A question,

[docone]

Back then, when a person wanted to convert his flinter to percussion.
How was it done?
Was the lock modified, pan cut off, hammer replaced, or were new locks put in place?
I got me an itch to make a Full Stock Hawken in percussion.
My wife's family went west early on. She does not care, but I do.
Sounds like fun to me.
I am a lefty so parts will be hard to come by.

[Dan'l 1946]

Track has left handed locks as does Jim Chambers. You can also try L&R and R E Davis. All have web-sites.
                                                         Dan

[Longknife]

Docone, Most of the time the pan was cut off, hammer replaced, frizzen and spring removed and a drum and nipple was installed in the barrel. You can ( most of the time) see indications that the lock was once a flinter. Sometimes the flint hammer was modified and retained.  I have seen a few that were converted with so much care that it was very hard to detect until the lock was removed and inspected. It all depended upon the skill of the 'smith that did the conversions. There were a also a few left over flintlocks converted to percussion when new and installed on a new gun in the perc. period. There are more than a few "experienced" gun collectors that, when seeing a drum and nipple on a percussion rifle automaticaly declare it to be a "conversion" when it is actualy not. (this is a pet peeve of mine!!) I am assuming these "experts" think that it will enhance the value of a gun (small edit by moderator).The drum system was just the easiest and most economical way to build a perc' gun and was widely used. on new builds. Here is a picture of a flint conversion that clearly has indications that it was once a flinter, can you see them?

[docone]

No. I am not able to see the photo.
Waaay back when, I had read of a person who brought his flinter and had the lock modified to percussion. The article never told what process was involved.
L & R does make right hand conversion locks. None for leftys.
I have got so far to go on this project. I am taking it all in.
It does make sense that a person would remove the pan, and use the pan hole  for a drum lineup. That does make sense. The internals would have been slicked, and broken in. No need for the flash pan spring or frizzen.
Food for thought.

[Bob Roller]

I have a left hand L&R flintlock plate that could be used for
a lock that would look like a flint to percussion conversion.
You would have to figure out if you want a drum and nipple or
a bolster breech. I have made these locks with brass plugs
representing where the frizzen pivot and the frizzen spring was removed
during a conversion.
This is not a cheap lock so it depends on how far you want to go with
this job in buying parts.

Bob Roller

[docone]

Ed, the photo comes through now. Probably my 'puter.
I can definately see the pan outline on the lock. The drum hole is triangualr  rather than circular.
Way cool.
It looks like they engraved everything back then. No TV, lots of time.
Bob, good to know. The Hawken kit is saw takes a 1000 series lock. L & R. My concern is the Knox breech and the plug. Although the vent liner would go in the same spot.
Might I be over designing it?

[JTR]

There are more than a few "experienced" gun collectors that, when seeing a drum and nipple on a percussion rifle automaticaly declare it to be a "conversion" when it is actualy not. (this is a pet peeve of mine!!) I am assuming these "experts" think that it will enhance the value of a gun (small edit by moderator).

Well longknife, that wasn't very nice.
But more to the point, why do you feel the need to blast collectors, when the question has nothing to do with collectors?
 
Actually this is the first time in my 30 years of collecting that I've heard that a drum and nipple automatically means it's a conversion. (small edit by moderator).
John

[SCLoyalist]

I had a friend who owned a gun  that was based on an original flint-to-percussion conversion seen in a museum.    The frizzen, frizzen spring and pan were removed, a drum and nipple installed, and the cock was turned into a hammer by inserting a piece of steel between the jaws (probably soldered in to keep the steel from getting lost).

[JTR]

Here's another flint to percussion, using the original flint hammer.





Actually the hammer is cracked so wouldn't have lasted much longer!
Something similar would be a pretty cool way to do a modern flint to percussion conversion!

John

[docone]

Yeah, the more I see of these conversions, the more I think I will just take the left hand flint lock, grind off the pan and put on a percussion hammer. The drum will go where the liner would be.
I love it.
Waaaay cool.

[David R. Pennington]

wouldn't need to solder the "striker" in place. If you look at the pictures you can see the top jaw screw goes through a hole bored in it so it is lccked in.

[Longknife]

There are more than a few "experienced" gun collectors that, when seeing a drum and nipple on a percussion rifle automaticaly declare it to be a "conversion" when it is actualy not. (this is a pet peeve of mine!!) I am assuming these "experts" think that it will enhance the value of a gun (small edit by moderator).

Well longknife, that wasn't very nice.
But more to the point, why do you feel the need to blast collectors, when the question has nothing to do with collectors?
 
Actually this is the first time in my 30 years of collecting that I've heard that a drum and nipple automatically means it's a conversion. small edit by moderator.

John

John, Sorry if I upset you,  maybe I should have substituted the word "collectors" for the word "dealers". ( who also claim to be collectors?). I have studied collecting for OVER 30  years also and do consider myself a "collector". This was just an attempt to help a fellow ALR member identify perc. conversions and a statement that not all conversions are conversions just because someone claims they are. And yes, there are many unscrouplious "collectors" or "dealers " out there...sorry about that!  I could post  links to sites to these questionable conversions but I will not do that. I do wonder why you choose to personally attack a person that you really do not know at all?....Ed  

[Acer Saccharum]

There's room for lots of opinion here, folks. Let's please keep it civil. Thanks, Tom

[Bob Roller]

Looks like necessity was the daddy of invention with that square nipple seat.
I have an old friend that was on the radio for years as a DJ in country/Bluegrass
music and he would sometimes say "I've been to three county fairs,a goat roping and a hanging"
but I have never seen anything like this.
Enough for now.the CLA show in Lexington awaits.

  Bob Roller

[Hungry Horse]

 The quality of percussion conversions often depended on if it was done in town by a gunsmith, or out on the frontier by somebody with a little gun knowledge. Or, not.
 I personally enjoy making conversion guns, because to me they just seem more authentic to the times. I usually use copper wire hammered down tight, to plug the extra holes in the plate. I cut the pan off, but usually try to leave the fence in tact. Converting the hammer as shown by some of the others in the forum, really makes the gun look old. A little creative aging lends a lot to the project as well.

                      Hungry Horse

[JTR]

Bob,
That Lehigh with the square nipple seat is a pretty cool rifle in other ways too. It has a fairly short barrel, maybe 39 or 40 inches long, but with a rifled bore of near to 57 or 58 caliber. it must have been a bruiser to shoot!

Here's another flint to percussion conversion using the flint hammer.



John

[Acer Saccharum]

The mother of invention is alive and well! Great conversion ideas!

That square bolster gun blows my mind; I've never seen anything like that before. Is it threaded into the barrel? Or is it...gulp....attached to the lock and just butted up to the bbl?

[FL-Flintlock]

That square bolster gun blows my mind - - -  Or is it...gulp....attached to the lock and just butted up to the bbl?

Just use Bowmalloy lock bolts.