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Thread: Rock+steel+tender=fire

  1. #21
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    One of those Siler locks costs more than I paid for my rifle. I guess life has gotten too easy. I'd imagine that for those who lived in the time when flintlocks were state of the art, finding sources of and getting powder and shot was pretty important.

    Alan


  2. #22
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    Kinda like reloaders in 2010 trying to find primers.

    Alan

  3. #23
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    Fire Starter.

    I shaved a little magnesium (much less than I would use to start a fire in tinder) and dobbed the end of the slow match in it to pick up the powder/shavings. Two strikes from the flint on the mag starter and I had a glowing slow match. The mag starter, steel and slow match fit perfectly inside a ziploc in an Altoids tin. Easy to carry and waterproof.

    The patches that I soaked in the KNO3 would not start without magnesium help. When they did start they burned very fast and unreliably uneven. I suppose they would do in a pinch or if rolled or bundled up. The Slow Match works much better.

    As soon as I get the kit perfected I'm going to put together 9 of them for sons and nephews.

    Alan

  4. #24
    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alan R McDaniel Jr View Post
    One of those Siler locks costs more than I paid for my rifle. I guess life has gotten too easy. I'd imagine that for those who lived in the time when flintlocks were state of the art, finding sources of and getting powder and shot was pretty important.

    Alan
    I was raised in the area of middle TN and have studied that history for most of my life. We were the area that provided a majority of the recruits for settling the Texas area when Austin began the settlement of the Spanish territory. During those early years all the firearms were flintlock. It was not until around the Texas war for independence that the percussion system was becoming popular. I know that one of the items in Davy Crocket's supply list for his trip to Texas was a supply of 5,000 high quality percussion caps for his new "Betsy", a half stock .50 caliber Derringer rifle presented to him for his service in Congress.

    I know that resupply of powder and shot was a primary concern in all the frontier areas. In my area the leaders of the settlements would often make supply runs when powder got low. 600-800 mile round trips through enemy infested wilderness on horseback with a string of pack horses.

    These trips involved traveling from middle TN to the KY settlements at Harrodsburg and Boonesboro (a 10 hour drive one way today with interstate all the way) and even those areas often had to risk life and limb to keep a powder supply.

    During the Rev-War the KY settlements complained to VA that they were in desperate need of powder and shot, and it being the middle of a war their cries of desperation fell on def ears. No one had any powder or shot!

    When you make those kits for your friends and relatives you might want to go to a hardware store and buy some lamp wicking. Lamp wick is pure cotton and is made for soaking up chemicals that burn or smolder well. A piece of lamp wick that has been charred by flame on one end will catch and hold a spark without any other chemical assistance. It works just like charcloth without being completely charred and fragile.

    Try dissolving your KN03 using wood alcohol rather than water. I think that is what the cheaters in our contests used to do but it has been 20 years and my memory of that contest, the accusation and the riot that followed are dim. Buckskiners take their fire making contests seriously!
    Last edited by kyratshooter; 07-10-2017 at 11:51 AM.
    If you didn't bring jerky what did I just eat?

  5. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by kyratshooter View Post
    I was raised in the area of middle TN and have studied that history for most of my life. We were the area that provided a majority of the recruits for settling the Texas area when Austin began the settlement of the Spanish territory. During those early years all the firearms were flintlock. It was not until around the Texas war for independence that the percussion system was becoming popular. I know that one of the items in Davy Crocket's supply list for his trip to Texas was a supply of 5,000 high quality percussion caps for his new "Betsy", a half stock .50 caliber Derringer rifle presented to him for his service in Congress.

    I know that resupply of powder and shot was a primary concern in all the frontier areas. In my area the leaders of the settlements would often make supply runs when powder got low. 600-800 mile round trips through enemy infested wilderness on horseback with a string of pack horses.

    These trips involved traveling from middle TN to the KY settlements at Harrodsburg and Boonesboro (a 10 hour drive one way today with interstate all the way) and even those areas often had to risk life and limb to keep a powder supply.

    During the Rev-War the KY settlements complained to VA that they were in desperate need of powder and shot, and it being the middle of a war their cries of desperation fell on def ears. No one had any powder or shot!

    When you make those kits for your friends and relatives you might want to go to a hardware store and buy some lamp wicking. Lamp wick is pure cotton and is made for soaking up chemicals that burn or smolder well. A piece of lamp wick that has been charred by flame on one end will catch and hold a spark without any other chemical assistance. It works just like charcloth without being completely charred and fragile.

    Try dissolving your KN03 using wood alcohol rather than water. I think that is what the cheaters in our contests used to do but it has been 20 years and my memory of that contest, the accusation and the riot that followed are dim. Buckskiners take their fire making contests seriously!
    Mammoth cave in KY was a big black powder supply point back in the day.

  6. #26
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    I will certainly get the lamp wick, for the kits and some of my lamps need wicks. I've gone full circle on the lamp thing. I started out long ago using what I had, Kerosene lanterns. Then went to Colman gasoline, then to Colman butane. Now I'm back to kerosene again. They give enough light for my purposes, they're easy to carry and are not so delicate that mantles break at the slightest bump.

