Dumb move and a real mess

[PA RIDGE RUNNER]

I have been shooting and hunting with a flintlock for many years. Right now is the flintlock deer season here in PA. The last several times I have been out I thought I was losing pan powder. I discovered the lock screw was just a little loose and tightened it up. Day before yesterday I decided to reaffirm zero and to shoot out the load that was in for a few days. The first shot was fine but I adjusted the sight a little and reloaded. This time I got a real surprise. I had lost a little powder and it was inside the lock. Well itignited. Nothing was harmed except maybe my pride. Boy did I have a mess to clean up. Tather than just taking the lock and trigger out of the rifle and blowing the powder out with a compressor I now had black powder residue all over the inside of the lock and trigger. Oh well it took only a few hours to clean it all up.

Lesson learned if you suspect you are losing powder from your pan look inside the rifle to be sure it did not sift down inside. If enough powder collects there disaster could result.

 

[RogerDailey]

That's a good reminder, thanks. I like to put little beeswax or duct seal between the pan and the barrel to prevent "leakage".

 

[richdeerht]

There's a cartoon showing this in Chuck Dixon's book Building the Pennsylvania Longrifle.

 

[cayuga]

That is real good information. I have one flintlock that loves to spit fowling behind the lock each time I shoot. I have been waxing the pan to stop it. It seems to work for me.

 

[PA RIDGE RUNNER]

I have done a little lock work over the years and have had some success at closing the gap between the pan and barrel. If anyone is interested, I can take pics of what I do as I have some work to do on my son's lyman flinter. I have some work to do on the lock of my accusporter too and can document with pics if anyone is interested. The type of work I have done is by no means hard but is a bit time consuming.

 

[cayuga]

It would be interesting to see what you do..

I have a T/C flinter that every time you shoot it.. you better pull that lock and clean the back side of the lock because it is filthy... Yet it looks like it fits perfect. So where that powder is sneaking in at is beyond me. I just clean the lock every time is all..