Dphariss, is it your concern that a Lyman GPR is an unsafe firearm? Is the" flint" lock unsafe? I don't own a caplock.
As to heating and bending, I don't have the experience to know what" too much" is. I am a blacksmith/knifemaker and have the equipment, but lack the knowledge. If the T/C cock does not work, I might try it.( the $16 is spent).
At my age, I don't have the time left to acquire the vast knowledge you have. I applaud the time and effort you have put forth. This post by you"
Probably.
With this in mind why are we discussing it here?
I sometimes forget. My opinion of coil spring locks is so low they are not part of my normal thought processes.
Funny part is that now that the inlines are here the folks with slapped together, modern stock layout, coilspring locked factory mades think *they* are the traditional MLs.
Dan" is what prompted my apology for bringing up coil spring locks on this forum. Is there a place for me to discuss "coil spring locks" that won't offend?
By the way, I don't have any cows, sacred or otherwise. However I do have some pet goats that I like a lot.
Mike
First let me say you did not bring up coil springs your question is a valid one with a great many locks regardless of their internal makeup. Sometimes its the angle the flint strikes the frizzen, sometimes its spring power, there can be many causes. This why I recommended bending the cock. This has worked wonders for me in the past with different locks.
I have a perfectionist bent on things and it can get me in hot water to some greater or lesser extent. It is also easier to discuss these things and come to an understanding in person than in the manner this forum allows. I have a problem with "grey", I tend to see black and whites with no grey.
For example I won't own a modern rifle (and I have several) with a stainless barrel since the stainless is brittle and they have had "problems" and one big name custom barrel maker stipulates that his stainless barrels should not be re-profiled or fired at temps under 0 degress f. Several big name makers have had "problems", bolt actions having catastrophic failures (action and barrel splitting end to end for example) with factory ammo and one issued a recall. But this is not much talked about in the "gun press". And the uninformed or more trusting buy stainless guns in Montana, Alaska and other cold weather regions and are happy with them. Stainless has become so pervasive in handguns that its virtually impossible to buy anything else in some caliber/frame designs.
When the American factory made MLs (not Lymans BTW) hit the market there was a rash of blowups, some were smokeless related (they don't always blow with smokeless or smokeless/black mix BTW) but many were not. Some were loading errors, but then some were not. The continued for a number of years.
I have seen one of these things or maybe even a copy fall off/out of 1/2 cock and produce a AD (not limited to factory mades BTW). The one I was near only missed the guys head by inches, how it missed the brim of his hat is a complete mystery. It could not be manipulated to reproduce this and had not done it before. These things made a lot of people "nervous" especially those of us who predated their introduction. The blowups stopped or at least the reports did. Some of us figured they had changed steels and the bad ones had all failed when the blowups mostly disappeared. To this day if someone reports they found an early "brand x" rifle cheap it kinda makes my skin crawl and a certainly would not want to be around when it was being shot. Probably unjustified but still old habit are hard to break...
I have not heard of any problems with the Lyman, it gets pretty good reviews. Nor have I seen one disassembled. Though I doubt its any different in its assembly than the brands I have either disassembled or seen photos of. Do I think its unsafe? Probably not but I won't say without having it in my hands and would probably waffle then. Its legal thing.
The problem, today, with most factory mades is a fouling trap in the breech. These tend to trap fouling or oil and make cleaning difficult. In a flintlock used with black powder this is not usually a safety issue but can be an irritant and a reliability issue. Since I often hunt in "occupied Grizzly Bear habitat" reliability means something different to me than someone who only shoots on a rifle range.
The use of the corrosive substitute powders changes this since hidden fouling can "eat its way out" so its a concern mostly with percussion guns for the most part. Its something else people don't want to hear about.
Modern steels are so strong that its always thought to be the shooters fault with a ML gun fails. This is not always the case but many don't want to hear anything else.
The makers know this. The makers of moderns know that .010-.015 headspace is not going to blow up a gun so the headspace is sloppy on some cartridge guns. The makers of MLs (and its not all the factory guns) with a fouling trap at the breech will likely never cause them any grief so its simply how things are done. No such maker can spend the time to fit parts as needed to prevent this.
This is the breech from a ML marketed by a company with a very long history of gun making.
Note the rust at the breech face and back about 2 threads caused by a gap, fouling trap, because the plug does not seat internally. Other than this its a pretty good design, no rebate at the rear of the threads to form a stress riser etc.
This does something besides cause a rust problem. It increases the breech face area exposed to pressure from the size of the bore to the size of the plug. Now the plug will likely stand far more pressure than the barrel wall, is probably impossible the blow out but still its not right. The thing is its not something that can be "fixed" and still have the price of the gun be "competitive" with the others on the market. It requires hand fitting to correct and "hand fitting" in not common where breech plugs are concerned though some of the gun makers do take the time.
The factory makers tend make things to the level of being reasonably safe knowing that the chances of a blow up are very slight. Even one or two in either class of firearm being discussed here can be made to appear to be the shooters fault with any luck. Handloads eliminate any liability for modern gun makers. This has worked wonderfully for the ML industry where everything is a hand load.
The thing that irritates me is that reporting or expressing and opinion on anything of this sort always makes the messenger an elitist or worse.
I did not invent ANY of the issues I have related here. But by mentioning them I become a persona non grata with some.
Dan
