One of the reasons many people on the frontier continued to use flintlocks well into the percussion period was they were much more reliable*.. And I have found the same to be true. If a flintlock fails to fire the shooter did some basic thing wrong. Percussion guns with hard to reach narrow convoluted fire channels have a mind of their own and seem to get stubborn at just the wrong time. Cleaning is a snap too. Three or four patches wet with Windex, dry and grease. Pipe cleaner through touchhole. Finished.

*Ruxton, "Life in the Far West", 1847

(Member NMLRA since 1957)


Last edited by Joe Wood; 10/13/13 11:12 AM.
John McCain is my war hero.