How to cure the Flintlock flinch.

[Darkhorse]

You've just recieved your first flintlock. WOW! This thing is just too cool. It's got the frizzen and a pan and just looks so different. You look at it and realize; This is the gun that fought the Revolution and won the battle of New Orleans. It opened the frontier. It was carried over the Cumberland gap by Daniel Boone and opened the way into the Rocky Mountain fur trade. Can't wait to shoot it.
So off you go with a screwdriver or file and punch to sight your new Flintlock in off good sandbags. Finally the sights are set and your shooting tight groups and think to yourself, what's all the fuss? These things shoot great.
Then you shoot a few offhand and all your shots are low and to the right (for rightys), in a tight group or not. Back to the bench, dead on. Back to offhand, low to the right. WHAT is going on here?

Congratulations. You've just developed a flintlock flinch and now you know why they call them flinchlocks.

There is a lot neat stuff going on right in front of your face, the sound; ker-latch-sss-boom. The hammer hitting the friz and flipping it up. And this cool flash. You just can't not look at it. If it didn't get your attention your not normal. But when you look at it your not looking at the target. So now you've got to train yourself to ignore that neat stuff and concentrate on the front sight and target. Simple.

Whittle a little piece of wood just like your flint and clamp it in the jaws. Be doubly sure your gun is not loaded and go outside. PUT NO POWDER IN THE PAN!!! Now cock your rifle and pick a spot on a fencepost or something and aim at it. Concentrate and pull the trigger. Take note of where your front sight is. It's not on the target. You have let your eye get distracted and watch the hammer. So do it again. And again. And again......
Now go back tomorrow and do the same thing. Depending on the person it might take a day or a week before that front site stays locked on the target and you ignore the hammer. Don't stop. Keep doing it for several more days. I'm not kidding. Do this right the first time and get by it.

Next clamp a flint in the jaws with NO PRIME. You have just added a new distraction; different noise and sparks. So you continue doing this for several days until that front sight stays locked on the target.
At last we are to the neat stuff. Plug your vent hole with a toothpick and put some prime in the pan. You guessed it. Keep doing the same thing over and over and over.....

Until finally you graduate to a light charge and ball. If you did this right your flinch should be cured. If not, just go back and keep doing it until it is. This is the easy way. All your shots should go to the same place whether off a bench or not. No excuses.

If haven't shot your new flinter yet it is much advised to complete this process before you ever start. If you get discouraged your more likely to quit and buy an inline or something. So don't get discouraged.

Just cross one bridge at a time until you reach your goal and you'll wonder why you ever shot anything but a flintlock to begin with.

 

[FERAL ONE]

this is a great idea ,thanks for adding this for us flint beginners. i have found that it takes a bit of effort to stay focused on the front site and follow through with my shot. i guess it is like my recurve, form is everything !!!

 

[EMC-GUN]

Neat post. Informative and a bit funny!

 

[.50 cal. flinter]

Good post. You can't practice enough, i've had mine for three years and still catch myself flinching now and then,just concentrate on the sight picture and target.

 

[LanceColeman]

As a long time bowhunter I've always been a huge advocate on "follow through" I guess I just adapted from that to flinters. Problem is flinters are addictive like bows!! I burned through a can of powder before you could even turn around!!

I think other than the neat orange "FWIPF!" that takes place right out there inside your peripheral vision the next biggest impulse is to hurry and see if you hittit! hard to do through all that smoke.

So I've gotten to where I don't even concern myself with any of that stuff until after the smoke clears. sort of a brain dead period between squeezing the trigger and the smoke being gone.

Great info and post! I have a bad habit of just priming my pan and sparking it. gonna try that wooden whittled flint thing and see if that will nock the edge off the DTs (lol!)

 

[Nicodemus]

Great thread, Darkhorse!!

Where were you when I needed you, 25 years ago!!!

 

[Darkhorse]

Nicodemus, That's why I'm posting this now. Back in '76 I had a mentor who got me started with a caplock. When I got into the flinters I really needed a mentor then too but didn't have one. Learning by yourself can be a long row to hoe sometimes. So I thought by posting this I could help someone else and maybe keep them in the traditional fold.
Flinching was my biggest problem starting out with the flintlock. In fact it took a couple of years to conquer it. If I had just known this then it would have been a lot easier.

