I'm thinkin' I'll try my hand at busting some rocks up.

SwampGrouch wrote:I'm thinkin' I'll try my hand at busting some rocks up.

I once tried using flint in my M&P. Kept jamming. Went back to the striker, worked just fine.

http://www.flintknappers.com/ I think Track of the Wolf sells books on the subject.

I don't currently have one and I'm NOT okay with that. When I lived in the South, I kept a .40 cal Southern Long Rifle, it was the one caliber you could hunt squirrel or deer with, so it was pretty handy. I would really love to build another one. A friend built a .25 caliber squirrel rifle using a pistol lock. The whole thing was super petite and he bought a bag of #4 buck shot for round balls which provides him basically a lifetime of balls. It uses about 5-7 grains of powder and it's only good for about 35-40 yards; oh that thing was an absolute delight to hunt with. With 40" swamped barrel it came in at just 5.25lbs. Absolutely magnificent, I MUST have one.

SwampGrouch wrote:I'm thinkin' I'll try my hand at busting some rocks up.

I learned to do it in college as part of an archaeology lab. It's harder than it looks.

That went out with buggy whips.

Same thing here. Class was a big pile of little rocks when we were done!. It ain't easy being a hominid toolmaker.

Inquisitor wrote:

SwampGrouch wrote:I'm thinkin' I'll try my hand at busting some rocks up.

I learned to do it in college as part of an archaeology lab. It's harder than it looks.

Ya. Knapping a flint is half black magic, half voodoo and half luck. I spend more time futzing around with my flint than I do shooting the thing. Best thing I found was taking a large nail, cutting the end off square, then grinding a notch in it. That, at least get you a tool. For the rest, you're on your own.

Some guys say just push down on the high spots with hand pressure, some say use a small hammer. Others say different stuff. One guy says just let the flint crash into the frizzen and it will self-knap. Worst advice ever.

A few months ago, I bought 20 or so oversize flints from Rich Pierce. I figure that gives me opportunity to figure the shit out.

I'm thinking of arrowheads and such rather than flintlocks. No doubt I'll end up using copper boppers and other modern tools, but trying to learn with paleo-style bones and rocks and antlers has a certain appeal. If I can pressure flake with a deer antler, I'll sure as Hell be able to with a copper nail.

Not necessarily...different materials will transmit shock differently (duh, right?)

I should imagine that flint, like most natural materials, has a grain. Going "with" or "against" the grain will make a big difference. So then, of course, you need to examine the grain before starting work...