1/16" piece of lead needed?????

[Willyp]

I have been shooting a flintlock, for a while! The flint has been held in the hammer with a chunk of leather? For some unknown reason,i would like to try a piece of lead to hold the flint in????Read about this and it is supposed to hold better???
Would anyone here have a piece lead sheeting,1/16 or so thick by about 1" wide,that they would sell me a couple of strips????? All the soft lead i have are in ingots!

[btroj]

If you have a lead round ball for the glinted then you just need a big hammer. Pound out a small sheet, won't take long at all.

[kenjuudo]

Fix ya right up, PM me your address.

jim

[waksupi]

That was something that was done mainly with military muskets. A smashed round ball was easy to come by, leather, maybe not so. As for holding better, probably not. The leather will conform to different shaped flints easier than lead will. I did try the lead years ago, and it must not have impressed me, as I went back to leather. The type of leather has a lot to do with it, too. A thick piece of commercial top grain leather is a poor thing to use. I use brain tanned scrap.
I have no proof of this, but I believe the leather absorbs a bit of the shock of the hammer falling, and relieves the tumbler and sear of shock.
I would rather take a chance on having a flint slip, than to break either a sear or tumbler. Good spare parts to keep on hand, along with a mainspring and frizzen.

[EDG]

Be careful there.
All that extra weight on your hammer will slow down you lock time.... lol