Question for the locksmiths

[rick/pa]

I have an old Siler lock that I bought back in the late 70's at Friendship, marked LS on the inside.  I'm using it on my current build, an Isaac Haines Rifle.  I was reading old posts from about 2009 on locks and noticed that it was recommended that the hammer should stop on the lock plate at the same time the tumbler hits the bridle.  My lock has an approximately .050 gap between tumbler and bridle when the hammer is down on the lock plate.  Is this going to cause problems because the edge of the plate is taking the full load of stopping the hammer?  I was thinking about soldering a shim to the bridle and filing to fit if its needed.

[rich pierce]

Less than 1 in 10 locks are properly timed this way, with both stops timed to work together. However as a flintlock spends much of its energy scraping the flint on and opening the frizzen,  I'd not worry.

[Curtis]

Rick, I have soldered a shim on the bridle before and it worked perfectly after filing.  I have also soldered steel to a tumbler before to achieve the same result, you just have to be careful and not get things too hot and ruin the heat treat on the tumbler.  I used a heavy old fashioned copper soldering iron (heated with a torch) and Swif solder paste to accomplish that task.

Curtis

[smart dog]

Hi Rick,
What you are describing is the ideal but most locks don't meet that standard. As long as the shoulder of the flint cock overlaps the lock plate sufficiently to allow a large area for contact, I would not worry about the tumbler and bridle contact. Many late flint era flintlocks had flint cocks with no shoulder at all and depended on the lower jaw of the cock hitting the fence on the pan to stop it.  The scrape of the flint on the frizzen releases a lot of the kinetic energy driving the flint cock.
The real value of the tumbler hitting the bridle is to prevent the toe of the mainspring driving into the wood of the lock mortice should the cock break.
dave

[rick/pa]

Thanks to all for the replies.  I thought perhaps the flint striking the frizzen would dissipate some of the energy but wanted to make sure.  I've been shooting flinters since 1975 but I guess you're never too old to learn something new.  This is a great forum, incredible amount of knowledge here.

This will be my 6th build since 1975, not counting a NW trade gun I got from Curly Gostomski around 1978 and mildly reshaped. You can see I'm not exactly a prolific builder. What I learn building one gun I usually forget by the time I build the next.  Like I said, I bought the lock in the late 70's at Friendship, and bought the rest of the rifle parts in 2006 from TOW. Just getting around to putting it all together now.  Slow doesn't begin to describe me. Been shooting BP since I was 14 in 1962. Started with an original caplock but foolishly sold it to buy parts to make a flintlock in 75. The folly of youth.

[Bob Roller]

I have an old Siler lock that I bought back in the late 70's at Friendship, marked LS on the inside.  I'm using it on my current build, an Isaac Haines Rifle.  I was reading old posts from about 2009 on locks and noticed that it was recommended that the hammer should stop on the lock plate at the same time the tumbler hits the bridle.  My lock has an approximately .050 gap between tumbler and bridle when the hammer is down on the lock plate.  Is this going to cause problems because the edge of the plate is taking the full load of stopping the hammer?  I was thinking about soldering a shim to the bridle and filing to fit if its needed.

If there s hard impact under the bridle it can bend or break the screw(s)that
hold it to the plate. The hammer striking the plate is a common "brake"and
I don't remember ever seeing a battered plate.

Bob Roller

[rick/pa]

If there s hard impact under the bridle it can bend or break the screw(s)that
hold it to the plate. The hammer striking the plate is a common "brake"and
I don't remember ever seeing a battered plate.

Bob Roller

I wondered about the effect on the screws of the tumbler hitting the bridle.  Thank you Mr Roller, your experience and knowledge is greatly appreciated. 

[rick/pa]

Does any one know what the LS on the inside of the plate means?  I saw some where that it could be the seller Locks & Stuff or is it the initials of an assembler?  After 39 years all I can remember about buying it is that I bought it at Friendship.