Author Topic: Flintlock Rifle Pan Polishing Project - Chambers Siler Lock (Read 5097 times)

jrubin · « **on:** July 18, 2018, 03:05:26 PM »

Recommended to me on the range as a means to not only speed up ignition but also make cleanup between rounds significantly easier, especially in the humid Florida weather, Ive decided to remove the Siler lock and polish the pan to a mirror shine. This reduces the surface area to provide for the benefits mentioned above. Given the volume of work, this was all done by hand only using a Dremel for final polishing with Maas.

In searching for the ideal grit to start with I worked down from 1500 to determine that 800 was the best way to begin.The results of which will be demonstrated the next time i'm in the field.

n stephenson · « **Reply #1 on:** July 18, 2018, 03:36:41 PM »

I can`t say anything about whether or not your polish job will have any effect at all . I will recommend that from now on when you are working on that area of a lock, remove the mainspring . If that lock "goes off" and , you get your fingers caught , especially with a flint in it, ignition time is going to be low on your list of things to worry about.

Nate

alyce-james · « **Reply #2 on:** July 18, 2018, 04:39:54 PM »

Sir; I've been shooting flintlock as far back as 1974. all types of competition, hunting and trail walks. Also Friendship, the mid seventies. Never polished the pan. Two (2) of my current rifles, from the 1970,s still have the original Siler locks. I still shoot once a month with these rifles. The only cleaning I do to the pan is with a toothbrush. Have a great day. AJ.

Daryl · « **Reply #3 on:** July 18, 2018, 04:58:34 PM »

Yes - if covered in damp fouling, a polished surface would wipe out easier. That would be the only benefit to this process.

The one or two times I had to wipe out my flinter pans to remove wet fouling, they wiped out perfectly with one wipe - stock finish,

I assume as-cast or simply ground by the maker, not polished.

rollingb · « **Reply #4 on:** July 18, 2018, 06:54:26 PM »

The heat generated by the priming powder going off SHOULD be the same regardless of whether the pan is polished or not,.... but I can see where polishing could make the pan a little easier to wipe clean.

rich pierce · « **Reply #5 on:** July 18, 2018, 07:02:28 PM »

Shooters from dry climates probably can’t imagine how sloppy a pan gets when humidity is above 60%. It’s challenging to get a good wipe right where the pan meets the barrel without shoving gunk into the touchhole.

Don Steele · « **Reply #6 on:** July 18, 2018, 07:41:20 PM »

Another Florida flintlock shooter here. I also polish my pan(s) for the reasons mentioned, especially Rich’s comment. This time of year, we get a black muddy “ soup” in the pan between shots. Anything that helps make that easier to remove is a plus.
Of course, some of us are admittedly a teeny bit more anal/obsessive about small things. To that end, I also polish the underside of the frizzen that covers the pan.

D. Taylor Sapergia · « **Reply #7 on:** July 19, 2018, 02:25:14 AM »

I polish the pan. It just makes cleaning the lock a little easier, and an unpolished pan on a polished lock looks a little ungoodbuilderly.

Except for snow falling into the pan, our climate is dry enough that pan-much is not usually an issue, especially in the summer. In winter the air here is dry and the fouling cakes up white.

bob in the woods · « **Reply #8 on:** July 19, 2018, 02:40:44 AM »

I prefer to polish the pan mainly as part of keeping with the finish of the lock in general , but I also enlarge the pan on Siler locks. There is a lot of room to enlarge it, and that means more surface area open to sparks.

Karl Kunkel · « **Reply #9 on:** July 19, 2018, 03:49:43 AM »

"ungoodbuilderly" . . . I'm stealing that!

smylee grouch · « **Reply #10 on:** July 19, 2018, 04:02:55 AM »

You will sometimes see gold lined pans on fine English guns so I tinned the pan with silver solder on a couple of mine as I couldn't afford Gold and I thought it looked cool but it did little to enhance performance or ease clean up for me.

Craig Wilcox · « **Reply #11 on:** July 19, 2018, 04:22:38 AM »

Taylor, like another few good folks, I am going to steal your new word!

I would think that a wee bit of Simichrome on a hard Dremel buff would polish it up in a hurry.

"Ungoodbuilderly"! What a fantastically descriptive word!!

