[NRA]

I have a Thompson Center PA Hunter flintlock rifle. When I first got it I was using the T/C flints but they did not produce much spark. I then picked up some English flints at Shyda's and had great success with them. The last few years I have been having issues with getting a good spark. I replaced the frizzen however I really don't think the old one was worn out. It did not seem to make a great difference. The English flints I was having trouble with were from Dave Logan’s in Harrisburg.

I picked up some new ones from Gander Mountain however have not gotten around to trying them yet. Does anyone have any recommendations on what to do to try to correct a problem with poor spark on a T/C lock?

Originally I had bought the PA Hunter to use with round balls but when PA changed regs. I switched to the T/C Maxi Hunter. The rifling is a slower twist for round balls but it seems to shoot the Maxi Hunter Conical bullets ok.

 

[mccoy]

Have a Lyman frizzen installed.

 

[Steely Ran]

NRA, Make sure your flint (in the half cock poistion) isn't too close to the frizzen. It has to have room to "slap" the frizzen on the way down to create good spark. I have had that problem in the past.

 

[mountainman09]

change the frizzen t/c are soft look for a lyman frizzen the are case hardin amuch better frizzen

 

[brewyak]

yesterday I was at Cabin Creek in Hallam ordering a new flinter. While there Brad and I were talking about T/C's frizzens. He actually makes his own frizzens for TC's they are $50 and for a little more he will take apart you lock and tune it up so it will be better than when you bought it

 

[Woodsnut]

Do the Lyman frizzens fit right on, or does it need filed to fit smoothly??

 

[NRA]

Thanks, I just ordered a Lyman Frizzen from Midway.

 

[jimsdad]

Take the frizzen off, secure it in a vise and attempt to score the face with a file. If you can - the the frizzen face is soft and either needs to be replaced completely or rehardened. I had a frizzen face go soft on my LGPR after about a year of shooting. Strange, but it happens!

 

[hunt/fish365]

A guy I used to work with said his TC frizzen was too soft so he heated it with a torch and dropped it in a bucket of oil. Said he never had a problem with it since. Not sure if that is really adviseable, but if you were planned on buying a new one anyway......

 

[jimsdad]

Sure thing. Just get a color chart that describes the color of the metal relative to the hardening that is being achieved and heat / quench. It took me a couple of tries before I got it, but it worked and I had the flinter back in action in a day or two.

 

[NRA]

I never heard of Cabin Creek. I just checked out there web site and they are not too far from me so maybe I will have to go check them out if the Lyman Frizzen doesn't fix the problem. Thanks to all for your advice.

 

[NRA]

What temperature should it be heated to before quenching?

 

[brewyak]

Hey NRA, make sure you call before you go there. It is just Brad and his son and they like to hunt too. It is well worth the trip to the shop, it is like walking through time

 

[PA-Joe]

You should also try the flint bevel up and then try it bevel down. It does makes a difference.

 

[octagon]

Have you tried German Agate flints with the bevel down? That is usually the ticket for the softer T/C frizzens.

 

[NRA]

I believe that is what the factory T/C filts I first tried are.

 

[Wiz]

Have you taken the lock off and made sure there was no corrosion around the tumbler or hammer? A guy brought a flintlock into the shop on Monday that needed a hammer screw, but we also found out that the hammer did not have enough stuff. The mainspring was fine but there was a bit of rust around the hammer that made it a little slower than it should have been to get good spark. Once it was cleaned up, it sparked quite a bit every time.

 

[Loggy]

yesterday I was at Cabin Creek in Hallam ordering a new flinter. While there Brad and I were talking about T/C's frizzens. He actually makes his own frizzens for TC's they are $50 and for a little more he will take apart you lock and tune it up so it will be better than when you bought it

I have Brad fit/tune a purported "drop-in" L&R lock in a PA Hunter. It was like getting a new gun after he was done.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Another alternative, easier than rehardening is to half sole the frizzen. Use a thin piece of wind up spring from a toy or old clock. Cut the clock spring so it is just over the size of the frizzen face. Use coarse sand paper to roughen the outer curve side of the clock spring and the frizzen face (removed from the lock, of course) Make sure they are degrreased and dry. coat the roughened side of the clock spring and the frizzen face with a thin coating of well mixed epoxy and clamp the coated sides together with a c-clamp. let them cure at least 24 hours and slowly grind of the edges of the clock spring where they stick out from the edges of the frizzen face, being careful not to get it heated. the direction of the grind should be from the clock spring face to the frizzen. I have half soled three or four TC frizzens this way over the years and they are still in use, one was done 26 yrs ago. You want the thin 1/64th or so thickness that has the bluish color finish. usually can be cut to close in size with a tin snips. While it sounds involved, it is easier to do with home tools than rehardening.

The preferrable thing would be a better frizzen or even a replacement lock, but that can be quite expensive.

as Loggy said, a quality tuned lock is like nothing else. Literally seems like the gun goes off as fast as a centerfire.

 

[JBMJR]

NRA , Like octagon said German Agate should do the trick. We shoot them out of TC Hawkens and they always spark !