There are some other things I might be able to help out with. For instance, I've never in over 30 years had a misfire on a deer, with either cap or flint. I'm firmly convinced it's simply technique perfected over many years. Now don't get me wrong I've had my share of misfires but I've learned from them.

I've also built 2 flintlocks, both tack drivers, so I know what makes them tick.

So, there might be a few more of these "Tutorials" in the works if the GON members wish. It would be nice to bundle into, say, "Traditional 101", but that's just a thought.

I'm glad we have a Muzzleloading section now. It's a good way to get info out. And we need all the traditional shooters we can get.

 

[quigleysharps4570]

Darkhorse this thread was a good idea...sure oughta help those wanting to go the flintlock route.

 

[LanceColeman]

Dark horse,

I took my flinter out for deer the very first time this year. Halfway down the mt. I thouht something didn't look right. So I checked and sure enough my rifle wouldn't "spark" I'm a relative rookie at flinters. So here I was sitting on a big rock on the side of the mt. with a screw driver in one hand, my rifle in my lap and my head cocked to keep my phone stuck to my ear as the guy who made the rifle for me walked me through setting my flint back square and getting things back in order.

I guess it was about the same thing as ya wife having her head under the hood of yer car trying to fix it, because Lord knows I aint have a clue.

I for one welcome any little pointers and hints on them anyone is willing to share. I know sometimes in bowhunting things that seem elementry or simple to me can be a headache or unknown to others. So no matter how major or minor you more experienced hunters see it?? Please don't be afraid to point it out or drop a hint.

I know how to hunt and I know how to shoot mine. But when something goes wrong with it?? it's not common knowledge I know how to fix it in the field.

 

[HandgunHTR]

Darkhorse, keep posting as much as you want. I love it when people share their knowledge with others.

I was fortunate enough to have a father who instilled a deep curiosity on how things work. Therefore it is facinating to me to read about other people's experiences.

Thank you very much!

 

[Nicodemus]

Darkhorse, we appreciate your expertise. Post all you like!

 

[TNGIRL]

Darkhorse, very informative post. Enjoyed the telling of the story just as much. Look forward to reading anything you have to show or tell. Thanks.

 

[quigleysharps4570]

Guess ole darkhorse ain't coing back.

 

[Darkhorse]

Oh, I'll be back. Working on a couple of subjects right now just trying to find the time.
All these little tutorials may not fit everybody but it might give new insights. I'll only post on things I know about. For instance don't look for a post about inlines. I've never shot one so I don't know anything about them.
Some of the same things hold true for both, just the mechanics are different.

 

[Nicodemus]

Oh, I'll be back. Working on a couple of subjects right now just trying to find the time.
All these little tutorials may not fit everybody but it might give new insights. I'll only post on things I know about. For instance don't look for a post about inlines. I've never shot one so I don't know anything about them.
Some of the same things hold true for both, just the mechanics are different.

I`ve never even held one of those inline rifles, never seen any of that pyrodex powder, or any of the stuff that goes with em. In nfact, ain`t ever even shot a conical, just patched round ball. It works fine so I kinda left it at that.

 

[whitworth]

My memories of learning flintlocks

1. Learn the procedure of loading the flintlock rifle by heart. Then take the unloaded muzzleloader through the procedures, manually.

2. Study the arc. Will shorten the study time of how you ignite the powder in the pan. It will save time and money on flints.

Watch how the arc (from the side) of the flint will hit the frizzen. (Unloaded, with the frizzen pushed forward, making no contact on firing).

Slowly line up the striking flint with the frizzen, so the flint just kisses the frizzen and causes a spark. Avoid taking gouges out of the frizzen.

Remember you are just setting up the flint to hit the frizzen and have an unloaded rifle.
Once you set the flint, you are ready for some practice at the range.

Study, study, study the way the arc goes - how flint hits a frizzen and causes a spark.

3. Not jumping, when the powder ignites in the pan, takes concentration and practice. Just recognize that powder will make smoke and there is nothing you can do about it. Live with it.

Just concentrate and keep you head on the rifle, aiming, right through the shot.




flintlock parts.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/flintlock2.htm