Davis lock help

[sghart3578]

Hello neighbors,

I bought a smoothbore on Gunbrokers.  It is a trade style flintlock.

I know nothing about flintlocks and this has been a lot of fun and a great learning experience.

Recently the hammer stopped holding at full cock.  It holds fine at half cock.  I removed the lock to see if a cleaning would help.  It didn't.

I didn't disassemble the lock but I'm assuming there is a lot of wear on the internals.  The face of the frizzen shows what looks like a lot of use also.

I called the Davis folks but they are closed until Monday.  Would they be willing to rebuild my lock?  I am happy to pay for it of course.

Should I look for a replacement lock?

Thanks for your time,

Steve in N CA

[Stoner creek]

It sounds like you have either a tumbler or sear problem. Perhaps the sear spring isn’t engaging the sear fully. You might even be binding a part inside the lock mortise. In any case, it should be an easy fix. Are there any gunmakers near where you live? 

[rich pierce]

Could be many things, even the fly sticking. Impossible to diagnose online. I’d try Davis but the company has changed hands at least once so am not sure their capacity to do repair work.

[Don Steele]

If your lock has a fly it’s likely sticking, like Rich said or too short.

[Bob Roller]

If your lock has a fly it’s likely sticking, like Rich said or too short.

Log Cabin in Lodi,Ohio now owns the R.E,Davis name and business.
Bob Roller

[Hungry Horse]

Steve, where are you in Northern California? I may know someone nearby that can help you out. I live in Lakeport about a hundred miles north of San Francisco.
 I would give the lock internals a good scrubbing with a a solvent that will resolve any dried up oil, or sticky grease, and give it a nice light coat of gun oil. If its a sticking fly, that should fix it.

  Hungry Horse

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

This sounds like a simple fix.  You surely don't need a new lock.

[sghart3578]

Hungry Horse,

I live just north of Sacramento about 20 miles.

Thank you guys for all of your responses.  I am assuming it is wear related because it shot fine for 40 or 50 shots then developed a problem.

I don't know of any gun makers near me.

I will try Log Cabin/ Davis on Monday to see if they can help.  And with all of the help from you guys I may be able to understand what they tell me.


Steve in N CA

[Ken G]

Does the lock function properly out of the stock?  or does the same issue exist? 

Ken

[sghart3578]

That's a good question Ken so I just checked it.  It does the same thing out of the stock.

I noticed that the mainspring that cocks the hammer seems to take a lot of force to cock, more than my 20 lb gauge can measure.  By contrast the frizzen only needs about 3 1/2 to 4 lbs to open.


Steve

[Scota4570]

Pictures please.  We are just guessing.  I would bet that the sear nose and or full cock notch is damaged.  The sear nose on those is razor thin, cast, unfitted,  and weak.  The factory sear spring is about 10X to strong.  The sears get chewed up in normal operation.   

 Davis should have parts.  You will need a competent smith to install them. IF Davis will do it, that would be my first choice for most. 

[alacran]

I had a very similar problem on a Davis Tulle lock.
 I go back and forth from arid to humid weather, so I thought it was a problem of wood interference.
I removed wood in the mortise. The stock is walnut and difficult to tell whether or not black is transferring.
 Finally I decided to take apart the lock.
I removed the mainspring. When I went to remove the bridle , is when I noticed that the bridle screws were loose. I tightened them and put the lock back in the gun and the problem went away. I removed the lock again disassembled it cleaned everything . I degreased the screw holes for the bridle screws, and the screws also. When I reassembled the lock I used blue locktite on the bridle screws. This was about 10 years ago. I haven't had any issues with this lock since.
The main spring on this lock is very strong and I assume all of that torque eventually caused enough vibration to loosen the screws.
I am not saying this is your problem, but it is worth checking and a very simple fix if indeed this is your problem

[Robby]

I had a lock that stopped holding at full cock. After a lot of fazzootzing around, I took an ice pick and scraped the full cock groove and sure enough, some how a bit of gunk got in there and fully camouflaged itself. Have not had any trouble with it since. I hope your fix is as easy as mine.
Robby

[sghart3578]

hello friends,

This morning I called the folks at R E Davis.  I ordered a tumbler and a sear.  Hopefully by next week I will be back to shooting.

Thanks for your help.


Steve in N CA

[Mike_StL]

Since you have the same problem with the lock out of the mortise, the problem is likely either the sear or the notch in the tumbler.  Take a good look at the full cock notch looking for any rounding or fouling in the notch. 

Davis is notorious for having strong mainsprings so some wear is possible.

The Davis line of locks and triggers has been bought out by the Log Cabin Shop.  It would be worth a call and talk with the gunsmith on site.

[sghart3578]

I ended up calling The Log Cabin Shop again and spoke with the same nice lady that I ordered the parts from a few hours earlier.

We decided that it would be best if I shipped my entire lock back to them for a rebuild.  They will address the spring weights, harden the frizzen, replace the worn sear and tumbler and ship it back ready to go.

I will keep you guys posted if you want but I am confident that I will be happy with the rsults.


Steve in N CA

[P.W.Berkuta]

Try Rusty Gunsmithing, 1039 Hwy 49, San Andreas, CA 95249, He has been doing muzzle loading stuff for a long time before moving to San Andreas. He started his business in 1999. Used to live in Santa Cruz and shot with the Santa Cruz Muzzloaders before moving to San Andreas and opening his business there. He also holds some ML pistol records back in the day.