Left-handed swivel breech

[Hawken62_flint]

Anyone out there ever make a left-handed wender (swivel breech)?  My buddy and I are trying to build 2 lefties, one for me and one for him. We have the book by Dave Waters. He used L&R's right-handed Manton locks, so we figured that we could reverse everything and use left-handed Mantons. But somewhere along the way, L& R must have changed how they do their pans, as the ones we got this week have the pan and plate molded as 1 piece. In Waters' book, he was working with removable pans.  So now we are not sure how to proceed. We are thinking that we might have to switch to a large Siler left hand, which has a removable pan. Any suggestions on how to proceed will be greatly appreciated.

[smart dog]

Hi,
You don't need a removeable pan at all.  First, Dave Waters describes cutting the pan from an L&R Manton lock.  The Manton never had a removeable pan.  Secondly, you don't have to even do that. Buy 2 L&R Durs Egg or Bailes  left hand lockplates and cut them off to form the dovetail, preserving the front ends of the plates.  That way you also have a much more attractive pan and plate section than in Dave Water's plans.  The wood of the side panels surrounds the pan section like a normal flintlock and looks much better in my opinion (photo below).

dave

[Bob Roller]

Hi,
You don't need a removeable pan at all.  First, Dave Waters describes cutting the pan from an L&R Manton lock.  The Manton never had a removeable pan.  Secondly, you don't have to even do that. Buy 2 L&R Durs Egg or Bailes  left hand lockplates and cut them off to form the dovetail, preserving the front ends of the plates.  That way you also have a much more attractive pan and plate section than in Dave Water's plans.  The wood of the side panels surrounds the pan section like a normal flintlock and looks much better in my opinion (photo below).

dave

What part of that elegant lock system is left handed??

Bob Roller

[smart dog]

Hi Bob,
It is not meant to show a left handed lock.  It is intended to show that the entire front end of a Durs Egg or Bailes lock can be substituted for the way Dave Waters describes making that assembly and the results, IMO are much better.  The swivel mechanism shown was made by Dave Price and stocked by me. 

dave

[Bob Roller]

Hi Bob,
It is not meant to show a left handed lock.  It is intended to show that the entire front end of a Durs Egg or Bailes lock can be substituted for the way Dave Waters describes making that assembly and the results, IMO are much better.  The swivel mechanism shown was made by Dave Price and stocked by me. 

dave

Dave,
I just woke up from a deep nap and didn't realize the picture was an answer to a question. Beautiful job!
We have a nice swivel breech in the Huntington Museum of Art but it's never been this precise or elegant.

Bob Roller

[Bill Paton]

Hawken62,

Tonyhd98 has made left hand swivel breech actions on the Dave Waters plans. See his posts. Contact him, too. He is a machinist and would be a good info source about machining the left hand actions.

For swivel breech stocking issues, go to Smartdog Dave, who is right about the pan/frizzen plates with wood above and below the plates as in most full stocked originals. They are much more elegant. (However, most original flint swivel breech actions were built with the back action lock plate being the same width as the pan/swivel plates, unlike the one Dave shows here.) And Dave’s stock architecture and finish are spot on for beauty and authenticity.

Good luck--you are way over my head building two of these things!

Bill Paton

[Bob Roller]

Hawken62,

Tonyhd98 has made left hand swivel breech actions on the Dave Waters plans. See his posts. Contact him, too. He is a machinist and would be a good info source about machining the left hand actions.

For swivel breech stocking issues, go to Smartdog Dave, who is right about the pan/frizzen plates with wood above and below the plates as in most full stocked originals. They are much more elegant. (However, most original flint swivel breech actions were built with the back action lock plate being the same width as the pan/swivel plates, unlike the one Dave shows here.) And Dave’s stock architecture and finish are spot on for beauty and authenticity.

Good luck--you are way over my head building two of these things!

Bill Paton

All of this left handed discussion reminded me that I have a set of left hand external parts for the
L&R Durs Egg. I thought about finishing it into a working lock but now replacement of these parts
is over $100 for the externals and IF I decide to make the mechanism that will add $175 to the
cost.

Bob Roller

[Swab]

sounds like a project I would be interested in.  Ive been thinking on a triple barrel swivel breech pistol and am working on a sliding pan over under carbine

[Hawken62_flint]

Thanks to all for the info and comments.  We found a really nice contemporary swivel and it used large Siler parts. The plates were handmade.  So we are going that route. When the actions are complete I will try to post pictures.   Thanks again 

[pushboater]

All this talk about swivel breeches has me wanting to put my project back on the front burner. Been several months since I touched it. I'm using Dave Waters book as a road map also and this is my first Swivel Breech, so I may not be the best person to ask for advise, but I can offer some insight into what I'm doing and the problems I've encountered. I'd love to see pictures of your action when it's finished. I must say, it's a daunting endevour! Good luck with your project.