Fired my Blunderbuss today. :)

[sean drake]

the touch hole is larger then most I will have to get it out and see if it will self prime as fare as knowing if it blowes powder out of the hole when loding I have never notesed it doing that but it is a 62 smoth bore (that was bilt from a pic of a orogal and then given to my 8 year old son ) and I have never patched a ball that goes in it I might put  a leafe on top of the ball but I really like droping the ball taping the but on the ground priming and shooting but I have never notteced any powder in the pan when priming it but I will go out and try it any way.

[gordy]

        Sean , sorry i"m so tardy getting back to you . I can"t argue with what Mogrel posted because its true .(besides , hes younger and tougher  and might whip my butt) !
        What I told you of the Matis and the loading process is fact . But accy at 2 to 4feet is not a big issue . In the .early years they used cut-down trade guns or French Tule weapons. It"s also a fact that one of my flinters will self prime with 3fff Goex. when thumped on the ground . The touch is large about 5/64ths and the lower part of the TH is slightly below the pan cover when closed . This rifle has a Manton style breech so is not as likely to allow the powder to just flush out even with the pan cover open . The gun is basically a parts or barn gun I built from parts . It dosn"t have a TH liner so I can install one if I decide to reduce the TH size . As Mongrel said the set-up has to be just right to work well . I doubt that I"ll change it over for now because it really shakes up the percussion shooters , they can"t figure how I can load and shoot so quickly.

[mongrel]

One of the reasons I learned about "self-priming" flintlocks (and losing most of my main powder charge if I loaded with the frizzen flipped open, as is considered safe practice) is that for years, in the lock section of the catalogs, Dixie Gun Works advised a 3/32" vent hole. I made my touch hole liners to that spec and found that I had to load with my frizzen closed or, like I said earlier, accept having only about ten grains out of eighty left as a main charge by the time I was ready to shoot. I now make my vents using a 5/64" hole. Tried 1/16" but got a few complaints about ignition in those cases, and when the customers took the holes out to 5/64" they pronounced their problems solved.

I actually never minded the self-priming feature and since I almost always shoot alone I have the option of completely ignoring anyone who doesn't like how I load (as in doing so with a closed frizzen). While target shooting I'd often just drop the main charge, ram a patched ball home (frizzen closed), and without checking the pan just ear back the cock and shoot. Very seldom was there a problem with ignition that could be blamed on a lack of powder in the pan. I never had the nerve to try it while hunting, though, since even a 99% certainty of ignition isn't good enough if, by checking and if need be priming, I can be 100% sure.

And the thing about the buffalo runners is absolutely true. Mountain men are alleged to have done the same, in running fights as well as when running buffalo. For fast shooting in close quarters the method has a lot going for it.

[Red Badger]

Sean anyone who has ever stood near you when you shoot that thing will tell you the vent is a might to large....    5 ft away we have to duck when you shoot or we catch venting gas....

[Hawken50]

  Kinda likes when yas eat 3 day old chili,Badger.....

[texasranger]

self primming flinter, interesting. I will stick to 4f goex for the pan and 3f for the charge. works well for me.