Flintlocks In Bad Weather by Bob Spencer

This post first appeared on  Dec 2, 2020

Wet weather has been a problem for flintlock shooters since the lock was invented in about 1610. Those of us us who favor that ignition system in today's world are faced with the same difficulties, and it seems that many of us never overcome them. That's too bad. It is a real disappointment to have gotten in position to take a nice deer or elk and fail to do so because the pan is full of slush, instead of the good dry prime we need. Disappointing, but almost totally avoidable. Wet weather flintlock shooting is a learned skill, and we can overcome the problem with the application of a little thought and effort.

The design of the lock is one important consideration. There is a type of lock known as "waterproof", which, of course, isn't. No lock is totally waterproof, but this type is engineered so that there is no excess pan exposed below the frizzen, and this helps prevent channeling of water into the pan. I would select this type for a gun I knew was going to be subjected to foul weather regularly, if it were possible. It usually isn't.

The ordinary lock most of us use has a wide flange around the pan, and this mates with the bottom, or foot, of the frizzen when the frizzen is closed. This joint is a frequent source of trouble. Take your lock off and hold it up to the light so you are looking at that joint. If you can see light between the flange of the pan and the foot of the frizzen, you need to do some work. This joint needs to mate exactly, so that no light will be visible. Some careful filing and stoning will usually make that happen. Remove the frizzen from the lock and work at it slowly, and it's not a difficult job to make both sides perfectly flat, as they need to be.

In his series of tests of locks, reported in Muzzleloader, Peter Alexander did a 'wet' test of each lock. He primed the pan and closed the frizzen, then put his finger over the opening where the pan communicates with the flash-hole. He then submerged the lock completely in water and held it there for one full minute. He then took it out, blew off any excess water, turned the lock upside down and fired it. Most of the locks he tested passed the test, and yours should, too, if you've done a proper job of mating that joint.

Once you are satisfied with the lock, there are other things you need to do to help assure reliable ignition. One of the most important is to check for "channeling" of water into the lock. On most guns, water can run down along the barrel, in the joint where the stock and barrel meet, and straight into the pan. This can happen even if you are protecting the lock from being directly rained on with a cow's knee, or some such. You can tell by looking whether this is possible with your gun. If so, then it's easy to fix. Before you go out into the rain/snow, fill that joint with some of your paste patch lubricant, Wonderlube, homebrew, or whatever. Fill it up for about a foot in front of the lock. This will divert any water away from the lock. You can also help prevent this by carrying the gun in a slightly muzzle-down position as much as possible.

If you want to be extra certain, before you prime your piece, smear a thin coat of your paste lube on that pan/frizzen joint discussed earlier. Don't go to extremes, just make certain the entire joint is covered. With a good fit and a thin coat of grease, water will not enter.

On March 15, 1759, General Amherst, Commander in Chief of all British Forces in North America during the Seven Years (F&I) War, gave the following order while soliciting men for a campaign: "And every Man, is to be well clothed, and be furnished with a good Firelock, Powder Horn, Shot Bag, and Cover for the Lock of his Gun, with three Pound of Ball fit for his Gun, and a good Blanket". That "Cover for the Lock of his Gun" is called a cow's knee, today, but serves the same purpose now as then, to keep the lock dry in wet weather. No one who shoots a flintlock in the rain or snow should be without a cow's knee, some kind of leather cover to put over the lock. Treat it thoroughly with grease or wax. I use my regular beeswax-lard patch lube, but have used Sno-Seal for years with good results. Make it simple in design, small and convenient to carry and simple to use. If it's complicated or difficult to use, you won't. They work very well, indeed, but not if they are in your shooting pouch.

A lot of people search constantly for a magic additive to mix with their priming powder to waterproof it. That's totally unnecessary, a waste of good money and an unneeded hassle. If dry prime is put into a dry pan, and the methods mentioned above are adhered to, a flintlock will fire every time, in rain or snow. The biggest mistake most people make is in not cleaning the pan thoroughly after every shot on those wet or humid days. If you are not going to shoot again immediately, the pan must be cleaned of *every last bit* of the residue of the last shot, because the salts left from burning black powder are strongly hygroscopic, and will suck moisture out of the air like a sponge, on some days. Good quality unburned black powder is not hygroscopic enough to cause any problem, and it will stay useable in the pan for hours and hours on the most humid day. If you mechanically exclude liquid water by the steps mentioned, and start with dry prime and a clean pan, the gun will fire.

