I need your collective knowledge!

[frenchymanny]

Friends, here are the facts: I went to a pheasant hunt with my pedersoli Mortimer flintlock fowler. Shot a bunch, killed some birds had a blast.

Came by home, thoroughly cleaned the gun, took the lock out removed all the grime, put a new flint to be ready for the the next adventure.

I tested the flint set up and here is the deal: I have good sparks but the frizzen does not fully open with the cock.

What should I do?

Thanks for your help,
Manny

PS I tried all flint combinations, it seems the frizzen spring is too strong

[Hungry Horse]

It might be that a shorter  flint is hitting to low on the frizzen, and that combined with a strong frizzen spring isn’t allowing the frizzen to fully open. Try turning the flint over, so it strikes a little higher on the frizzen.




 Hungry Horse

[frenchymanny]

Thanks for that feedback, I tried this already.
What baffles me is the  gun was performing great while hunting, and now obviously the frizzen spring is very strong, way to much.

Manny

[Longknife]

First, loosen frizzen screw and spring screw 1/4 turn to make sure there is no binding, then re lube, if that fails it may be necessary to file or/or polish the "foot" (nub that contacts the frizzen spring) of the frizzen to move point of contact toward the rear of the lock?,,,,,Ed

[OldMtnMan]

It was working fine and all you did was change the flint. I'd look hard at the flint.


Another thought. Did you take the lock apart when you cleaned?

[retired fella]

I agree with longknife.  I think it is a simple fix.  Something is binding.  I can't see how a spring would get stronger.  Is it possible (with good spark) that you are getting a frizzen rebound?

[frenchymanny]

Here is what I did:
Loosen the frizzen screw, lube, and move forward the flint a little:

Victory! It works again!
Thank you all for your help

Manny

[Dphariss]

Friends, here are the facts: I went to a pheasant hunt with my pedersoli Mortimer flintlock fowler. Shot a bunch, killed some birds had a blast.

Came by home, thoroughly cleaned the gun, took the lock out removed all the grime, put a new flint to be ready for the the next adventure.

I tested the flint set up and here is the deal: I have good sparks but the frizzen does not fully open with the cock.

What should I do?

Thanks for your help,
Manny

PS I tried all flint combinations, it seems the frizzen spring is too strong

Does the frizzen move freely? Are you sure its not frizzen rebound? Put a finger just short of the fully open point of the frizzen and see if the back of the frizzen hits the finger.  Weak frizzen springs can be a curse so be careful messing with this. A weak spring can cause more serious issues.
OR the break over point on the foot/spring is not right. When you push the frizzen open with the thumb where does it kick over and open? It should be 1/8 or so before the flint comes off the bottom of the frizzen.
I don't generally worry about this too much if the lock sparks good and fires like I want. 

Has the mainspring gone flat?  If its got a late English design its meant to have strong springs.
And if the lock is deigned right strong springs don't break flints.
Dan

[frenchymanny]

I think that when I cleaned the lock with very hot water to remove all the BP residue, I starved the frizzen axis of lubricant, plus the new flint was too short.

Fixing those 2 points made the lock working again.

Thanks everyone for the pointers, I really appreciate your support.

Manny

[Davemuzz]

I had a similar problem with a flintlock. When the lock was out of the firearm, and I cocked it and touched the sear lever, it would fall and open the frizzen completely. When it was installed the frizzen would not open completely.

The issue with mine was the stock inlet of the front part of the lock plate was a little deeper than the rear. Thus, when both lock plate screws were tightened it would "bow" the lock plate just enough for the mainspring to bind and not provide all the stored energy to release against the sear.

A few scraps of wood glued into the front to level it solved the issue.

FWIW

[WadePatton]

Many here refuse to use hot water for cleaning as it tends to lead to flash rusting. Maybe dial back the "very hot water" next time around. Or just make re-lubing a priority rather than afterthought.   Best of luck.

[frenchymanny]

Again thanks for the feedback!
I am in the process of making mistakes, or building my experience

I truly appreciate you taking the time to share your experience

Manny