I was talkin' some of the guys at the range and one of them said he had a flinter that he didn't shoot. I asked what kind? and he replied "Firestorm, wanna buy it?" The price was too low to resist.
I got the rifle about a week later and it looked almost unused. The barrel appeared spotless inside, and the frizzen showed only a little use. The original cut flint appeared to be fine.
I pulled the vent liner, shined a light down the bore, and saw a crud ring around the conical shaped breechplug. TC, in their infinite wisdom made the Firestorm "Pyrodex pellet friendly" or so was supposed to be the intent. I've never shot any of the substitutes, so the breechplug looked like a potential problem for loose powder....after pulling the breechplug and cleaning, I promptly put it on the bench grinder to remove the cone and dressed it smooth with a file. After applying breechplug grease and reassembling, I took the rifle to the range.
Unknown to me, the previous owner told another guy that he couldn't get it to go off consistently. I do know that he had ffffg for pan powder at the least.
I had fffg Goex in my flask, so set the measure at 70gr and went about experimenting with various diameters of RBs, thicknesses of patches, etc. This Firestorm definitely has a larger bore than my Greyhawk as a Maxiball practically fell down the bore...anyway, even with the cut flint the gun never failed to fire, and ignition was as quick as any flinter I've ever shot. After about 40 rounds I called it a day. The lock was cruddy, but still sparking and the frizzen didn't bind.
This was the first TC that I've shot that had the QLA. It definitely made loading easier, PRB or conical. While its not a "traditional rifle", its still a flinter, and definitely reliable, at least with the modified breechplug.
I got the rifle about a week later and it looked almost unused. The barrel appeared spotless inside, and the frizzen showed only a little use. The original cut flint appeared to be fine.
I pulled the vent liner, shined a light down the bore, and saw a crud ring around the conical shaped breechplug. TC, in their infinite wisdom made the Firestorm "Pyrodex pellet friendly" or so was supposed to be the intent. I've never shot any of the substitutes, so the breechplug looked like a potential problem for loose powder....after pulling the breechplug and cleaning, I promptly put it on the bench grinder to remove the cone and dressed it smooth with a file. After applying breechplug grease and reassembling, I took the rifle to the range.
Unknown to me, the previous owner told another guy that he couldn't get it to go off consistently. I do know that he had ffffg for pan powder at the least.
I had fffg Goex in my flask, so set the measure at 70gr and went about experimenting with various diameters of RBs, thicknesses of patches, etc. This Firestorm definitely has a larger bore than my Greyhawk as a Maxiball practically fell down the bore...anyway, even with the cut flint the gun never failed to fire, and ignition was as quick as any flinter I've ever shot. After about 40 rounds I called it a day. The lock was cruddy, but still sparking and the frizzen didn't bind.
This was the first TC that I've shot that had the QLA. It definitely made loading easier, PRB or conical. While its not a "traditional rifle", its still a flinter, and definitely reliable, at least with the modified breechplug.