I know, I know, lot of people will disagree with the statement that black powder isn't hygroscopic. You are free to do so. I've hunted for years in extreme humidity, rain and snow, and have proven to my own satisfaction that the statement is correct. I have never once, not a single time, had a flintlock fail to fire because dry powder in a clean, dry pan had absorbed enough moisture from humid air to prevent ignition.

The only priming powder I've ever used is plain old FFFFg, most of it Hodgens or Goex.

In a discussion of this subject on the MLML, some good suggestions were made which need to be included here. Bill White pointed out that a rough, unpolished pan affords a multitude of tiny crevasses and cracks, each of which is a perfect hiding place for the salts left in the residue of the burned prime. Polishing the pan markedly reduced the problem he was having with soup in the pan after firing. He used crocus cloth on his finger, and a Dremel tool with rubber polishing tips to make the pan as shiny smooth as possible. Roger Lahti feels that FFFg powder used as prime has less tendency to draw moisture. Thomas Crooks warns that a ramrod can swell with moisture and stick in the ramrod channel, and should be sealed to prevent this. He also says, "Do not use the type of primer container that relies on being pressed into the pan to dump the priming. Moisture will work its way into the nozzle and plug it up. Use something you actually pour from and does not touch the pan's surface." And: "In driving rain, shelter the neck of your powder horn from the water. I found that water accumulated around the neck and plug, and, when I unstoppered the horn to load, the little bit of water was enough to wet the powder and partially block the neck of the horn--had to use my vent pick to clear it out."

Some of the most enjoyable days afield I've ever experienced have been rainy, snowy days. There is something special about them, a different feel, a different look. The hunting can be very good, too. Whenever such an opportunity presents itself, I never hesitate to take advantage of it, and I never worry that my flintlock will let me down because of the wet. I've carried it all day in constant rain, many times, and had it fire instantly at the end of the day. Many of those times, that end-of-the-day shot was fired using the prime I put in early in the morning.

A flintlock is a marvelous machine. There are some disadvantages to them, some handicaps. I'm firmly convinced, though, that we create many of them by not knowing how to use the guns correctly. Shooting in the rain is certainly one of those problems which can be overcome with a little thought and effort.

Copyright © 1998 B.E. Spencer, all rights reserved. Photo #4 by Chuck Phelps.

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Let's Run Some Ball by Bob Spencer

 This post first appeared on Nov 17, 2020

Hunkering over the fire while making them will make you sweat in hot weather, but it surely feels good in the wintertime.

I make all my own balls as a matter of routine, but that is done in my garage with my electric melting pot, block molds by Lyman or Lee, and all the other equipment I might need. Moving the job into camp is not a very big change, since the basic principles remain the same, but there are some points which I think worth emphasizing.

One of the most fun things I do in camp is make my own lead round balls. It is a simple thing, but I find it very satisfying. I suppose our forebears would have been amused to think of making lead balls as entertainment, and it certainly isn't far up on the list of old time skills which are difficult to preserve. Still, it pleasures me to see a ball I made over the campfire strike true on the target, whether it is just a mark on an old stump or is my supper. They will do that, too. I find them to be as accurate for my hunting and casual shooting as the best I ever make with the modern equipment.

The molds which I use in camp are different from those I use at home. They are of the type commonly called 'bag molds', lightweight molds made for carrying in the shooting pouch or haversack. I use two different types from two different companies. One is from Rapine Bullet Mould Mfg. Co. and is made of steel. The other is of brass, and was made by Dixie Gun Works. I've used them both a fair bit, and can tell no real difference in the end product.

I found out quickly that these light molds heat up very quickly, so I always wrap the handles with strips of heavy leather to protect my hands. Notice also that there is a side cutter for removing the sprue made into each mold.

