Flint power!

Gary,

Have a scanner?

Scan your photos, and post them on photopoint.com or one of the other free photo hosting sites.

If you need more assistance, e-mail me at kframe_19@yahoo.com and I'll walk you through the process.
 
I have two Thompson Center .50 cal Hawkens - one in cap lock and one flintlock. The caplock has never failed to ignite using Goex black powder and Remington caps. I had trouble with the flintlock at first until I figured out that I needed to run a nipple pick through the vent hole after each shot. It is very reliable doing that. The only other time it failed to ignite was when I forgot to put powder in the pan.:o

This reminds me of a story. When I got the first rifle and all the loading/cleaning goodies in the mail I spread it all out on the living room floor to take inventory. The wife walked in, took one look and said, "You didn't have enough toys when you were a little boy, did you?":)
 
I own one flinter. It has been in my family since the Revolution and was a gift to my GGGgrandfather who was a quartermaster under Washington. It's a 'New Land Pattern Horse Pistol'. It's .58 cal and about 19 inches long with a tower lock of Geo.III on it and the name 'Wilot 1761'. When I inherited it it hadn't even been fired in over a hundred years. It cleaned up real nice. Old brass furniture has a beautiful patina. It's a smoothbore. I've fired it with light loads and it's suprizingly accurate. I've loaded it with the buck and ball that it would have been loaded with in combat and what it will do to target at 25 ft is impressive. I don't shoot it much at all any more but it is loaded and ready in the bedroom. I hope I'd never shoot anyone with it but it would make for an interesting story in the newspaper. The powder horns and turnscrew that came with it are very beautiful and are carved with my ancestors name and dates and a map of Virginia. I've never had a misfire or a hanger with it. You just have to mind the flint's edge and the line up with the frizzen over the pan. Moisture in the flash powder will cause a hangfire but I put a little beeswax around the lip of the pan and when it's closed no moisture can get in
 
Great story!

If possible I would love to see a picture of such a valuable piece of history.

If I were you I would have it appraised if you haven’t already. Firearms that are from that period and in good (fireable of all things) condition, verifiably handed down from generation to generation could bring a hefty price in the proper auction. Condition of the piece, documentation and a story with a family connection. WOW!
 
Cap N Ball...

Please don't use that cherished family heirloom for self defense. Use a modern firearm instead and if you must buy one of those used S&W Model 10s for less than $150, do so. Here's why:

Guns used in shootings are seized in evidence. Typically the cop in the evidence room isn't a gun buff and to him it's just another gun. Toss it goes onto the shelf. While it sits there, since it hasn't been cleaned or oiled, it begins to rust. By the time the DA determines that it's a good shoot and no charges will be filed, your once cherished heirloom will be scratched from rough handling, nicked from being tossed onto the shelf (with possibly some chips of wood being missing), rusted from no hygroscopic action of the black powder residue, lack of preservatives and handling by humans with "acid" hands. So, put the gun aside and let a more modern gun do the work. Please, for your children's children, do it.
 
Gary, Your absolutely correct. I've unloaded it and cleaned it up and put it and the rest of it's gear in my safe. I think I'll only fire it on the 4th of July and then with a plug of tow instead of a load. Thanks for the admonishment. I replaced it with an 1858 replica Remington 44. I'll try to post a photo of it along with the horns. I also have his sword and scabbard. It's in really great shape and as much as it embarrasses me to admit it, when I was a little kid we used to cut watermelons in half with it but we always cleaned it up real good and never nicked the edge. My mother tells me that his uniform went to another relative and she doesn't remember which one it was but that when she was a little girl her older brother wore his tricorner hat once in a while but there again she doesn't remember what happened to it either. I found about twelve of the buttons that were on the coat and waistcoat in my grandmother's sewing basket and still have them. I've got a pretty good idea of what the old pistol is worth but I wouldn't even have mentioned it if you guys hadn't been talking about flintlocks. I wouldn't give it up for anything. That's one gun that they WILL have to pry from my cold dead hand.
 
Thank you, and congratulations on having the sword (hanger) and the uniform buttons. Drop by the Smithsonian American History Museum right now and you'll see a display showing the evolution of the firearms and swords carried by our Army.
 
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