RPL lock upgrade for my Lyman Trade rifle

[One Eye]

My 20 year old Trade Rifle has been the gateway to traditional muzzleloading for me.
Several deer have fallen to it over the last few years.
I see that the L&R RPL locks are available and seem to be highly regarded.
Is it worth spending the money for an upgrade?
Thanks,
One Eye

[Black Jack]

I own a percussion Lyman Trade Rifle and don't really see what would be gained by installing the L&R if yours is also percussion and the lock is in good condition. A flintlock may be another story. From what I have read about them, they are not a simple "drop-in" replacement, but require some fitting. My Lyman .54 GPR is a flinter and I have been satisfied with its performance as a hunting rifle.

[smilovich]

I agree no real value in changing out the percussion lock.  I have one on a flint LTR.   It does take a fair amount of wood removal to get the springs to fit, but the plate dropped right into the mortice.  I don't know if this is common, but on mine the pan lined up well forward of the touch hole.  It still shot fine.  It bugged me enough that I moved the tang forward a bit and filled the gap behind it.  Now it's centered and still shoots fine.  I bought the stock without a lock so the RPL was a good choice for me. 

[One Eye]

Mine is a flintlock and I should have stated that.
It sparks OK, but not great.
Thanks,
One Eye

[Don Steele]

FWIW, and since you asked...the first thing I will say is that L&R RPL locks are not universally well thought of, at least not around here.
Your post mentions that you have a 20 yr. old Trade Rifle with several deer taken. In an attempt to assist, I have to ask if you have owned it for 20 yrs. and taken those several deer with it, or is that it's history and you're the latest owner..??
What problem(s) are you trying to solve with a new lock...??
One of my buddies here put an L&R RPL lock in his T/C. The job involved significant wood removal to get the RPL "drop-in" lock to drop in. At the range..reliability is not acceptable for a hunting rifle. OTOH..he gets a lot of really excellent practice "holding through" on the target when he doesn't get ignition. Perhaps that contributes to the great scores he shoots with it.

[One Eye]

Don,
I am the original owner of the rifle. It sparks reliably but with the pan filled properly it can be slow.
I asked the question because friends with hand made guns get much faster ignition.
One gets what one pays for, but in our late flintlock season weather can be lousy and I would be careful  taking an expensive gun out on a crummy day.
If the lock will help great, if not I will save my money for a better rifle.
My Selb Hawken has a Bob Roller percussion lock and it is a work of art.
Thanks very much,
One Eye

[bob in the woods]

I have done work on a few of the Lymans, and the ignition speed [ slow ] was a combination of the breaching/touch hole design and the lock's performance. What size is the touch hole ?  What flints are you using ? [  french, english, or the packaged saw cut  ]    The springs were rather weak on the locks I saw.
Also, the lock internals were " loose"  , so alignment of the contact points was off. All combining to slow the cycling of the lock.  In the end, working on the locks helped, but the biggest change in reliability came from opening up the touch hole to 5/64ths

[moleeyes36]

One Eye,

Like Bob said.  If it sparks reliably, the problem of slow ignition is probably best cured with opening up the touch hole to 5/64 or at least 1/16.  There's nothing you can really do about the breech design and getting another lock won't cure that.

Mole Eyes

[One Eye]

Thanks gents.
There is some play in the cock and the frizzen, even with all screws tight and the spring tension seems light as well.
I use hand knapped English flints. Shaving sharp.
Opening the touch hole will be my weekend project.
Best
One Eye

[bgf]

Maybe something like this would help:

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/960/1/THL-LYMAN-S

If if is really concave (like the 1/4-28 ones are) inside and the original is not, it could make a big difference with the hole drilled to 1/16 or just a little shy. 

If the lock is igniting the pan fast and reliably, the problem must lie with the vent.  If enlarging the current one helps, you'll know you are on the right track.  After that is sorted out, then you can look at the lock upgrade.  I do know one guy with the RPLthat works pretty well although it took some time to fit it and he had a broken spring early on.  L&R recently upgraded to stronger forged mainspring in place of cast, so I think  they are worth looking at.

[One Eye]

Thanks.
One Eye

[heelerau]

One eye, I replaced a Russ Hamm lock in a squirrel rifle with an RPL lock, when I bought it, had it sent to a locksmith who polished and tuned it, then I fitted it to my rifle with minimal fuss. It has worked well for me with fast ignition. The tuning was well worth it (flint lock) It is a mass produced lock and not quite the quality I guess of say a Jim Chambers made lock.

Cheers

[One Eye]

That is a great idea.
Cabin Creek is a two hour drive and their work has been recommended.
Thanks,
One Eye

[One Eye]

I replaced the touch hole liner with the one from TOW that bgf recommended, polished the frizzen face and the lower limb that bears on the frizzen spring, and ignition is MUCH better.
Thanks to all for the suggestions.
You solved my problem and saved me $170.
Best,
One Eye

[bgf]

I replaced the touch hole liner with the one from TOW that bgf recommended, polished the frizzen face and the lower limb that bears on the frizzen spring, and ignition is MUCH better.
Thanks to all for the suggestions.
You solved my problem and saved me $170.
Best,
One Eye

Glad it worked!  Thanks for the follow-up; its always nice to hear how things turn out.