Ashmoore warranted flintlock

[bama]

I would like to know if anybody is making castings of the round tailed roller frizzen Ashmoore lock.

[J. Talbert]

Jim,

I wish I knew the answer.  I'm surprised NO one has chimed in  .

Jeff

[JDK]

Likely the lack of answers are 'cause nobody knows.  I checked Blakeley's when I first saw this posted and didn't see one listed.  The Rifle Shop list a left handed Ashmore with a roller on the frizzen spring, round tail with tit....but don't list a right had version on their English lock page:

http://www.therifleshoppe.com/catalog_pages/english_locks_sights/English_Locks.htm

Let us know if you come up with something.  Good luck and Enjoy, J.D.

[Bob Roller]

 L&R lists an Ashmore that is popular among makers of "flint"Hawken rifles.
I use the external parts of these as well as the Egg and small Manton and make
an upgraded mechanism for them.The profiles are very close btween the L&R and the
Rifle Shoppes LH version.The L&R could be engraved by someone with that skill to
look like the old ones.

Bob Roller

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

This is the lock to which Bob refers, from L & R.  Its weakness if there is one, might be the frizzen spring which not only does not look right, but has a tendency to break from time to time.  But the lock functions well and sparks like a cutting torch.  The lock in the image of a Don Stith J & S Hawken parts set, finished up by yours truly, is engraved and case hardened grey.  The triggers incidentally are Bob's.

[Bob Roller]

Taylor,
Once more the old adage that ONE picture is worth a thousand words proves its worth.
I have made some of these locks and used the frizzen spring from the Twigg and put
the roller in the foot of the frizzen.I have always preferred that over the rollered frizzen
spring. Years ago when Ron Long made a square tailed Ketland lock he told me if I
used his externals as a basis for a new lock,the get an extra frizzen spring or two as they had a
tendency to break.That was in the early 1970's and perhaps now the upgrades in castable spring
steel must help but I still prefer my own ideas.

Bob Roller

[JCKelly]

Wrought sprngs often break because they are just too hard.

Cast springs I might SPECULATE hardness and grain size both play a part.

Good Ol' way of tempering by burning off oil in a dish may work for oil quenched plain carbon steel, e.g. 1095. It is not adequate for an alloyed spring, such as O1. Foundries prefer to cast alloy steel rather than plain carbon, the alloy steel casts better.

Grain size. Very important. If you see the thing look "crystallized" when it breaks, those grains were far too large. Investment castings as they come from the mold are most coarse grained. They need some manner of heat treatment, anneal usually, to refine the grain. BEFORE they are hardened and tempered.
I recall an industrial experiment with investment cast power tool part, 4340 I think, that broke with the most enormous grains. Annealing the @!*% thing first might have made it work, I dunno, was not the boss.

Casting quality no doubt enters into it, but I have no specific knowledge there.

Grain size, grain size, grain size.
Fine grains are very important for best toughness in steel, any kind of steel. Neat thing about steel is that one may refine the grains by heat treatment.
As-cast grains are huge, and there are some @!*% coarse grains in any forging.

[bgf]

One of those L&R Ashmores with Mr. Roller's magic worked on it is my idea of a perfect lock cosmetically and functionally for some later flint southern rifles.  I need to get off the fence and see about getting one made, even though it will be a good while before I'm able to make a rifle that would deserve that high class of a lock!