I don't mean to take the words out of Dan"s mouth, and he's much too much of a gentleman to slam anyone else's work. So I will make this observation: Dan had an L & R lock whose tumbler holes and bridle hole did not coincide...the lock was un-useable. So he welded up the tumbler hole, and re-drilled it in the correct place. Problem solved, and easier by far than building a lock from scratch.
I hope L & R reads these posts, because it will give them an idea of how their products are accepted - or not. I recently purchased two L & R locks: a left hand "American Classic" for my on-the-bench Jaeger build, and a #900 Ashmore lock as a spare for that Hawken fullstock that Herb sold to a buddy of mine. Both locks came with the new forged springs, and they have nice power and balance. But their sear springs are not made or set up properly. In order to get the lock to function the way it should, I had to remove the sear spring and the sear. The sear needed filing where the spring bears against the top flat, to bring the bearing surface much closer to the pivot screw. The spring as it arrived, was just a bit more than half way along the top flat of the sear, and a huge amount of pressure was required to trip the lock from full cock. Next, I heated the spring red, flattened out the steel, re-bent it to create a longer lower leaf, and closed the bend so the spring does not interfere with the action of the sear. I arched the lower leaf, thinned it considerably, and narrowed it at its tip. Now the spring presses down hard on the correct place on the top of the sear - right behind the boss of the screw hole. The action of the sear now is crisp and firm. It engages the tumbler's notches with a satisfying click, and does not hurt my thumb when tripping the lock.
There was one more 'issue' with the lock that needed my attention. The hole drilled for the frizzen was in the wrong place. The result of this was to leave the frizzen badly fitting the pan - gaps that were unacceptable. So I filled the hole, clamped the frizzen to the pan, re-drilled. The hole in the frizzen was too large for the screw that came with the lock. It allowed the frizzen to ride up and away from the pan under the frizzen spring's tension. So I made a new screw with closer tolerances, and now the lock makes me happy.
All this work is considered by most to be a pita, shoddy workmanship, careless work, etc. But I do not mind the challenge of taking an otherwise great lock and tweeking it to make it better. It is so much easier than building one from scratch with saw and file. Sending locks back is not an option for us Canucks. You would not believe the BS we must endure from our own Border Services. Although, thanks to NAFTA, we don't pay customs anymore, we have to pay taxes on the lock as if we were buying it. Yes, we can get re-imbursed, but it takes paperwork, and about four months. So I choose to tinker.
I will continue to use L & R's locks, and of course, Chambers' and Davis' as well. Thanks to all of you for the proliferation of excellent locks.
