Tuning a Flint lock Lock

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petew

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We keep reading about a Tuned Lock, yet I have not read exactly what this means.
Perhaps some of the more experienced Flintlock shooters could do a tutorial on the steps to tune a Flint lock, and how to determine if your lock does need tuning.
Pete
 
I have often wondered exactly what is meant by the term. I would expect that in part it amounts to adjusting the angle of the jaws so that the flint scrapes the frizzen as opposed to smashes in head on. What that angle is, is open to debate because as the frizzen gets reknapped, a jaw which is too square on becomes more of a scraping angle. I suspect it means adjusting the frizzen spring to the individuals perception of what is the correct strength and conceivably may include putting more preload on the mainspring. Preload means to reheat the mainspring, open it out more and retemper. That means that it takes more tension to #### the gun. It also means that if the mainspring breaks you stand a greater chance of smashing the bottom out of the lock inletting

cheers mooncoon
 
mainly i go over the parts that rub on eachother polish them out and if theres any real bad low spots i use a tig welder(thak god i know someone with a tig) to build up some metal

the throw and angle of the hammer is done when assembling the lock
 
I was thinking along the same lines last night. A pictorial step by step would be most descriptive. The last gun I built I took the lock apart and polished everything I thought (lots of careful thinking...made my head hurt...) would help the lock operate more freely. I know this might be more something for the gunsmithing thread but as it pertains specifically to muzzle loaders its home should be here!

Cheers, Steve.
 
mooncoon said:
I would not consider that to be tuning; just cleaning up sloppy workmanship

cheers mooncoon
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yep thats on a triditions lock so far but thats a tuned lock it fires alot better now then before

like i said most of the big tuning is done when building the lock

every lock kit needs to be tuned even L&R and siler (unless its a jim chambers there already tuned)

also cast parts tend to be sloppy and rough
 
Peter Alexander's book "The Gunsmith of Grenville County" dedicates 10 pages to tuning a lock - both flint and percussion. Essentially he focuses on minimizing friction and wear then modifications to enhance performance such as a perfect fit between pan and pan cover, smooth, safe trigger pull, one-position sear arm, proper heat treating of parts and how to test a lock before you buy it, based on the preceding points. Beg, borrow or steal a copy of the book and photocopy those pages for reference. Every fault and manufacturing short-cut he discusses, I have seen in the new locks I've had.

I've learned that we tend to like the attributes of sett triggers but they can hide a lot of undesirable faults in our locks whereas a well tuned lock with simple hunter's trigger need not give up much to the sett trigger as far as a light, smooth and safe trigger is concerned.

With a new lock, the first thing I do is remove the main and sear springs then check that the ####/hammer can swing freely by it's own weight - it often doesn't. If not then there is undesirable friction in the plate-tumbler-bridal fit and that needs to be reduced ASAP. The inner face of the plate should be perfectly flat from end to end (BEFORE you inlet it into the stock). The lower arm of the mainspring should not rub on the plate. For a safe and smooth trigger release, the line of the full #### notch face should extend though the axle of the tumbler and the sear face should fit flat against the notch face. That's a really quick summary of some of the points he raises and illustrates with some excellent drawings. Go slowly and plan to spend a couple of evenings on the refinements - they are all worthwhile in the long run.
 
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Ol' Flinter said:
Peter Alexander's book "The Gunsmith of Grenville County" dedicates 10 pages to tuning a lock - both flint and percussion. Essentially he focuses on minimizing friction and wear then modifications to enhance performance such as a perfect fit between pan and pan cover, smooth, safe trigger pull, one-position sear arm, proper heat treating of parts and how to test a lock before you buy it, based on the preceding points. Beg, borrow or steal a copy of the book and photocopy those pages for reference. Every fault and manufacturing short-cut he discusses, I have seen in the new locks I've had.

I've learned that we tend to like the attributes of sett triggers but they can hide a lot of undesirable faults in our locks whereas a well tuned lock with simple hunter's trigger need not give up much to the sett trigger as far as a light, smooth and safe trigger is concerned.

With a new lock, the first thing I do is remove the main and sear springs then check that the ####/hammer can swing freely by it's own weight - it often doesn't. If not then there is undesirable friction in the plate-tumbler-bridal fit and that needs to be reduced ASAP. The inner face of the plate should be perfectly flat from end to end (BEFORE you inlet it into the stock). The lower arm of the mainspring should not rub on the plate. For a safe and smooth trigger release, the line of the full #### notch face should extend though the axle of the tumbler and the sear face should fit flat against the notch face. That's a really quick summary of some of the points he raises and illustrates with some excellent drawings. Go slowly and plan to spend a couple of evenings on the refinements - they are all worthwhile in the long run.
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yep thats way a well made lock cost more then the mass produced stuff (casting mainly has it fults with voids ect most cast locks of late 1700's early 1800's were on military guns)

i'll have to get that book down the road it sounds good
 
camerl2009 said:
yep thats way a well made lock cost more then the mass produced stuff (casting mainly has it fults with voids ect most cast locks of late 1700's early 1800's were on military guns)

i'll have to get that book down the road it sounds good
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Please identify which late eighteenth and early nineteenth century military guns had cast locks.

You do know that the individual blades in jet engine turbines are cast, don't you?
 
camerl2009 said:
my oringinal brown bess lock has cast parts
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And you know that because it has mold lines on the parts? Sounds like a truly unique lock; I have four original bess locks and none of them show any indication of cast parts.

One of the Journals of Historical Arms making has an excellent article, by the way, of the use of forging molds in making blank parts prior to hand filing and fitting. In other words, think of a large block of steel with the imprint of a slightly oversize #### or sideplate in it but open topped. The raw metal is heated to the desired forging temper and placed over the cavity and a trip hammer comes down and forges it into the mold, at least as I understand the process

cheers mooncoon
 
No it doesn't. All the original parts are forged.

Please post photographs of your original Brown Bess with cast lock parts.
 
In addition to polishing the bearing surfaces as mentioned earlier, quite often ventliners come with a 1/16" hole, I like to drill them out a little bigger with a number drill bit , and as you can see from the drill index chart, much ore selection as compared to a fractional drill bit.

http://www.thedirtforum.com/conversions.htm

I also drill out the inside of the liner larger and deeper allowing powder easier access into it and bringing the powder closer to the pan.
Speeds up the ignition significantly.
Cheers nessy.
 
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