Lock and barrel questions

[Hungry Horse]

 Ok, guys, I bought a bunch of muzzleloader parts from an estate, and have some questions about the quality of some of this stuff. First off there are two 12gauge barrels that are about 41" long from Numerich Arms. The problem is they are full choked, and I would like to build Committee of Safety muskets out of them. The choke is in the last few inches, but I have no good remedy for removing it without messing up the bore, and really would prefer not to just cut them off. Any ideas? There are several musket sized locks that appear to be pretty good quality but I have only had experience with one of them. There is a  1763 Charleville made in Japan, a Dixie Gun Works early Ketland, and several Italian Lott trade gun locks ( I have some experience with these). Are these any good? And if not can they be fixed? The Charleville has springs like a Peterbuilt.

                 Hungry Horse

[Dphariss]

Ream and lap.

Dan

[Dphariss]

You might make a straight bit reamer its low tech but it works really well if used right.

Dan

[rich pierce]

HH, I think the Numrich barrels will be small at the breech compared to originals and have an odd profile.  Not the best choice for a gun that looks like a militia musket.  Some of those old locks worked OK but the Lotts generally needed lots of work, often including new springs.  Just try them with flints and decide.  Some originals were no bargain either but you're best off with strong springs on a musket lock.

[kutter]

I did a lot of choke (re)work with nothing more than adjustable reamers.
They can be used to take it right out to cylinder bore if you want.
I think a 'D' adjustable is sometimes needed if the  12ga was/a Full+ choke to start with,,which you may find in a bbl blank.
From there, an 'E' adjustable.  The E works for the 10ga too.
But that's just going on memory which isn't always the best. I'd have to go pull the stuff out and take a look at them again.
Or a spec sheet for the reamers will quickly tell you the range they each have. Measure the bore & choke and go from there.

Sharpened right and used correctly they leave a nice finish. A bit of lapping/polishing finishes the job.

A single blade straight reamer bit is good idea too like Dphariss says.
A project in a project,,but the idea was to save a few $$ to begin with I'd take it.

If they are Full+ and a standard 12ga bore of .729,,you'll need to ream out about .040" material (.020" wall) as the Full choke range gets down in the .685/690" bore diameter range. But that's a tapered dimension also,so take that into account.

[Hungry Horse]

Rich;

  The Barrels I have were originally made for some kind of breechloader, and have a large rear section that can be turned to whatever I want. The choke is only about the last three inches of the barrel. I thought that maybe an adjustable ream would do the trick.
 The Lott locks, with one exception are from old Green River Forge trade guns. So, the springs have been replaced, but the frizzens are still junk. Any insight into the 1763 Charleville, or the Dixie early Ketland?

                Hungry Horse

[Habu]

No thoughts on the Charleville, but I've used two guns with Dixie's early Ketland lock: one for a short while, the other fairly extensively. 

If I were wanting to use one today, on a gun that was going to see some use, I'd do some mods before beginning.  Bush the tumbler hole with some of that oilless bronze bearing stuff Mr. Chambers sells in his Siler upgrade kits, and turn the tumbler shaft to match.  Forge a new mainspring, and see how it works.  Some of them seem to have really good-sparking frizzens, others will need to be half-soled.  You may need a new frizzen spring too.  As I recall, mine had an oversized hole for the topjaw screw, and kept coming loose--another thing to check, maybeso. 

I used that lock for around 5,000 shots, and that is all I can recall repairing.  It isn't a lock I'd go out of my way to get today, but if I had one, I wouldn't hesitate to use it on a gun that it worked with, design-wise. 

I wouldn't mind getting ahold of one or two of the Lott locks, I always wanted to build a coach gun with one.  Need any walnut?     Not sure I have any that is dry and large enough for a musket, but I could look . . . .