Building short N.W. Trade Gun ...

[Rob M.]

Solder lugs on ....check

 

[Rob M.]

File lug bottoms flat , blacken them ...tap barrel in stock , pull er out ...start bedding those lugs ....

 

[Rob M.]

At lug positions ... Mark barrel depth , lug width , web thickness ..... Mark your spot ....

 

[Rob M.]

Clamp it so the barrel cant move ... Now , make sure there is no gap at end of tang or at breech to wood ! There is no gap on mine and I still had to fight it a little ...tap that barrel back and take out any gaps , then clamp ...and check again ...many times as necessary till gaps are gone . Good and clamped , now drill ...go slow ....

 

[Rob M.]

Mark breech face and T.H. location .... Mark on wood and drill a hole there so you can see mark with barrel in wood .... Take out barrel drill hole ... Chisel out top of hole ...disassemble your lock ....

 

[Rob M.]

Mark where yout mainspring ends on outside .... I like my pan shield up against wood if able , center TH position with pan , top of pan with middle line of barrel and front of lock with web for front screw .... When its where you want ...trace all of bolster you can and pan top ....take lock off and measure then mark bottom of bolster .....

 

[Rob M.]

Follow your lines , chisel straight down ...you can chisel straight down to the barrel , stuff behind barrel flush with barrel side flat but ....for some reason.... Like to chisel down until the plate sits on the wood ....

 

[Rob M.]

I really try to get the locks as level with barrel as possible and many times , its a b!+CH ...this is one of them . This one is for me so I dont care but it'll be interesting too because ...many time you'll see originals with a lock chanted just like this and this is the reason. Why ....you have to get that front part of the lock over the web so the front lock bolt will go through there .... Always wanted to see how this would turn out ... Start sinking the lock plate now....thats for tomorrow though ...

 

[Rob M.]

Your photos and advice really helps. I wished more people would get off their high horse and help people like you do...
I'm also in the same boat as you are. No one around me does anything with flintlock guns...

I'm glad if any of my rambling helps you in a build . If you ever need to ask anything or get in a bind or just want to talk shop , give me a holler ...

 

[Rob M.]

Inletting the lock plate down . Never heard this from any other builder ...the "sacrifice chisel ". When inletting the bolster down I like to leave the barrel in ...two reasons , watch that TH location AND I letting wood with no support behind it leads to busted out wood edges ....I use the sacrifice chisel against the barrel and the inlet is nice and crisp ...not busted out ....

 

[Rob M.]

Ok , tapped the plate down in the mortice ... Slabbing off the extra really helps! Its awfully close to bedded. About a finger nailnspace left . When taking the plate out , its tight , just wiggle on the pan , ...look down the side of gun and see if the plate is parallel , bottom kicked out , top kicked out ...which ever it is ...then pop out the plate and read the black ... Dont want the plate canted , want it flat against barrel and no gap

 

[Rob M.]

Read the black ...the lock plate , even though doesnt appear to be , is canted bottom needs to go down ...pan is hitting at top ....ok , plate is good now , use under size drill and drill down through holes .... These are for tracing parts later ...

 

[Rob M.]

Trace your parts ,mark center line and trigger slot on bottom , sear position drill down to depth , mark sear hole then drill and chisel trigger slot rough , then start chiseling out individual parts of lock ... Relief for cock at top ...blacken lock internal and put lock into mortice and start removing areas that touch ...then work lock mechanism andkeeo removing blackened areas that touch ...keep doing this till the lock goes back to touching the barrel and the lock functions correctly .... You can put a screw DRIver or such in slot to trip the lock .....

 

[PathfinderNC]

These are really educational. Yep, learning a lot from you here Rob. Though I won’t be able to build a long gun from a plank as you do, maybe a pistol would be something to think about for myself. ( I did one many many years ago- a wheel lock). Watching these is giving me the itch to do another flintlock…
Thanks again!

 

[Rob M.]

...locks fitting in now , finally , but has had lots of obstruction s , just keep blackening it , put it back in , work the lock , take it out and see what's blackened ...remove blacken spot and repeat ....again and again ...it'll slowly start going all the way back to bedded against the barrel .... I'm getting close now ....

 

[Rob M.]

These are really educational. Yep, learning a lot from you here Rob. Though I won’t be able to build a long gun from a plank as you do, maybe a pistol would be something to think about for myself. ( I did one many many years ago- a wheel lock). Watching these is giving me the itch to do another flintlock…
Thanks again!

If you ever decide to do a plank build I'll walk you through it ....

 

[TDM]

Looking good Rob!!!

 

[PathfinderNC]

If you ever decide to do a plank build I'll walk you through it ....

Thank you!

 

[Rob M.]

Its fighting me , fitting the lock and getting it to function so I took a break from it and drilled the middle lock screw , drill and tap .... Now just keep working the lock and looking for black inside ...it hasn't been showing black so far but ...gotta keep trying ....meh :/ ....went ahead and did the front bolt too

 

[Rob M.]

Problems ....the wood by the cock need end to be taken way down , where I'm pointing , the part of the cock , showing , where it hit that spot of wood taken off , and the sear hole opened up a bit ....still d!cling with it but hopefully working completely soon .....