A friend of mine asked if I could look at the flint lock on his hunting buddie's , 30 yr. old custom longrifle. He also prefaced our meeting by stating , that his friend knew little about flint locks , and also that his friends personal tool box , was a pen , and check book. Guess one might say,the guy was a check book genius. Though friend claims to know all, maybe , not so much. He showed up w/rifle , removed the lock mechanism , and though he stated they had been shooting the flinter a couple days ago , his testimony seemed flawed. In all the years I have played w/ M/L rifles , I had never seen a more completely rusted lock. The only three parts movable on the lock plate , were hammer , mainspring , and tumbler . Initially , back when the lock might have worked , when the rifle was new , the rifle must have at least fired. The lock was a Large Siler pattern , and good enough. W/o taking the lock apart , I liberally attacked the mass of rust with a fine wire wheel mounted on a stationary grinder. Underneath the mass of rust , covering the internal parts , there were screws that eagerly accepted a saturation of penetrating oil called , " NUT Buster", ... Couple mins. later all the parts easily came off the plate , and another application of wire wheel had them shining. The "check book mechanic" , asked , you mean the lock must be cleaned ,when the barrel is swabbed out , after firing the gun??? I have a really sick sense of humor , and it took all my will power to keep from going hysterical in a laughing fit , but somehow I kept it together. The even more amazing thing found , was the wood stock had shrunk around the lock mortise allowing the poor fit at the bolster , to admit hot gasses from priming powder to scorch the wood in the lock mortise into charcoal. All this fixed , next, the sear arm would hang up touching wood , in the sear arm mortise. Mr. Check Book mechanic , was totally amazed that the rifle had "NEVER" given any problem , and had always fired. Oh well , after clearing the sear arm ,so the rifle would stay on full cock position safely , and a thorough lubrication w/ a new flint , all was well w/ lotsa sparks. He went to pay me for the two hour repair , and I laughingly told him it was my pleasure. Where else can a fellow get two hrs. of prime entertainment ,
w/o paying for it ???...........oldwood
And,- AND - he has a CVA Mountain Rifle also. Used that for his hunt and, again, let Bro Buck walk off. He used #10 caps on a #11 nipple. Oh, well. I did what I could for him.
