Gun flint question

[tom buckley]

Recently, I was showing my grandkids some British and French Rev. War gun flints and I got to wondering what gun flints were used in the Civil War.
Does anyone have any information on Civil War period gun flints? Were they imported or locally produced??

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Hello Tom, "Flint Knapping"
   I am not an expert on small arums but after watching this interesting video I would say they could definitely make their on gun flints.   But probably a time saver to buy them from England, at least before the Rev. War.
Regards,
John
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzi9ksSn-ZQ

[tom buckley]

Thanks, John.
Really interesting video!

[mccaul]

Some of the best flint in the world can be found at Flint Ridge, Ohio.  Obviously, the Confederacy would have had a very difficult time getting flint from there, but Union would not have.  Although, I do not know if the flint from there was used during the Civil War.

[Jim T]

See the attached.  This is the flyer that goes along with the flints we sell from this box.  They are amber flints, but do not know their origin.

Jim T

[tom buckley]

Thanks Jim,
Amber gun flints could be from France.
I believe that a few may have been made of domestic flint, but not in any large numbers. I have suspected that the majority may have been imported from Britain or France but am not sure.
With Rev, War gun flints, the British are gray to black and the French are amber. What color flints are most commonly found on early Civil War sites?

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Tom,
   I am from SW Florida and there is a lot of the flint found there like the flint in the video.  As a Scout I would break an old file into four inch pieces and ground the edges a little round and use it to strike a piece of our flint to start a chard piece of cloth burning and make a fire by flint and steel.  The FL flint makes great sparks.
  Indian arrow heads are found there made of Obsidian, rose quartz and that common flint.- An Interesting subject you have poised.
Regards,
John

[tom buckley]

Hi John,
I used to hunt arrowheads here in eastern Ohio, but can't get out much anymore. Here the most common flint or chert used by Native Americans from the Paleo period through late prehistoric was Upper Mercer flint from around Coshocton. Upper Mercer can be anywhere from dull course gray to glossy black, blue, or even reddish. The classic Ohio Flint Ridge flint wasn't quite as common, it is various colors.
There are also many points and tools made from unidentifiable flint.
I have only seen a few gunflints found in eastern Ohio and those were all gray/black British flint.
I'm thinking that the Atlanta Arsenal flints in the flyer that Jim posted were possibly imported from France and I wonder if they might have been in storage for years before the Civil War.