Dull flints ...

[rfd]

... suck big time. Or, how to waste time with something that will never work instead of doing the right thing from the get-go.

An old "common" (double edged) gun flint with many dozens of good firings finally lost its edge, After 3 failures I flipped it over to its second edge, which was also a tad worn. After 2 failures I had enuf and swapped it out for a new flint that wouldn't spark on its first flight and required a bit of knapping. When I brushed the ultra tiny knapped flint shards off the bench I got a nice 1/4" cut on the pinky. Flint can be surgically sharp, beware!

After that, she fired consistently, as expected. Life is still good, despite the waste of time. :)

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

One thing I hate about ordering flints online, I can't control the quality of the length of them! I have one rifle that likes them a little short and stubby.

[Col4570]

Make up a small Brass Drift as follows,1/4 inch Brass rod,turned down to 3/16 inch at one end,using a small Pin Hammer work along the Flint edge by striking downwards,small flakes will be taken off producing a sharp edge on the Flint and giving you several more shots before you change the Flint.

[Hanshi]

Bad flints suck BIG TIME! The worst flint I ever had was placed in the jaws new and, even with knapping, only gave 5 shots. When a flint gets that bad or is that bad from the start, I put in a new one. I've also had flints that kept shooting until there was not enough of it for the jaws to hold onto. Most flints give me 25 to 35 shots before anything needs to be done. Usually I'll just wipe the edge and maybe scrape it with a piece of metal. Knapping is normally the last thing needed. This way I can get 50 to 100 plus shots with a really good flint.

[bedbugbilly]

As they say . . . "use the right tool for the right job" . . :-) i.e. . . . a brush works better than you hand and won't bleed like your fingers and hand will from flint chards! Don't ask me how I know . . . .

Flints can be funny but I guess not all rocks are created equal. I've had some that seemed to hold an edge and last forever until they are like old friends and then I've had some that seem to have a limited life even after using my small brass napping hammer on them. On my large trade gun size flints, I usually hung on to them, tried napping the edges and then used them with my fire starting steel . . smaller ones get tossed as I just can't hang on to them with my fingers to strike a steel.

It looks like you had a nice day to shoot rfd! Worst case scenario, you could always toss the flint and clamp a piece of burning cotton rope in the jaws and make it in to a matchlock! :-)

[waksupi]

I use them until they resemble a marble more than a flint. Forward, backwards, sideways, and upside down. If i can still get a sharp edge on it, I'll use it for playing around.
A point of interest, I put a piece of obsidian in one of my guns, and got four shots out of it without resharpening. Surprised the hell out of me!

[rfd]

Make up a small Brass Drift as follows,1/4 inch Brass rod,turned down to 3/16 inch at one end,using a small Pin Hammer work along the Flint edge by striking downwards,small flakes will be taken off producing a sharp edge on the Flint and giving you several more shots before you change the Flint.

years ago i made up a few gun flint pressure flakers, they do work good, i like them best ... of course, TWO were in my OTHER shooting bag and NONE were in the bag i brought the day of the above vid. i need to make up lists to find the lists i made up last week. dull flints suck and getting older (i'm 71) Really Sucks more. hah!

[2152hq]

I sharpen the edge of dull flints with EZE-Lap diamond hones.
I use the hones a lot in my restoration work and when they are are about useless for that, they still have plenty of cutting ability for sharpening flints.
They cut through the flint like a sharp file through brass easily (re)shaping the flint or simply putting a new edge on it.
I usually leave the flint right in the hammer jaw to do the work. Just a few strokes takes care of it.
One worn EZE-Lap last forever on flints.
A medium or coarse does the trick and you don't loose any more material from the flint than absolutely necessary.
Great for reshaping a flint surface so it better fits the jaws to. It cuts very quickly.

[Maven]

"I sharpen the edge of dull flints with EZE-Lap diamond hones."

Thanks for the tip, 2152hq! I'm going to look into this shortly. Btw, Brownells, Amazon, and EBay carry these if anyone else is interested.

[masscaster]

Jeff Tanner sells Flint sharpeners.

[OverMax]

Suffered the same experience many times. Over time I grew to believe there is no such thing as reliability in any flint-lock rifle.

Some time ago.
I started flattening a ball so to wrap my flint with. Flint went from a (leather) cushioned blow to a (lead) dead blow on its frizzen. Always a shower of spark I can count on seeing doing the lead thing to its stone.

When seated in my deer stand now with my rifles flint wrapped in lead.. No misfires_ no dinking around tweaking {re-knapping} a flints edge or fiddling around checking its distance from its frizzen hoping to ensure a shower of spark_ and positively not having to watch a dandy size deer trot away because of a noisy misfire event.

Like any good flint-lock shooter I check out my rifle thoroughly before taking it hunting. In fact every evening during my deer season its something I take the time to do. (check out that smoke pole before going to bed)

Leather wrapped flint I could never count on in the heat of the moment. Lead wrapped. without a doubt will put brown on the ground every time the cock falls..

[Col4570]

Got me a pile of Flint Nodes a friend brought me from Suffolk (UK).Been making my Own Gunflints,they are not so pretty as the Professionals make but they Spark like Billyho.

[Tatume]

I have two rifles that use locks by one very respected maker. One rifle was made by a famous builder. It shoots very well, but I usually only get 10 shots from a flint. The other was built by Steve Zihn. It gets untold shots per flint (I always lose track of the count), and keeps firing reliably when the flint looks like it shouldn't work at all. I see no rhyme or reason to the matter.

[Silfield]

Got me a pile of Flint Nodes a friend brought me from Suffolk (UK).Been making my Own Gunflints,they are not so pretty as the Professionals make but they Spark like Billyho.

Col,
If you ever need any more just give me a shout as I am surrounded by Brandon flint here (south Norfolk)
The farm where I live has just ploughed the fields and they are lying everywhere!

[Col4570]

Silfield,thanks for that,at pres I have enough but I might take you up on that at some time.Are you a Flintlock Shooter.Regards.

[Eddie2002]

Silfield, I'm interested in some flint nodes, been looking for some decent flint for my rock locks. Thanks

[17nut]

One of those diamond knife sharpeners!!!

202775
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/865076/smiths-4-diamond-combination-knife-sharpener

Use it and you'll never have a dull moment again :-)

[Silfield]

Eddie,
I can pick up as many as you can carry but shipping from here to you is going to be a sting! I just looked into it and the cheapest I can get is roughly $40.00 for 2 1/2 lbs in weight of rough stone. If anyone can think of a cheaper way please shout.

[Edward]

Eddie,
I can pick up as many as you can carry but shipping from here to you is going to be a sting! I just looked into it and the cheapest I can get is roughly $40.00 for 2 1/2 lbs in weight of rough stone. If anyone can think of a cheaper way please shout. Try flat rate box?

[Wayne Smith]

Try flat rate box?

I'm not sure they have them in England! Is that for air transport? See if there is a cheaper freight, longer term shippng option. That may have a minimum size/weight.