    But, you gotta have fire to light the lamp. I'll try the wood alcohol before I make the kits.

    Thanks for the help.

    Alan

  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by kyratshooter View Post
    With BP being as difficult to find as it is most folks just use whatever they have in the pan.

    I am lucky and live only 45 minutes from Friendship, IN and I run over there and buy powder during the spring and fall shoots. They sell only to members and do not ship.

    I have very little problem getting 3f to ignite in the pan and sometimes I use 2f but I normally drill my flash holes out to .080" and I have one or two that go .100"

    I drilled one to .125" once and used it as a demonstration "blank firing" gun. I could close the pan and pour a charge down the muzzle and thump the butt on the ground and powder would self charge the pan.

    I decided to fire a real charge out of it. I do not remember the charge, could have been 60 or maybe 70 grains behind a tight patched .69" round ball.

    When I pulled the trigger the ball went nowhere and the entire charge vented out that .125" flash hole or a good 5 seconds and made a whistling sound like banshees from he!!. Sounded like killing a rabbit slowly.

    I have never drilled a flash hole that large again.
    Sildy boy.......LOL reminds me of my early attempts at "proofing" a homemade wall gun/cannon barrel. Every bit of the energy came out the touch hole(that flame seemed like it was 6 feet tall!)........I may or may not have over done the projectile weight in combination with way too big a touch hole.... Live and learn. Personally I love chemistry. Always have.

  8. #28
    Senior Member DSJohnson's Avatar
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    Alan,
    I have plenty of GOEX 4F and would be glad to give you a can. If you ever go north on I-35 past the Red Rive let me know.

    And no I am not going to define how much "plenty" is......

  9. #29
    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DSJohnson View Post
    Sildy boy.......LOL reminds me of my early attempts at "proofing" a homemade wall gun/cannon barrel. Every bit of the energy came out the touch hole(that flame seemed like it was 6 feet tall!)........I may or may not have over done the projectile weight in combination with way too big a touch hole.... Live and learn. Personally I love chemistry. Always have.
    At least now we know that a well made barrel will vent the charge before it blows up!

    I knew Turner Kirkland, owner of Dixie Gun Works, before he died and I once asked him how much powder it would take to blow one of the Dixie brand barrels they had made by Numrich. He told me the only way you could blow one of those barrels was to load it with smokeless powder.

    He claimed they had tapped both ends of a Dixie .45 caliber barrel and threaded breech plugs in both ends, loaded the barrel completely full of 2f, and set it off using cannon fuse. The entire load of powder vented through the touch hole.

    He also had some original guns in the company collection that had breech plugs you could twist in and out by hand with finger pressure. He claimed that was common back in the day so dry-balling and contaminated charges could be cleared in the field when there was not a gunsmith for 200 miles around. Sort of like today!

    Compare that to a Thompson Center breech plug that is threaded, crush fit, and then pinned with a 1/4" hardened dowel!

    Anyway, some of those old guns were used, and considered "normal", with features that would scare us to death today, and make lawyers smile.
    If you didn't bring jerky what did I just eat?

  10. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by DSJohnson View Post
    Alan,
    I have plenty of GOEX 4F and would be glad to give you a can. If you ever go north on I-35 past the Red Rive let me know.

    And no I am not going to define how much "plenty" is......
    Thanks for the offer and if I get up there I may take you up on it. I've wanted to try the White Bass at Texoma for a long time. Maybe next spring is the time.

    Alan

  11. #31
    Senior Member Antonyraison's Avatar
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    here is a south african version of the same, widely used in the boer war Era,
    This video was shot by our chief Instructor of our school.. easy to make.
    My youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ultsmackdown Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/antonyraison/

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  12. #32
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    I tried soaking lamp wicks in the KNO3 and alcohol. The results were slightly better than with water, but it never dissolves. Therefore it seems that the water does cause the KNO3 to impregnate the cotton to a greater degree. I may re-soak them in KNO3 and water.

    I cut the neck off a 270 case and a 45 ACP case fits snuggly as a cap. I stuffed the wick inside the 270 case. A spark will start the match and then the fire can be started in the usual way. When I cap it, the fire is completely snuffed although I do mash it completely out before doing so.


    Alan

  13. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by Antonyraison View Post
    here is a south african version of the same, widely used in the boer war Era,
    This video was shot by our chief Instructor of our school.. easy to make.

    Short sleeve shirt....and you can see your breath?.....You boys are tough......
    LOL
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  14. #34
    Senior Member Antonyraison's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by hunter63 View Post
    Short sleeve shirt....and you can see your breath?.....You boys are tough......
    LOL
    YIP, well we do Survival in the middle of winter in natrual shelters and no sleeping bags. We pride ourselves on being pretty tough. Just watch us play rugby...
    manvw.JPG
    Last edited by Antonyraison; 07-14-2017 at 03:07 AM.
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  15. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by Antonyraison View Post
    YIP, well we do Survival in the middle of winter in natrual shelters and no sleeping bags. We pride ourselves on being pretty tough. Just watch us play rugby...
    manvw.JPG
    LOL....I was more impressed by the vid.....
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
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