Lock Question

[dannylj]

I've posted on this before but this is kind of an update. When my 26 year old narcotics agent son was around 14 he wanted me to build him a rifle. I started a southern mtn. percussion for him but with company transfers and other delays I never finished it. This past fall he decides he wanted to flintlock hunt the Wheeler Refuge in North Alabama where we lived at the time and he could stay with his older brother. I rush finished his rifle after converting it to flint and he is having a ball at this moment in Al. All this rambling is to ask a question about the lock. I won't mention the brand of flintlock I used but is a top brand. Everything worked fine until I changed out the flint just prior to his leaving. The lock would not stay on full cock. I noticed that when the tumbler was against the inside of the plate and the hammer fully screwed in place there was a space of about 1/8th inch between the back side of the hammer and the plate. The mainspring tension held everything in place until I changed the flint. The tumbler was pushed in just enough to cant it and allowing the gun to slip off fullcock. In a rush the only way I could fix it was to place a small highly polished washer between the hammer and plate. It worked fine but I am curious if I missed something or if the tumbler shaft the hammer attaches to is just too long. The lock manufacturer has been great to work with as he had to replace the frizzen. Sorry for the long post - any suggestions.   Danny

[Jim Kibler]

It's hard to be sure of the issues your lock has without having it in hand.  Here is a bit of information that may help.

-  The bridel should be made such there is very little end clearance on the tumbler.  This is what should keep the tumber from moving in and out, not the cock.

- The tumber hole and hole in the bridle should be closely sized to the tumbler so it doesn not wobble around

-  The tumbler hole and bridle hole should be concentric.

-  The tumbler shafts should be turned and be concentric with each other

-  The hole in the sear should be closely sized to the sear screw or vise versa, to prevent the sear from wobbling around.

-  The tip of the sear and tumbler notches should be properly shaped to provide positive engagment.

If these conditions are met, your problem should go away.

[Benedict]

Jim, did you not mention that the tumbler hole in the plate should be sized to the tumbler shaft?  There should be no wobble there either.

Bruce

[Blacksmoke]

Danny:  It sounds like excessive play, in the tumbler - lock plate relationship , the sear - tumbler relationship and the bridle - tumbler relationship.   However without seeing it on the bench this is only a guess based on your description.  Jim's advice should fix the problem.     Hugh Toenjes

[dannylj]

I appreciate the comments. I may have been looking at the problem incorrectly. When the rifle gets back to me I have a numnber of things I want to correct and clean up. I'll look closely at what ya'll have commented on. Thanks  Danny

[David R. Pennington]

I bought a completed lock from one of the major suppliers recently and was not pleased at all with the fit of the parts. There was way too much slop in the fit of the tumbler in the plate hole. I ended up turning a bushing for the tumbler shaft and reaming a good fit. Up until this one I had built kit locks and I think I had as much work in tuning this new lock as I did building my kit locks.