Inline FabricationTitan ReloadingRepackboxRotoMetals2
Reloading EverythingWidenersMidSouth Shooters SupplyLoad Data
Lee Precision PBcastco
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 22

Thread: Flintlocks and Ferrocerium firesticks

  1. #1
    Boolit Man
    Join Date
    Jun 2018
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    85

    Flintlocks and Ferrocerium firesticks

    I have heard that Ferrocerium firesticks for lighting fires work well in a flintlock and last for ages, has anyone tried this?

    Chert and flint is not found here where I live and importers are asking $20 per flint. Admittedly I normally get my flints from TOW but just thought I`d ask the above question.

  2. #2
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    eastern Iowa
    Posts
    472
    Flints are cheap here. That said I have wondered about the ferrocerium myself. When time permits ,will give it a try. I mostly do percussion . What do percussion caps sell for in N.Z.?
    n.h.schmidt

  3. #3
    Boolit Grand Master

    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Northwest Ohio
    Posts
    14,420
    The question I would ask is how is the Ferrocium wear on the frizzen and lock?

  4. #4
    Boolit Man
    Join Date
    Jun 2018
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    85
    Quote Originally Posted by n.h.schmidt View Post
    Flints are cheap here. That said I have wondered about the ferrocerium myself. When time permits ,will give it a try. I mostly do percussion . What do percussion caps sell for in N.Z.?
    n.h.schmidt
    CCI #11 percussion caps sell for $20nz a tin , so about $13.50 a tin U.S. We have very few Muzzleloader outlets so most guys get their stuff from TOW or Dixie. One of the main reasons for the lack of Outlets for Black powder related gear is we do not have hunting seasons for Deer. Deer and other large game are just hunted all year round generally with rifles even suppressed along with NV or thermal.

  5. #5
    Boolit Man
    Join Date
    Jun 2018
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    85
    Quote Originally Posted by country gent View Post
    The question I would ask is how is the Ferrocium wear on the frizzen and lock?
    Yes I had wondered that as well.

  6. #6
    Banned
    Join Date
    Dec 2018
    Posts
    337
    if I am thinking it is supposed to be a strip that is glued onto the face of the frizzen and a piece of something else is put into the jaws of the cock.

    Or am I still remember the funny hijinks that someone did selling strips of depleted uranium for that purpose for a short time? back in the late 80s I think.

  7. #7
    Boolit Grand Master Good Cheer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    the Ark
    Posts
    5,258
    Anyone tried zirconium?

  8. #8
    Boolit Grand Master bedbugbilly's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    MI (summer) - AZ (winter)
    Posts
    5,098
    I would wonder about frizzed wear as well. If trying to improve a flintlock, which has worked just fine for centuries just fine . . . well . . that was how the percussion cap got developed.

    I'm not that familiar with the Ferrocerium fire starters - a flint and steel is just as reliable and I have carried such a fire kit in our cars for years just in case a person got broken down and stranded and had to spend a night out.

    Just me . . . but putting modern stuff on a flintlock just seems to defeat the purpose of having a flintlock to begin with. As someone mentioned . . . if that is something that would be put on a frizzed than I'm guessing you'd have to put a piece of steel in the jaws? Reversing the process so to speak - why?

  9. #9
    Boolit Grand Master

    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Northwest Ohio
    Posts
    14,420
    Trying to "improve" on a system that's been reliable for 150 years or better is going to be a big job to accomplish. Resurfacing a frizzen is a rough job to get dead right. This new material how is it shaped, knapped like flint? or special tools? How hard is it going to be on the lock? on the frizzen?

  10. #10
    Moderator Emeritus / Trusted loob groove dealer

    waksupi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Somers, Montana, a quaint little drinking village,with a severe hunting and fishing problem.
    Posts
    19,325
    Look around, and see if you can find any other native stone that will work. I've used quartz, obsidian, and other rocks that I am not geologist enough to know the names of. Look for a glassy looking stone to work with. Quartz last quite awhile, obsidian not long, but it sparks well when it does.
    The solid soft lead bullet is undoubtably the best and most satisfactory expanding bullet that has ever been designed. It invariably mushrooms perfectly, and never breaks up. With the metal base that is essential for velocities of 2000 f.s. and upwards to protect the naked base, these metal-based soft lead bullets are splendid.
    John Taylor - "African Rifles and Cartridges"

    Forget everything you know about loading jacketed bullets. This is a whole new ball game!


