Gun Flints

River Rat · Feb 2, 2006

I would like to know more about gun flints. Can anyone explain them? I believe that's what most of my finds are but not sure, please post a picture so I can compare. Thanks!

Gypsy Heart · Feb 2, 2006

Gun flints
Flint Chips
Flint nodule

root · Feb 3, 2006

During an archaeological dig in '89 at a Swedish cabin site circa 1650 we unearthed a number of French flints which were brown in colour. Can anyone elaborate on the origin and name of this type of flint?

HH,

root

Gypsy Heart · Feb 3, 2006

The French flints are called "French" not because we think a French soldier left them, but because the type of flint they are made from is found only in France. It is a brown color (lighter than this photograph shows) obviously differing from the dark gray English flint.

Gypsy Heart · Feb 3, 2006

Re: Gun Flints (and how they work)

The basic goal of the flintlock is simple: to create a spark that can light the gunpowder stored in the barrel of the gun. To create this spark, the flintlock uses the "flint and steel" approach. The idea behind flint and steel is straightforward. Flint is an amazingly hard form of rock. If you strike iron or steel with flint, the flint flakes off tiny particles of iron. The force of the blow and the friction it creates actually ignites the iron, and it burns rapidly to form Fe3O4. The sparks that you see are the hot specks of iron burning! If these sparks come near gunpowder, they will ignite it.

The flintlock therefore needs:

A piece of flint
A piece of steel
A place for the sparks to touch gunpowder
The flint needs to move at high speed and strike the steel in such a way that the sparks fall into some gunpowder. You can see the four parts that make this happen in the picture below.

River Rat · Feb 3, 2006

Thanks, Gypsy you have the answer for everything.

You go that extra mile to help anyone with questions in TN.

Now. I got to figure out why so many gun flints are being found here.

littleneckhalfshell · Feb 5, 2006

"Now. I got to figure out why so many gun flints are being found here."

Gun flints were a "consumed" in the process of fireing a flintlock gun. The flint not only strikes the iron frizen of the flintlock's lock, but the flint also wears. A flint in some cases is chipped to an edge on two sides and is reversable, but some flints have only one useable edge and this will wear with use. It can be knapped to restore its edge.
(i have done this many times to insure a good spark, while the flint was still clamped in the hammer jaws) But troops, hunting parties, etc, would make sure that they had sufficient lead ball, black powder, and flints to insure that they could use their flintlocks for their intended purpose. A flintlock gun, with lead ball bullets and dry black powder is still little more than a club without a reliable flint to get the whole process started. Are you finding the flints in 'groups' ? then they might be the remains of packets or even boxes of flints that were taken along. Are the edges of the flints sharp? or worn round? They may be used flints disposed of when it was necessary to replace them due to unreliable sparking.

cheese · Feb 13, 2006

I've got a couple of gunflints I found in North Carolina. Mine are both square, flat across one side, pyramid shaped on the other (pyramid shape formed by the removal of material...the fracture lines) and have a finely knapped edge all the way around. They were found with indian artifacts.