L & R replacement lock for Lyman GPR

[rayahaines]

Has anyone successfully replaced the coil spring lock with L&R's RPL?  The RPL bolster does not touch the barrel.  I have removed so much wood from the mortise cavity and ledge that I don't think I should remove more.  The lock functions but has a 1/16" gap between the pan and the barrel.  I'm about to build up the bolster with JBWeld and file or sand a tight fit.  Any ideas or suggestions?  The lock plate is flush or slightly below the exposed wood.

[smylee grouch]

I have not worked with that lock but it sounds like you should keep digging and file the wood flush when done. 

[rayahaines]

I am reluctant to dig deeper because 1) the hooked breech tang screw thread is visible, 2) only half of the wood behind the hooked breech is left and, 3) the lock functions and shows no evidence of touching or binding in the cavity when I apply lipstick to the underside parts of the lock.

[Kevin Houlihan]

  It's got to be held up somewhere.  Apply lipstick to the inside of the plate and the bolster and see what is touching.  Posting a few pictures would also help.
Good luck,
Kevin

[Bigmon]

Maybe contact L&R with questions also?
Ihave done a couple of these on T/C's, always more work than I expected, but always worked out well.

[rayahaines]

Thank you, everyone.  This has been helpful.

[RAT]

I haven't done one of these, but if you're that far off... and you've already removed that much wood for the lock guts at the back... there are 2 areas to double check.

1. The mortise area for the main spring.
2. The area outside the actual mortise where the cock comes to rest against the lock bolster.

My guess is that the cock/hammer has wood under it that needs to be notched. Photos would help.

[Bigmon]

There used to be a wonderful man and fine builder in our area, Phil Cravener.  He would often add metal to the bolster thus making it stand off the barrel farther.  He would solder a pc of brass maybe up to 1/8" thick there, and likewise on the face where the frizzen contacts the barrel.  This made the rifle 1/4" wider.  But might also serve your purpose?
When I started building again about 10 years back I made what I termed an experimental rifle and tried several different things on it to see how I liked the results.  One was the widening of the gun by the method I explained.
Except I was always concerned that the solder would fail at the pc added to the frizzen.  So I built it up with weld and kept filing and shaping and welding and so forth.  Only too about three sessions of that and I had results I am happy with.
Might work in your case??

As you can see, I am not much for fancy, but it is fully functional and works well.
Hope this might help?

[rayahaines]

I apologize for the absence of photos but that is beyond my computer knowledge.  I do appreciate all the suggestions.  In fact, I dug deeper under the main spring and broke through into the ramrod channel and removed a little more above the mortise behind the cock.  Now, there is daylight between the stock and cock and the gap between barrel and bolster is <1/32".  I'll stop there and start browning barrel and lock.  Thank you, all.

[bama]

I recently replace a CVA flintlock with the RPL flintlock in one of the plastic stocked rifles. The lock plate was quite a bit larger than the original lock but the bolt holes lined up for the lock bolts and the touch hole lined up. I wound up removing a lot of plastic to get this lock to fit into the stock but it was doable. Once I finally got the lock setting into the correct location I then had to rework the trigger and the lock sear to get them to work together. The RPL lock's sear has been built up to make it usable on several different rifles. This extra material will need to be removed as required to work with the old trigger. I wound up thinning the sear down a good bit and still had to take some off the top of the trigger bar to get the lock to function correctly. After I got the lock and trigger working together I did a trigger pull weight test and the trigger was setting at about 12 LBS. This lock as it comes has very little internal polishing and has a very deep full cock notch. These are the things I did to improve the trigger pull. First I disassembled the lock and polished all the surfaces that moved and made contact with another part and greased everything up with lithium grease. This reduce to trigger pull weight down to about 6LBS. I then reworked the sear sprig slightly to make it not as stout. I did this by heating it and closing the angle just a minor amount, then I retempered the spring. I then went to work on the full cock notch. I cut the depth down and polished the face of the notch. You have to be careful in doing this a little to much will make for an unsafe lock, so go slow. I finally got the notch and the sear nose at a good but safe location and retested the trigger pull. This time I got a trigger that was at 3 LBS, that is a good hunting trigger for me so I stopped there. After a day of fitting to lock to the stock and a day of tuning the lock to function at what I felt was acceptable performance the job was complete.

Do not use JB Weld between the lock and barrel. The flash will burn out the JB Weld and make for an unsafe condition. Build up the bolster if needed with metal either silver soldered or brazed onto the bolster. I find that this should not be necessary because the bolster on the RPL lock is thicker than the CVA lock by a good bit. So you probably need to take more wood out somewhere.

Good luck, this job is not for the faint of heart.

[Tim Ault]

Remove the cock from the lock to make sure it’s not hitting the wood outside the mortise . I’ve made that stupid mistake once .

[Birddog6]

Strip the lock of Everything, inlet the Plate First.  Then add a piece at a time til it is inlet.

[Bigmon]

THERE ya go!!  That's the best way, at least in my lowly opinion.