Flintlock 54 cal pistol flint needed

[AlaskanGuy]

Hey guys,

My father gave me a 54 cal bp pistol that he made from a kit about 40 years ago.... It is a true flintlock, and has a clamp to install a chunk of flint... Trouble is, I dont live in an area with a bunch of flint.... Where do you guys get it??? I have knapped obsidian before and think if I could just find a chunk, i could knap a piece into a good shape to work....

Advice on where to get some would be appreciated....

AG

[725]

Track of the Wolf, October Country, or the best place I can think of is in Pa. -- Dixon's muzzleloading supply

[Nobade]

I get 'em from Track or Dixie gunworks. Obsidian knaps well but doesn't last long in the cock - it shatters like glass.

-Nobade

[JMtoolman]

If you have any agate in your area, just bust off flakes and use them for flints. You will find they make better sparks than flint and last longer. I used to pick up agate shards where the Indians were making points, they work great! The toolman.

[scattershot]

Don't know how much you plan to shoot, but your best bet is to buy a couple from the sources mentioned. Obsidian is too brittle, and flintknapping is an art all its own. You can find the size you need by measuring the width of the frizzen.

Good luck!

[AlaskanGuy]

Thanks guys....

[dikman]

Track of the Wolf. Their English flints are often recommended by users.

Nice dad. Any chance I could borrow him for a while? (I need a flinter pistol :bigsmyl2:).

[AlaskanGuy]

Here is what it looks like.....

100159

Lol.... He gave it to me over 20 years ago... Never been fired... I made some black powder, so i figured i should shoot it a few times just to see how it shoots....

[waksupi]

Ha! Good luck getting one of those old Tower pistols to spark. I had one just like that nearly 40 years ago. It took about fifty zillion hammer falls to get a spark. The last time I shot it, we ended up with a buddy putting a match to the pan to fire it. Yep, burned his fingers good!

[AlaskanGuy]

Lol wak... What were you using as a flint???? How about a chunk of magnesium....

[tacklebury]

If you get some casenite you can harden the frizzen and you will get much better sparks and the frizzen will last much longer. ;)

[Nobade]

If you get one of those "Kyper flints" it'll go! Kind of cheating but it has kept me from having to buy a new lock.

-Nobade

[drago9900]

I use Stonewall Creek Outfitters, nice even flints without humps on top

[Whiterabbit]

you're new to flints, aren't you. Me too. So I stumbled through it, and here is what I learned:

#1. Don't buy sawn flints. There is a reason this is rule #1.
#2. Track is a great source for flints. I'm sure other sources are great too. I've only needed/used track so far.
#3. English flints are most popular. They don't work well for me. Spark is OK to very good, but they just flake apart on me.
#4. French are less popular online, but they work like a DREAM for me. Probably get triple-digit shots out of each flint. Last one I replaced not because it wasn't sparking and firing, but because it was so worn that it was starting to delay lock time by an almost imperceptible amount and it was in the middle of a muzz shoot, and seriously screwing with my groups (combined with a crappy shooter of course!). Anyways, the point is buy 5 English and 5 French and try both to see what you like.
#5. knapping is hard. I don't recommend buying bigger than you need, figuring you can knap them down to size. Not that easy. Buy the size you need, and don't compromise.
#6. Frizzen needs to be hard. brownells case hardening compound works well, even if you only have a turkey fryer to work with. Needs lots of time for diffusion, but the result is worth it.
#7 lock geometry is everything. Everything. Everything! I can't look at a lock and tell you if the geometry is good, but if the geometry is really bad, I can see it right away! Then it doesn't matter how good the rock and frizzen are, you are in trouble. One day I will learn how to tune a lock. But for now I enjoy the expert labor of a true master.

just about 1 year of muzzleloading under my belt, with 50 more to go if my eyes last that long. Gonna die being a caplock dunce, cause lets be honest the rocklock is an amazing piece of history.

[ukrifleman]

If you are not too worried about being historically correct, do what some of the guys in my club do.
Use matches! they glue a piece of abrasive material onto the frizzen and clamp 3 matches into the lock and Whoof!
ukrifleman.

[dikman]

Well, that's different!