed a deer except with a flintlock. 

 The key is to shoot it enough that you have confidence in the gun and loading becomes automatic.  Shooting matches is a good way to get confidence that the gun will go off every time you want it to.  It also lets you get used to loading. 

One thing I am a great believer in:  Do EVERYTHING the same way every time.  If you are going to hunt with a flintlock then at the range or shooting a match load it exactly like you will in the field.  I load from my shooting bag, even at matches that do not require it.  I also have my bag on my shoulder whenever I shoot.  Doing things the same way everytime and carrying your gear the same way can really pay off. 

Hunting small game is maybe the best advice of all.  Squirrel hunting with a traditional longrife has provided some of the best times I have had in the woods.  You learn to listen to things around you,  and you get to shoot often enough that you become confident in  how you and your rifle perform in different circumstances.

I have to admit, I am a shooter first and a hunter second.  I love the guns and enjoy shooting them.  I use them so much that when I do hunt, I never think of using anything else.

Learning to hunt with and shoot a traditional flintlock does require acquiring a skill set beyond what the casual shooter may have, but it is a skill set well worth having IMHO


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## Rainmaker (Sep 19, 2016)

I appreciate the input from all of you. Do any of you mind sharing pictures of your hunt/field ready flintlock and possibilities bag? 

I can see carrying powder for the charge in a horn, but what about the frizzen powder?


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## Nicodemus (Sep 19, 2016)

Rainmaker said:


> I appreciate the input from all of you. Do any of you mind sharing pictures of your hunt/field ready flintlock and possibilities bag?
> 
> I can see carrying powder for the charge in a horn, but what about the frizzen powder?





For years I carried FFFFg in a small priming horn, but I now just prime with FFFg, the same powder I load with. I can`t tell any difference. 

The rifle is "Gabriel", my 50 caliber longrifle.


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## SASS249 (Sep 19, 2016)

Not the best photos but all I have











First of all it is a shooting bag.  The only things in it are the items and tools for shooting.  Primary horn carries powder, the small horn on the strap carries priming powder.  Also on the strap is a sheath for the patch knife and a sheath for the short starter and powder measure.

Truth is you can usually prime with the same powder as your main charge and not really see much difference.

Short starter is not really period correct, or at least I have never seen one associated with an original shooting bag.

I will try to take some better shots of just the bag tomorrow.


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## Darkhorse (Sep 19, 2016)

Rainmaker if your going to be shooting a flintlock then you need to learn to deal with the flintlock flinch right off. Not learning to overcome it is why a lot of people call them "Flinchlocks".
When I am focusing like I should be and concentrating on that front sight and the target, I also see the prime ignite then the main charge, all the while keeping that front sight nailed on the target. It took a lot of shooting for me to get like this but I've learned some things that will help a new flinter out.
I was searching the web for another subject tonight and ran across this old post, thought about your questions and decided to bring it back up.
http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=425056


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## Darkhorse (Sep 20, 2016)

A photo of one of my bags and contents, not exactly what will be in it come deer season but pretty close. Also a photo of my .54 cal. "Samantha" and another bag.
Bag contents are; Round balls, patching material, cleaning patches, flints, flint leather, vent pick, bore scraper, worms, small pan primer, hammer (frizzen) stall, cows knee, short starter, 1/4 brass rod to sharpen flint, 5/8 piece of rod for quick knaps. Patch knife is not shown.
You can do away with most of this stuff for a day deer hunt and just carry a few premeasured powder charges and a few Round balls and patch, a few cleaning patches and short starter. It will all fit in a coat pocket and carry easier than bag and horn.


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## stabow (Sep 20, 2016)

My 32 cal bag and contents.


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## Rainmaker (Sep 21, 2016)

Thanks gentlemen. The rifles and accessories look fantastic. 

I have 2 "traditional" muzzleloaders. I have a T/C Hawken that I put together from a kit about 25 years ago in .50 cal. I also have a Lyman Great Plains Flintlock .50 cal I bought new 2 years ago. 

I was debating about selling the Hawken to fund a different project/want, but I just can't part with it. 

I took the Lyman out Monday night and shot it 3 times. I enjoyed it, but I've decided I can part with it but not the Hawken. 

That makes a total of 13 bullets I have put down the barrel of the Lyman in 2 years - I just don't have the time to dedicate to the Flintlock like I should at this point. 

Your input/advice and pictures aren't in vain. Their helpfulness easily transfers to me shooting my percussion Hawken. 

Thank you!


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