Chipped Lock Tumbler

[silky]

Good morning,

I'm in the final stages of finishing up my rifle and found that the tip of the arm on the tumbler chipped off at some point.  It's the Davis Colonial American lock.  I have a new tumbler on the way but my question for you guys is this:

Is there a problem with some aspect of the lock itself that would cause it to chip like this?  What I'm getting at is if I do nothing more than replace the tumbler, is this likely to happen again?  Or was it likely just a one-off occurrence?

I appreciate your time!

- Tom

[deepcreekdale]

Probably a casting flaw. It happens although not common with Chambers stuff. Something we deal with when using cast parts instead of machined parts.

[Daryl]

ditto

[silky]

That answers my question -- thank you!

- Tom

[Tim Crosby]

  Are you set up to harden and temper the new tumbler, it will take some fitting too.

    Tim C.

[silky]

  Are you set up to harden and temper the new tumbler, it will take some fitting too.

    Tim C.

I'm confident I can fit the new tumbler, but I have not done any tempering/hardening.  I'll gladly take any procedures, tips, or techniques you can share.

This link has some good info: (https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=30739.msg294667#msg294667

I guess my first question, having not done this before, is what is the best way to hold/handle the tumbler during the process?  Hold it with vise grips, lay it on a heatable surface, etc?

Thank you.

- Tom

[P.W.Berkuta]

I would thread a 1" screw into the tumbler and grip onto that while you heat up the tumbler then when at the right temp (salmon-orange color) you will immerse it into warm vegetable oil (about 125 degrees) and swirl it around until it is warm to the touch wipe off the oil and remove the screw then place it into your oven that has been preheated to 375-425 (oven temps vary a lot) degrees leave it there for one hour then shut off the oven and let the tumbler come back to room temperature.

[redheart]

Send it back to Davis!

[Bob Roller]

Find out WHAT it's made of before any attempts at hardening or tempering.I have no faith in foundries and when I made locks I did NOT want my reputation to depend on any of them.Ditto for my triggers.
Bob Roller

[Eric Krewson]

The Log Cabin shop bought out Davis, I needed a screw for a Davis trigger, they were very helpful and sent me three of the screws at no cost.

I bet they would help you out.

[silky]

I appreciate the input and advice -- thanks!  I'm looking at it as a learning opportunity and will do as you recommend.

- Tom

[Bob Roller]

The Log Cabin shop bought out Davis, I needed a screw for a Davis trigger, they were very helpful and sent me three of the screws at no cost.

I bet they would help you out.

it's a straight up shop and the founder,Wesley Kindig talked me into making set triggers and bought them when they were not worth a$.His grand daughter runs it now and she seem to be from the same bolt of cloth as her
grandfather.
Bob Roller