Should This Line Up Better ?

[Panzerschwein]

The cock on my new northwest trade gun is rather... cocked.



As you can see, it is tipped over towards the left and doesn’t line up super great with the frizzen. My questions are 1) Is this a big deal and 2) what is the fix if so?

Thank you so much in advance for your time and help. Take care,

Dillon

[Kevin Houlihan]

Dillon,
 If the cock is seated on the tumbler shaft all the way and the screw is tight, then don’t worry about it. Just put the flint in the jaws to line up with the frizzen
Kevin

[Hank01]

Could be several things going on there. Bad hammer/tumbler shaft fit, bent tumbler shaft, square hole in hammer not perpendicular to the hammer, tumbler shaft hole not perpendicular to lock plate, etc, etc. That all needs checked before deciding what to do. Had a similar condition with an L&R lock but the hammer was tilted the opposite way of yours. It was a "no sparker". Reworked the tumbler shaft, lock plate and hammer to bring everything into alignment and guess what? It sparked.

If it produces good sparks i know some would leave it as is and run the risk of the flint striking the barrel. If it were mine that crookedness would have to go bye bye. Stuff like this puts my OCD into overdrive but that's just me.

Hank   

[Panzerschwein]

Thanks, gang.

In addition to this, I’ve got a sitting fox metal stamp coming in the mail and would like to have the lock plate stamped.

I really don’t feel skilled enough for either task. I’m going to see if someone here more knowledgeable could do these for me, stamp the lock and fix the crooked cock, and a lock tune up if needed.

Heading to the classifieds now to post an ad for it. Not really sure how much to offer for the work though?

[Mike Brooks]

It's fine. Go shoot it and quit worrying about minutia.

[bob in the woods]

If you can't live with it as is, send it to Brad Emig at Cabin Creek.  He'll fix it for you

[Roger B]

What Mike said!  We all want everything we do to be good to excellent, but even the workmanship of the masters could be somewhat faulty. They just hid it really well for the most part. As for me, I'm a 1st class wood, steel, & brass, butcher. I enjoy trying to make something,  but if I let my mistakes wear me down I just wind up hating the process. I'll never be as good as most of these guys on the board, but I can enjoy building a functional piece.

[wattlebuster]

That lock is fine. Ive seen more that one that way an they all shot an sparked fine an are still going strong. All it needs is used and used a bunch

[RAT]

There's probably just a little play between the tumbler shaft and the hole in the plate. Pressure from the mainspring is pushing down on the foot of the tumbler and causing it to tilt. It looks pretty normal. If you can grab the cock and wiggle it back and forth when the lock is assembled, the fit is probably too loose and will cause wear.  Otherwise it should be OK.

[Panzerschwein]

Thank you. There is no play in the cock.

[TDM]

That’s one of the better cock to frizzen line ups I’ve seen. As said already, nothing to worry about.

[Marcruger]

You need to set you flint to match the frizzen face anyway, so it should accommodate. Shoot it first. If it sparks well, I would leave it alone. If not, Brad Emig.