  11. #11
    Boolit Master RU shooter's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    SW Pa.
    Posts
    2,928
    To just give it a dry run find a cheap thin flat file grind it the shape of your frizzen and JB weld or superglue it to the face , clamp a chunk of ferro rod in the cock jaws and see what happens . If no joy apply a little heat to the JB weld and it will come right off . If it works and sparks we'll find a second frizzen and file small grooves in it just like the file face and install . Worth a try Ferro rod is dirt cheap and you can file It into whatever shape you want , sparks like crazy when you do but you can easily it's not really that hard a material
    If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck!

  12. #12
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    1,606
    if it ain't broke, then don't fix it!!

  13. #13
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    SE Michigan
    Posts
    451
    Remember the cock holding the flint strikes the frizzen scraping
    hard steel from it. Just like a grinding wheel against a piece of steel.
    The cock is moving downward into the flash pan and throwing the
    burning steel piece's into the pan.
    If you hold the ferro-rod in the cock and glue a file section to the frizzen the sparks generated will fly
    up away from the pan.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master RU shooter's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    SW Pa.
    Posts
    2,928
    Quote Originally Posted by toot View Post
    if it ain't broke, then don't fix it!!
    Said all the flintlock shooters when they started making all those modern percussion cap guns! ! Lol matchlock guys said that about the new fangled flintlock too ....
    If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck!

  15. #15
    Boolit Master Bert2368's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Blasted hellish frozen northern wastelands, AKA Minnesota
    Posts
    530
    Quote Originally Posted by Good Cheer View Post
    Anyone tried zirconium?
    Is there an emoticon of a BROKEN lightbulb/the bad idea fairy?

    You were kidding?

    I wouldn't care to walk around with both Zirconium and black powder in close proximity while hunting. Two of my most memorable BAD days at work involved finding out just how much more sensitive Zirconium is than any other powdered metals I had used previously for pyrotechnics (way freaking more sensitive to ignition from very mild friction indoors on one day, sensitive to a static discharge from a synthetic jacket outdoors on a windy cold fall day another time).

    I can carry a ferrocerium fire steel around without setting my pants on fire... And it is MUCH softer than steel.
    "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."

  16. #16
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Baldwin Co, across bay from Mobile, AL
    Posts
    1,125
    Quote Originally Posted by jaguarxk120 View Post
    Remember the cock holding the flint strikes the frizzen scraping
    hard steel from it.
    Are you sure the metal cock that holds the flint is what strikes the frizzen? On my flintlock it's the flint it self that scrapes along the frizzen pan scraping off metal shavings that spark. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're saying.

    Ken H>

  17. #17
    Banned


    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Madison County Ga.
    Posts
    412
    I read long ago and back a few months on facebook guys were talking about this attempting to change the wheel. I do know the NMLRA banned the use of the special steel on locks as the sparks tended to live on dancing around the shooting area. Making it a hazardous fire boom deal next to where you were shooting at.

    No reason why a properly tuned lock and good flint can't last over 100 strikes. https://youtu.be/HPPS8lo4Q9g

  18. #18
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    England
    Posts
    1,597
    using the Wheel and Flint off a Cigarette Lighter fitted into a Flint Shaped piece of Hardwood and held in the Cock Jaws and a leather sleeve on the frizzen a good spark can be achieved until the lighter flint wears out.OK for Hunting but might be frowned upon for competitions.

  19. #19
    Boolit Master
    GARD72977's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    TUPELO MS
    Posts
    1,726
    The cost of caps has nothing to do with why I shot Flintlocks

  20. #20
    Boolit Grand Master Good Cheer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    the Ark
    Posts
    5,258
    Quote Originally Posted by Bert2368 View Post
    Is there an emoticon of a BROKEN lightbulb/the bad idea fairy?

    You were kidding?

    I wouldn't care to walk around with both Zirconium and black powder in close proximity while hunting. Two of my most memorable BAD days at work involved finding out just how much more sensitive Zirconium is than any other powdered metals I had used previously for pyrotechnics (way freaking more sensitive to ignition from very mild friction indoors on one day, sensitive to a static discharge from a synthetic jacket outdoors on a windy cold fall day another time).

    I can carry a ferrocerium fire steel around without setting my pants on fire... And it is MUCH softer than steel.
    Zirconium fabrication and its gas shielding requirements; it is an art unto itself.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check