While I do need to do final filing on the bolster to fit to the barrel, the rest of the inside of the plate is fine. Absolute flatness or smoothness is not required. The only places that have to be smooth is where moving parts touch. If moving parts don't touch, filing it any smoother is pointless. It's already considerably nicer than the average late 18th century German import lock!
The lock started out as.....a Siler kit. I think the WORST thing I could possibly do is send out a gun with a lock that is easily recognizeable as a standard factory lock. Especially a Siler. I can spot a Siler a mile away.
The plate was reshaped some, and the tail refiled. The cock is one of the "blank" cocks from Track of the Wolf (which I use often). The immediately-recognizeable Siler pan was reshaped to something more attractive. The tail of the frizzen was forged around to curl it up and it was reshaped and refiled. The double-screw solid bridle was made by me. Sawn out of 3/8" mild steel. The spring was an old one I found in my parts box that I had put on something in the past (don't remember what), that was filed thinner to help clear the barrel (It's a skinny 1" barrel, so I need all the help I can get). Yeah, I can notch the barrel, but I'd prefer to not do that if I don't have to...mostly I just don't like the wood breaking through.
I leaned the frizzen back a bit to make a smoother strike of the flint.
Lockplate is case hardened (though I only really worried about hardening the area around the tumbler hole). The bridle is case hardened. The frizzen is case hardened and tempered down. Those pretty colors will be gone soon. Tumbler and bridle are oil hardened normally and tempered.
That's not a real pretty frizzen spring, but I had it, so I used it. It works well. I think it's off a Davis something or other. Something I had in my parts box.
