Solution to my goof up

[Daryl Pelfrey]

Iwas making ram rods for my 40 and 36 this evenig ad found myfront lockbolt was right through the ram rod channel. So that meant I couldnt get a long enough rod in the gun and would have to carry an extension for the rod when swabkng betwee shots.The only rwason i put the front lock bolt was it would look silly with just the one in the side plate. Its a percusion so my fix didnt bother me. The 40 is a flinter. I tookthe front bolt and cut it so it only went past v the side plate by 1/4 in. Ok the plate is solid with just the rear bolt. I will put a nut on the back side behind the side plate to hold the lock bolt. I screwed a short section of the lock bolt through the lock plate. So it has the appearence of the lock bolt on both sjdes but does not pas through the ramrod channel. The flintlock I didnt have ghis problem with. So now i can use the length rod i needed. If t were the flinter I wouldnt have done this but would carry an extension for the rod. I know some will frown on this but its the only remedy i could come up with. Didnt affect the looks or function at all.

[sqrldog]

Don't  worry it'll work fine. I have a flintlock rifle by a well known early contemporary builder and the front lock bolt is not real just goes into the wood. I didn't know it until I shot the rifle and found only the rear screw holding the lock in the mortise when I cleaned the rifle. Works fine and everyone that looks at the rifle thinks the front lock bolt is functional just as I did. Tim

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I had the occasion to do a similar 'fix' so I simply riveted the screw to the side plate.  I left it loose enough to turn so that some ham-fisted gun crank in the future didn't try to remove a screw that was silver soldered in plate.

[Daryl Pelfrey]

Thats a good idea i may just rivet the back side like you say.

[Kevin Houlihan]

I've done similar on a flint smoothbore I built over 20 years ago.  When i drilled for my  front lock bolt, the hole went right through the ramrod hole.  I screwed a brass threaded insert into the wood under the sideplate where the front lock bolt would normally go, shortened and threaded a lock bolt and screwed it in.  I screwed in a dummy lock bolt end in the front of the lock plate and peined it over on the inside so that it wouldn't loosen.  The gun looks as it should, and I never had any trouble only using the one lock bolt.
Kevin

[Darkhorse]

Everybody should do this at least once, just to learn if nothing else. In my case I ground a groove in the front lockbolt and tapered the end of the ramrod so it would ride over the groove. I put a tiny witness mark on the bolt head to mark the proper orientation. Now I have a working front lockbolt and the full length ram rod goes to the bottom of the hole.
Only thing is; You must remove the ramrod before trying to back out the bolt.

[Daryl]

I have a long rifle with a grooved front lock bolt.
NP

[Huntschool]

Nothing wrong with any of the above fixes I can see.  I have done both from the faux lock bolt to the grooved lock bolt.  Both worked quite well..... 

[smallpatch]

Nearly every gun I've built in the last 10 years has a tapered rod, and a groove of n the front lock bolt.  Only way to get a really slim profile.