Cut hammer stop on lock

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skully87

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So here I have a newer to me flint lock with what I beleave to be a lyman lock.
P/o had cut the stop as you can see. I'm not sure why, if it was to create more spark. Have the flint nap itself more?
Even with this the flint only strikes the frizzen from the half way point down.

Anyone have any thoughts on this "mod"? Or improvements I can give it from here, before I just replace the lock?
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best that I can suggest is that where it strikes the frizzen can be partially controlled by bevel up or bevel down. Usually I start bevel up and as I knap the flint shorter, if it strikes too low, I switch to bevel down, to raise the point of impact. If the flint is too long to start with, I knap the flint back a bit shorter. If the portion removed is only the hammer, you can probably but a replacement hammer for $10 or $15 US but the hammer (####) is usually stopped both by the tumber onto the bridle mounting and by a shoulder on the hammer (####) Even if the hammer has been altered, the tumbler would normally stop the travel at the end of the stroke

cheers mooncoon
 
You are referring to the alteration to the flashpan fence?
Is that what stops the #### on a Lyman style lock?
What is stopping the #### now? The flint striking the pan? That is a problem.

I see you have a WTB ad in the EE. You might check R&L locks for one of their RPL replacement locks.
 
I'm sort of thinking that this is a replacement or poor fitting original #### and that it isn't quite long enough to fit. So either the PO cut away the shield as shown so the #### would fall far enough or the lower side of the clamping ear for the flint hit that spot so hard and often that it snapped off and he then ground the edge to clean it up and then left it that way. The picture does seem to show that there would have been some amount of interference.

My own Lyman GPR flintlock also ate the flint at a prodigious rate. Then I got another tuned older custom made flintlock and that one would get easily twice the life out of a flint. In checking both I realized that the frizzen on the GPR had a lot more sprung force holding the frizzen to the flint. On the other hand the custom tuned frizzen had more what I called "drag only" in that it would not spring back other than from an almost fully seated position. That led me to slightly alter the shape of the frizzen's nose where it runs on the spring. Now I get WAY more shots per edge before I need to knap the flint.
 
It almost looks like the frizzen is oversize for the lock so may be a replacement that upsets the proper geometry of the ####/flint/frizzen face. There should be a square shoulder just below the neck of the #### that comes to rest on the top of the lock plate - has this been cut back? The lower jaw of the #### should not come to rest on the top of the fence, nor should the flint hit the bottom of the pan. The tumbler on percussion locks stops the forward motion of the hammer if there isn't a nipple to hit but the tumbler should not stop the forward rotation of the #### - the shoulder and top edge of the lock plate do that. The flint in the photo looks to be about the right length but when the lock is at half-#### with the frizzen closed over the pan, there should be about 1/8" between the sharp edge of the flint and the face of the frizzen. Can you show a photo of the lock at half-#### and with the frizzen closed? Again, the frizzen face seems over-size for the lock and may be an improper replacement.
 
I will have to grab another pic of it in half ####. In half #### the flint touches the frizzen.

You will have to excuse what I call the part I am still learning what they are called. But you can see in these how the stop was cut.
The hammer is unmodified but I doubt original to the lock.
Frizzen is what I can see proper size, fits squarely to the pan. It does move side to side needing shimming for correct movement. With out kicking to the right and cutting the flint on an angle.

The lock I have looked at for a replacment is the L&R's RPL-05-F lock.

YES!! I have in fact Hurd of the percussion cap. But those are ment for a revolver.



 
Looks as if the #### is being stopped by the flint striking the pan, or by the tumbler striking the bridle. Neither of there is a preferred option.
Based on style, finish, and the matching cast in embellishment, the #### is likely original.
If you cannot find a replacement lockplate, the L&R replacement lock would be an excellent option.
 
There have been two Bubba + hacksaw modifications to your lock: neither were appropriate. First is that the fence (back edge of the pan that deflects burning powder away from your face) has been cut off all the way back to the lock plate. Secondly, as per my comment in my previous post, the shoulder on the #### has been cut away back up the neck of the #### so it won't come to rest on the top of the lock plate. Can't imagine why either would have been done. Having seen these pix, I would agree that the #### and frizzen are probably original to the lock. The cost to repair these mods and the aggravation involved warrant buying the excellent L&R replacement lock, in my opinion. Someone would likely buy this lock for parts and that would defray at least some of the replacement cost.
 
An L&R lock will have a flat mainspring, and will be far better built than that coil sprung lock.
The coils on many of the replicas I have shot are far weaker than they should be.
as far as the fence and other mods go, I have to agree that the repairs will far outweigh the Cost of a new L&R
Cay
 
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