Mike from OK · « **Reply #12 on:** July 19, 2018, 05:17:37 AM »

"ungoodbuilderly"

That's why I come here... To learn all the fancy technical jargon.

Mike

Larry Pletcher · « **Reply #13 on:** July 19, 2018, 06:24:44 AM »

Taylor,
I mentioned your new term "ungoodbuilderly" to my wife. She laughed and said you must have gotten that from "Gunsmoke" reruns. It sounds like something Festus Hagen would say; Ken Curtis being one of Gunsmoke's best characters.
Regards,
Pletch

stubshaft · « **Reply #14 on:** July 19, 2018, 06:27:25 AM »

I polish and enlarge the pan on my Silers. Makes wiping between shots easier and hopefully catches more sparks.

Marcruger · « **Reply #15 on:** July 19, 2018, 06:29:20 PM »

Ed Wenger polished the pan on my Chambers lock. I find it work well spent and very helpful. Here in the South, humidity will render a pan a sticky mess. The residue after firing can stick like hardened grits. That grunge will also collect moisture and prevent a flash if the pan is not cleaned first.

I always wipe my frizzen, flint edge and pan between shots when feasible. If I do that, the Chambers does its part. Boom!

The polished pan does two things for me:
1) It makes wiping out the grunge much easier.
2) It allows me to easily see where grunge is remaing, or where a spot of corrosion might be trying to start. This is harder to see on a matte finished, blued pan.

Just my experience, but that is why I like a polished pan. Gold overlay might be even better but I haven’t had the chance to try one. God Bless, Marc

Darkhorse · « **Reply #16 on:** July 19, 2018, 09:54:02 PM »

I polish my pan's also. It's just one of the steps I do when I final polish and tune a lock. When I complete fitting the frizz to where it sits with no daylight showing through the next step is to polish the pan. I do not enlarge my pans but I can see the benefits.
I have never seen where it improved or sped up ignition at all. The benefit being it's easier to clean.

heelerau · « **Reply #17 on:** July 21, 2018, 01:42:56 AM »

Quote from: Mike from OK on July 19, 2018, 05:17:37 AM

"ungoodbuilderly"

That's why I come here... To learn all the fancy technical jargon.

Mike

Ditto from "down under"

WadePatton · « **Reply #18 on:** July 21, 2018, 04:16:13 AM »

Friends don't let friends build ungoodbuilderly*.

stolen and used in a sentence.

I too like mine shiny, wipes nice and I'm like a 'coon--like shiny things. That's what

for.

*Taylor Sapergia (now unstolen).

Steve-In · « **Reply #19 on:** July 21, 2018, 03:37:58 PM »

If you are taking the trouble to polish the pan you may as well get the bottom of the frizzen too. The frizzen is in contact or closer to the powder you need to ignite than the pan.

Mike Brooks · « **Reply #20 on:** July 21, 2018, 03:53:31 PM »

I always polished the pans on my personal skeet and trap guns. Lots of shots in a string in high humidity means a swampy pan that needs wiped out often to keep functioning. A polished pan wipes out real easy. I'm into easy.

Marcruger · « **Reply #21 on:** July 22, 2018, 04:06:26 PM »

"Lots of shots in a string in high humidity means a swampy pan that needs wiped out often to keep functioning. A polished pan wipes out real easy. I'm into easy."

I agree Mike. I don't think that polishing a pan actually improves ignition, but it helps us keep a clean pan, which discourages hang-fires and such. I like the part about "easy" too. :-) God Bless, Marc

smallpatch · « **Reply #22 on:** July 22, 2018, 05:28:32 PM »

You know, if you were to catch Taylor unshaven, and a bit squinty-eyed, he looks a bit like Festus too.
Much more handsome of course, but I think I see a resemblance.

Hungry Horse · « **Reply #23 on:** July 24, 2018, 06:02:06 PM »

If I were going to go through what it takes to polish the pan on a Siler lock, I’d order the lock from Jim with the brass pan, and make it easier on myself.

Hungry Horse

Scota4570 · « **Reply #24 on:** July 26, 2018, 05:26:18 AM »

Would gold plating the pan do anything useful? Seems like it could be electroplated pretty easily. Would the plateing be destroyed by the vent jet in short order?

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Author Topic: Flintlock Rifle Pan Polishing Project - Chambers Siler Lock (Read 5097 times)

jrubin

n stephenson

Steve-In