I just purchased a 1805 harpers ferry pistol kit from dixe and put it all together got some TC Premium Agate flints and it wont spark. Its my first flintlock so I dont really know what could be the problem anyone have any ideas?

I'm going to guess "soft frizzen", but it could be how the flints are set in the jaws, how nthey strike the frizzen, and/or main spring strength.

But i'll go with soft frizzen...and id contact Dixie about getting one that has been hardened correctly before tryhing any hone cures. take a good hard look at the face of that frizzen and tell me what you see...slight scratches or deep scratches?

really slight scratches could it be the agate flints I see some reviews on them that say they dont spark?

Light scratches are about right. Might try flipping try flint over or changing flints.
Need to be clamped with a leather backer (on the real big locks, some people use sheet lead) and clamped so there is no movement at all...even a slight "wiggle" will usually reduce any sparking by at least half.

Soft frizzens are pretty common.

Get so Kasnit from Die. Easy to harden a frizen using a propane torch.

TC Agate flints are, in my experience, totally worthless. I wouldn't rule out a soft frizzen, and an application of Kasenit will fix that, but I'd get a supply of good, hard English flints and try them before I went that route. TC Agates aren't worth a hoot even with a perfect frizzen.

I agree with pisgah. T/C flints are between poor and terrible. Get some good English flints before you fix anything else.

Bye
Jack

That's interesting information for the T/C flints. I've been using them in a T/C flintlock rifle with mixed results. Replaced the frizzen with a Lyman as someone recommended and that worked fairly well since the replacement. Have not been pleased with the number of shots per flint though. Recently bought some either English or German flints so will try them.

Out of coursity how many shots should one get before having to either replace or knap a flint? Would suspect good quality flints would give hundreds of shots but really don't know. My best from a T/C flint has been around two dozen shots before failure to fire.

There are a lot of factors in flint life, ranging from the quality of the flint to the hardness of the frizzen to the exact lock geometry to the strength of the mainspring to the... well, you get the idea. Generally, with a good English flint, or a quality French blonde flint (the flint Rolls-Royce, IMO) I expect at least 8 or 10 shots before knapping the edge is required, but sometimes get many more. I have some superb German agates, bought years ago in a bulk group-buy from a fellow in Deutschland, that are wonderful -- you don't knap them but rather sharpen the edge when it gets dull with a diamond hone. I get a couple dozen shots from a sharp one before the hone comes out. And, I have just picked up appropriately sized sharp rocks at the range and gotten a half-dozen shots before they crumbled.

"My best from a T/C flint has been around two dozen shots before failure to fire."

That's more than I normally get from an English flint. After about 15 shots I toss them. I usually knap after 5 or 6 shots.

DGW guns usually leave a lot to be desired. I'm betting the frizzen is soft.

I'm with pisgah too, more than likely junk flint. Cut agate flints can be good or complete crap and in most cases they are complete crap. They were designed specifically for the cheap production gun market because of their uniform size and shape along with their very low price tag.

I have no love affair with any particular type of flint - no matter if it's Black German, Black English, French amber, Montana gray, Florida amber or some piece of unknown material you found along the road, as long as they hold-up and produce a good spark, that's all that matters. If, and that's a big "IF", you get a good piece of cut agate, it will spark well and last a long time - I had one in a Lyman that I personally fired over 40 shots without it missing a beat. Granted I did tune the lock which makes a big difference too.

If the lock is properly tuned, you should not have issues getting numerous shots before needing to knapp or change the flint. I've had traditional hand knapped flints shatter on the first shot too, no matter what you're still dealing with alot of unknowns in naturally formed materials. In a good lock that's been tuned, it's not uncommon to get 70+ shots from it before you need to pay attention to the flint.

I know pretty much nothing about flintlocks so what is tuning them and how do you do it?

Oh boy...that's not an easy one to answer. Tuning involves everything from polishing all the parts and ensuring they fit properly, adjusting the cock so that the geometry between it and the frizzen is correct, making sure the mainspring has enough but not too much power, and so on. It's not a process that can be readily explained, it's something you have to do and learn what to look for and how things should feel. Too tight is no good, too loose is no good either - same with the frizzen, too hard or too soft and it won't spark right. I've done lots of locks and no two are ever the same and yes, it's trial and error until you get the hang of it and even then it's easy enough to screw up.

I like to work on the cheap parts first, so I'd have to try other flints. Some of the flints are not quite the right size. 3/4" for example may turn out to be 5/8 or 7/8. Too short and the cock hits the frizzen. Too long and the flint may hit at a poor angle and even hang up. Some of the best flints I have used come from Arkansas. When a flint gets worn, sometimes I can salvage it for use in a smaller lock.
--Check the angle of the flint as it strikes the frizzen. Make sure it strikes and carries on without any hang-ups. Good luck.

I just purchased a 1805 harpers ferry pistol kit from dixe and put it all together got some TC Premium Agate flints and it wont spark. Its my first flintlock so I dont really know what could be the problem anyone have any ideas?

If you can cut the frizzen with a file its too soft. If not *lightly* belt sand or grind the face slightly. It could have lost carbon when hardened and has a soft surface about .001 or .002 thick. This can reduce sparks. If the flint is digging in and making rough "burrs" on the surface its likely too soft.
To harden a soft frizzen you can try heating to dull to full red (in a low light room) and quenching in water. The place in a 375 degree oven for an hour. You may have to lightly sand the surface with a belt sander or touch it on a grinder to remove any de-carbonized steel if it still refused to spark.
If this does make the frizzen hard you will likely need to buy some Kasenite from Dixie or some other supplier and use this to put in enough carbon to create a hard face on the frizzen.
The "foot" that rides on the spring should be hard as well.
Still won't spark well? Could be the springs or the steel they made the frizzen from.

Dan