PERCUSSION LOCK DIS- ASSEMBLY AND RE-ASSEMBLY

[Topknot]

 HELP!!! I am at the point of my first build that i need to take apart my percussion lock. this is my first build and i havent a clue the process of taking apart the lock or re-assembly. picture also would help. it is a large siler lock.

                   thanks in advance,

                                                topknot

[4ster]

I don't have any experience yet with percussion locks but it should be similar to a flint lock.  The one indispensable tool you need is a spring vise.   Also use only gunsmith's screwdrivers, which are hollow ground.  I purchased a set of hollow ground tips at my local hardware store but still had to modify the largest one on my bench grinder to be thin enough to fit the screw that keeps the hammer on the tumbler.

After using the spring vise to remove the mainspring, you can disassembe the parts around the tumbler.  Keep track of how the parts fit back together in a way that works for you.  Be careful if your lock has a fly on the tumbler, it is small and easy to loose.  To seperate the tumbler from the hammer, support the lock plate in a way that the tumbler is free, then use a brass pin or hardwood dowel that is smaller than the square hole in the hammer to carefully drive the tumbler out of the hammer.  When you reassemble, place the hammer and lock plate on a smooth surface to keep from marring them and gently tap the tumbler back into the square tapered hole in the hammer.  Don't use the hammer screw to seat the tumbler and hammer, it is an easy way to break the screw.

An example of a spring vise:
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/1038/1/TOOL-VISE

[Long Ears]

Try this: http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=8986.0. You really need a main spring vice and several of the building books show how they go back together. Get used to it quick! I swear I take a lock apart at least 20 times during a build. I will have to try the old blindfolded trick someday. Maybe not I'd probably lose another Fly. Bob

[Don Tripp]

IMO Siler locks are the most friendly lock to dis-assemble and re-assemble. The spring vise is invaluable and even the cheap ones are good. I got mine from Marv Palmer at the 1983 Manistee Muzzleloader Rendezvous for under $5 and it still works great.

1983 I was only 16... To be young again...

[mlrifleNY]

  Don, if you were only 16 back then you are still a young man. I was already 33 by then.  LOL

Taking locks apart isn't hard, just go slow and easy and use the right tools and all will be good.

[T*O*F]

If you're in a hurry to take it apart instead of ordering a spring vise, there are several other ways to do it.  None involve using vise grips or pliers.
1.  First cock the lock.
2.  Tighten a small crescent wrench on the spring, OR
3.  Slide a small open-end wrench on the spring, OR
4.  Make a spring cramp by filing the appropriate sized slot in a piece of metal, THEN
5.  Loosen the tension on the spring and remove it.

[Curtis]

More reference from this site:
http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=21541.msg0#new

Curtis

[Topknot]

I would like to say thank you to all who have responded . It has been most helpful and I am very  grateful .

                                                                                     
                                                                                                        topknot