Banging around in the bottom of my haversack with the accumulated grit and detritus which collects there isn't exactly the ideal place for a good mold. I protect them by doing one of two things, slipping them in a bag or cloth of some sort, or filling the cavity with a ball. I usually do the latter, simply leave the last ball I ran in the cavity after rubbing it with some lube, then secure the handles with a thong to keep the mold closed. So far, so good.

A pouring ladle and some lead to pour are all the remaining equipment needed. I've seen many different types, over the years, and all will work. Most are made a bit heavy for my purposes, though. I always trek alone and far from the car, so I have to carry everything I need for the trek on my back. Cutting down everywhere possible on the weight becomes important, so I rejected all types until I found exactly what I needed. From some blanket at a shoot long ago, I ended up with a small blacksmith-made ladle which has served me very well over the years. It is quite small and light, and is made to be stuck into the end of a stick in camp, for a handle. It holds only about 2 ounces of lead, but that will pour three balls for my .40 caliber rifle or about nine for the .30 caliber. Lead melts very quickly over a hot fire, so it's no problem to pour several ladles, if you choose.

When I first started carrying what I needed to run ball in camp, I made two mistakes. I took too much lead along, and the pieces I took were too big. It took no time to see that I didn't need much lead, but I was a bit slow in figuring out the problem with the bigger pieces. Not really big, of course, just too big to fit into my little ladle. My first solution was to make up some small ingots of lead, bars really, by pouring melted lead into a trench gouged out of a piece of scrap wood. 

That worked very well, and I used those for a while. Still, getting them cut down to appropriate size was a nuisance, even with my belt axe and knife, so I ended up doing something slightly different. I poured ladles full of lead and let it cool into disks, carried those along. They fit right into the ladle, of course, and melted quickly, being so small. They weigh only 2 ounces, so 3-4 of them, all I need for a trip, are not enough weight to worry about. When I decide to pour some balls, I first attend to the fire. Any fire will do, but the job is so much easier if you work with a good hot bed of coals instead of a live fire. You need to get close in order to control the molten lead safely, which is easier with coals, and also, hot coals will melt the lead in short order.

I dig out my gear and lay the mold close to the fire to pre-heat. That's important here just as it is at home in the garage, it will produce acceptable balls quicker. I also smoke the cavity of the mold. By that I mean I hold it over a spot where goodly smoke is rising until the cavity is covered with soot. That helps the balls to release easily once you get going. I'll even light a stub of candle, sometimes, and smoke it over that flame, because the black soot from burning wax or tallow seems particularly good for this purpose.

When the coals are ready and the mold is hot, the rest is as simple as A-B-C. Stick the ladle on a stick, drop a disk of lead in and hold it over the coals until it melts. Pour the mold full, making certain to pour a little excess. I usually pile up some green grass or leaves as a soft spot for the fresh balls, and I drop them onto this as they are poured. My bag molds usually open and release the balls easily, but a tap with a stick will cure them if they don't.

Just as when casting balls in the garage, temperature of the mold is important. If the mold is not hot enough, I wind up with wrinkled balls. It it is too hot, the balls are frosted. 

When I have it right, the balls come out smooth and bright. I find that the temperature of bag molds fluctuates more than with block molds, simply because of the lesser mass. They heat up quickly, but also cool down quickly. Having to stop and melt lead every 3-6 balls means the mold will cool off, so it is a bit more trouble to maintain just the right temperature. Not a big problem, just a nuisance. Stick it near the fire while melting lead.

Once all the balls are poured, I clip off the sprues with the sprue cutter on the mold and then trim off any unwanted excess or roughness with my belt knife. Save all the lead for another day.

It's a simple job, but a pleasant one. A great way to while away a little time in camp, conjure up visions of yesteryear. As a bonus, I find that shooting balls cast over a campfire adds zest to my hunting, flavors the meat in a way hard to describe. Romantic, sentimental nonsense! True, true, but I'm stuck with it.

Copyright © 2003 B. E. Spencer. All rights reserved.

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