Fffg in flintlocks

Gunsmithing
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I recently went to a gun show and purchased a cva flintlock in 50 cal. Beautiful rifle.i purchased the rifle to participate in this year’s flintlock season for deer as I didn’t have adequate time to build one from scratch. I have heard of some shooters priming the pan with 3F powder or 3f substitute. Does this work or will I need to purchase 4F to prime the pan? What loads do you guys recommend for hunting versus target shooting? Any input is appreciated.

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2

Hmmm, strange…I don’t see any pictures :thinking:

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3

You can try and see. I have used FFg in my Bess that had a pan the size of a quarter and FFFg in other flintlocks. It actually is a little less apt to go damp than the FFFFg out in the weather when hunting. But FFFFg kept in a separate priming horn does give fast ignition.

Just make sure you use real blackpowder and not a synthetic or substitute. They give poor or worse results for priming flintlocks.

As a test this flintlock was fired 30 times in a row using FFFFg with no wiping or futzing - just load, prime, shoot. No failures too fire. Notice the vent is 1/16". When set up proper you don’t need a larger one - it only robs pressure/speed and adds inconsistency.

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