ORIGINAL: skydiver
How often do you replace your flints? Still new at the flintlock and went out the other night for an hour looking for a doe. Didn't see anything and it turns out I'm gladI didn't. On the wayout Iwanted to shoot the load out and found it wouldn't fire. After looking closely, the flint was the issue. Lesson learned, like bow hunting, replaceables should always be new before the hunt weather you think they need to be or not. Still, wondering howlong flintsshouldlast. This one didn't give me any issues in the last practice session but was obviously dull.
About every 50 shots is the common rule of thumb, or when the flint doesn't spark well. Get into a dark room, like a garage, and turn out the lights and shoot the gun empty to see how the "shower of sparks goes", if it does a lot your good to go, if it does just a little, then replace the flint. If your not sure that your shower of sparks is adequate, ask a friend who has a good shooting and sparking flintlook to see his shower in the dark. Big difference if it is not sparking right.
Chap Gleason