RobertSubnet

The other 2 posts were quite good. Some additional comments.

Get yourself a pan primer. This is a brass tube with a plunger on the end. You unscrew this and pour in your priming powder. When you need to add powder to the pan, turn the pan primer upside down, press the plunger against the pan and this will release a small amount of the powder-repeat as necessary.

Flintlocks are meant to shoot black powder. There are substitute powders, Triple 7, etc., however these substitute powders are more difficult to ignite than traditional black powder. The spark from the flint is typically not sufficient to ignite these substitute powders with any real degree of reliability. (In my experience that is. There are some real experts here who may have very different results than my own.)

Your best results will be from using 4F black powder in the pan and 2 or 3 F black powder down the pipe.

Goex is the most readily available black powder brand name. In many areas it is difficult to find. Here in Arizona, it is classified as an explosive. As such there are all sorts of laws regarding its storage. Often times these are prohibitively expensive for the retailer. So they do not bother to stock the genuine black powder. Substitute powders are not considered an explosive, so it is easier/cheaper for retailers to stock and sell.

If Goex is not available in your area (its not in Arizona), you can order it online from Powder Inc. The link:

www.powderinc.com

Currently I am at work and the firewall may block that link (bastards!).

I have bought powder from them in the past and they are very helpful. You will need to provide proof of age (fax a photocopy of your drivers license to them) and they will keep that on file. UPS will require a signature from an adult when they ship to you. They only ship UPS.

Now it is possible to shoot with substitute powder and a flintlock. The most common and successful method is accomplished with what is called ignition loads. It works like this:

Lets say you are shooting 80 grains of 3F.

First pour 10 grains of Goex 3F down the barrel. Tap the sides of the barrel, down the length of the barrel to make sure the Goex is all the way on the bottom of the barrel.

Then

pour your remaining 70 grains of 3F substitute powder down the barrel. Finish loading and prime with 4F black powder.

The 4F will set off the 10 grains of black powder, this in turn will set off the remainder of the charge. The 10 grains of 3F provide the additional explosive energy needed to set off the main charge that just the 4F priming charge alone cannot accomplish.

Don't worry, you won't notice a delay!

Shooting with an "ignition charge" will take longer to load. However it will enable you to use the more readily available substitute powders and save your black powder. I use an ignition charge when plinking. And all black powder only when working on accuracy.

When using an ignition charge, I keep two measures handy. 1 a pistol measure set to 10 grains, the 2nd my regular measure set to the remaining powder charge. This helps to speed up the process.

Other thoughts:

A flintlock can fire upside down. You may even want to try this sometime. If you do, be sure to wear a fireproof LONG SLEEVE shirt to protect your arm. Otherwise you will burn the crap out of yourself-as I learned one hot summer day while out in the desert wearing shorts...

Be careful firing at night. The bright flash in the pan can be blinding at night. This to I learned the hard way...

Bring spare flints to the range. Be prepared to draw lots of attention and answer lots of questions. There aren't many of us rock lock shooters out there.

When knapping, leave the flint in the lock and gently tap the flint. Don't worry if you wreck your first several dozen flints learning to knap. I still have difficulty getting it right.

And finally and most importantly:

HAVE FUN!

Flintlocks are wonderful guns to own and shoot. I own a number of rifles: Wincester, Ruger, etc. However, when I want to "bond" with them, it is the flintlock I will take out. (Although the wife doesn't understand, I know my black powder brothers do!)

When it comes being readily available, the flintlock is second only to "Lucifer," my home defense shotgun

There is a bit of a learning curve involved. For example you need to appreciate the fact that these are not fast firing weapons. Otherwise you may become frustrated with how long it takes for each of your shots. Cleaning is also very important. But I will leave something for the others to write about.

Once over the learning cure, you will very much enjoy these weapons and have an heightened appreciation for their role in our countries history.

Best of luck and welcome to the club.

~Robert