GRF Trade Gun Issues Resolved

[Maven]

Several years ago I purchased a used, but well-made, Green River Forge .62 trade gun which was in VG condition. It generally fired when I pulled the trigger, but hang fires/delays were common enough to really annoy me. Yesterday, having had too many of them (on a miserably hot and humid day I might add), I decided either to try to fix the problem or put the gun up for sale. I opted for the former and then looked at the vent liner (hard brass) and my collection of drill bits. I didn't want to enlarge the touchhole itself, just form a "cone" around it a la Ernie Biggs' on the Traditional ML Forum: http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/fusionbb.php

Having followed Ernie's suggestion in the past with a Dixie rifle, which had the same problem, I proceeded to form a cone around the touchhole itself. That took only a few seconds with the electric drill (and sharp bit!). Today, I went to the range again and found my modification to the vent really improved things. To wit, hang fires were largely gone. With proper flint management, I hope to eliminate them entirely: Who knew this gun would be so fussy about flint position? In retrospcect, maybe I SHOULD have known.... In short, the problem seems to be almost solved.

On the positive side, it isn't particularly sensitive to powder charge or granulation. At 25 yd. it is accurate from a rest, but not so much when shooting offhand. Now that the flash-delay-bang thing is under control, I hope to practice offhand shooting more. However, fed a .597" RB (Jeff Tanner mould, sic) wrapped in either a .014" or .017" patch, and 70gr. - 80gr. FFg,* it does pretty well.

*I've been using Diamondback FFg for more than a year and must say I'm very happy with its performance. In all my BP long guns, I got a "crud ring" right above the chamber when using Goex or Graf's (Wano) FFg. The trade gun was the worst offender too. With DB, there was no crud ring to speak of and clean up was much easier and faster than it had been.

[Boerrancher]

I will keep that little trick in mind since I am starting to collect rock locks. I am sure I will find one that is finicky most likely sooner than later.

Best wishes,

Joe

[Maven]

Joe, My gun is (or should I say was?) real persnickety about RB diameter as well. I tried a Rapine RB mold (.608" dia.), but got miserable results with it and sold it. I was also given a Dixie mold, which casts an honest .600" ball, but accuracy is erratic with it even from a rest. However, the Jeff Tanner .597" mold, so far is the most consistently accurate of the 3. As for cleaning your gun, do exactly as Waksupi recommends in his reply to your post, as he's spot on.

Btw, your trade gun is a beauty. Enjoy it!

Paul

[DIRT Farmer]

Maven eliminating all miss fires are a lofty goal, I work on it myself. That being said, I did have three at Friendship in June, in about 425 shots. One was gun management issues ( seinor moments in gun management) one unexplained and one trying to get 200 shots from one flint (I made it to 197). After the flash, every thing checked out, I reprimed and shot, and as I remember broke the next target each time, and all three were in good strings.

In the clay target games, championship matches are won and lost by wether the gun fires every time, and I diden't win.

[waksupi]

Maven eliminating all miss fires are a lofty goal, I work on it myself. That being said, I did have three at Friendship in June, in about 425 shots. One was gun management issues ( seinor moments in gun management) one unexplained and one trying to get 200 shots from one flint (I made it to 197). After the flash, every thing checked out, I reprimed and shot, and as I remember broke the next target each time, and all three were in good strings.

In the clay target games, championship matches are won and lost by wether the gun fires every time, and I diden't win.

If you got 197 shots from a flint, you are my hero! I've never really counted, but I use all sides, bevel up, bevel down, and use them until they look like a marble. There is a lot of spark in those little rocks.

[Maven]

If you got 197 shots from a flint, you are my hero! I've never really counted, but I use all sides, bevel up, bevel down, and use them until they look like a marble. There is a lot of spark in those little rocks.

Yup, that's another aspect of flint management I've just discovered...and it works! I'll also give it a whirl in my Isaac Haines rifle.

[Boerrancher]

I use all sides, bevel up, bevel down, and use them until they look like a marble.

Once more I have learned something. I usually just toss my flints after they quit sparking. I guess it is because I have an abundance and the ability to knock them out at will. I will start practicing flint conservation, as it just dawned on me that someday I may find myself in a place where the lithic quality is pore to non existent, and that would suck running out of flints because I was tossing them instead of using them, "until they look like a marble."

Best wishes,

Joe

[DIRT Farmer]

Wakisupi the flint was a shard of Southern Indiana horn stone, fairly thin with two good sides. After I trimed it to fit the lock, I never touched the edge, although I rotated it 90* one time.
I was shooting my 20th match of the week, and had a good run going. It became just another donation to the range.

[Boerrancher]

This morning early after the wife left for the farmers market I decided I wanted to play with the trade gun a bit more with shot loads. I sat up a target paper at 25 yards to pattern the gun. I was shooting 1 1/8 oz of shot on 50 grains of 2FG. I know, a light load but the pins and screws in my shoulder won't take any more abuse than that. The pattern was quite workable for small game hunting. There were a few small holes in the pattern but the 1.5 inch circle I was aiming at had 7 or 8 equally spaced pellet holes in, and with a few more shots at different papers I found it to be really consistant. I cut my wads out of a Medium USPS flat rate box that someone had sent me filled with goodies. I put two of the wads between the powder and shot and one on top of the shot. For lube I just dropped a big wad of spit in the shot before topping it off with the card wad.

Now you are all by now probably thinking, "why is he talking about this in the thread about fixing a tricky lock, instead of in the trade gun thread he started?" I will tell you. After making sure the pattern was consistent, I got to thinking. The lock time on the old trade gun is pretty good, but I wondered if it could be better. I took the advice in the OP and with a small drill bit between my fingers made a slight bevel on the face of the touch hole. Not a lot, but just enough to break the sharp edge where it was drilled and leave the slightest trace of a bevel. I loaded her up again and all I can say is, "WOW!!!" Fired it several more times and each time it was simply amazing, much faster than any of my cap locks, and I would not hesitate to say as fast as most standard single barrel break open shotguns.

Maven I don't know how to thank you enough for pointing out this little trick that should be as obvious as the nose on one's face. It was over looked by myself, the guns previous owner, and even Curly the guns builder. Wow, now I am going to closely inspect my Hawken and see what the vent liner looks like on it. I always thought my Hawken was fast for being a flinter. I was pleased that most of the time it is as fast as a cap lock. Now that I know what can be achieved with one of these guns, I want to see if I can tune it a bit more. Thank you for sharing.

Best wishes,

Joe

[Maven]

Joe, You're most welcome, but I learned that trick from Ernie Biggs over on the Traditional ML's Forum (http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/fusionbb.php). He'll be thrilled to learn that it helped another shooter eliminate one bane of the FL shooter's existence.