Are English or French or cut American or knapped American flints “best”?
There is no simple answer to this question. Lumping all French flints or all English flints or all American flints together and discussing which are best does not recognize the variability you will find among these different types. But as you decide which gunflints may be best for you, consider what you want from your flint. Generally the 3 qualities shooters care about are performance, price or value, and authenticity. Let’s start with the easiest first. If you are interested in authenticity, then get French flints if your persona would be in French trade areas, and English flints if you are in English trade areas, and do not worry about price or performance. Performance? Performance can mean “flint life” or how many shots before a misfire, and how many shots total before a flint needs replacing. Or “performance” can mean, “I want this flint to throw SHOWERS of hot sparks into the pan when I am deer hunting and if I get 10 shots out of it and never a misfire at deer, then this is a gr
