chambers english lock ??

[JOHN F]

hey guys have a chambers English lock on my English fowler. problem I am having is that when I am at a reenactment , I can only get off about 6 to 10 or so shots before the flint needs to be changed or napped during the reenactment battle. this is the only lock on a flintlock I use for battles that this happens to. can get over 20 shots from my L&R and pedersoli locks.does anyone else have a problem with the chambers English. I am less than thrilled with it. any help or suggestions would be great..

 

[Dewey]

What size flint are you using ?

Where does it hit the frizzen ??

Are you getting good sparks ???

Also ... is it possible that the frizzen rebounding and hitting the flint ????

A wrong size flint (hitting at wrong angle) or rebounding will shorten flint life.

All else fails ... send it back to Jim for a look-see !!!

 

[wattlebuster]

What Dewey said :thumbsup: If all else fails talk to Jim

 

[Britsmoothy]

Not a copy of the lott is it!

I have no idea of the geometry of your lock but have had lots of fun (read issues) with a Pedersoli Lott copy.

I am currently trying smallish flints and as they strike the frizzen later seem to last quite well.

Just a thought!

 

[54ball]

What's the condition of the frizzen face? Are the chatter marks rough and do you some gouges? If so these areas can grab causing short flint life.

I would polish the frizzen face with some fine emery no courser than 400 grit. Every flintlock I have owned has befitted from this and it's a simple procedure. You're not trying to remove material or remove those marks....you're just polishing to make the surface smoother so the flint will skate down the face instead of grab and break.

 

[Dane]

I've probably used 70-80 Chambers locks to date. I one on all 4 of the guns I currently shoot. They will all consistently "wear out " a flint. Meaning beat it round before changing or knapping. Not uncommon to get 60+ shots from a flint, then turn it around and use the back side for a while.

I would imagine it's possible you've got a problem lock, but in my 20 years of building, I've never had one.
Make sure you're using the right size flint, and if it continues, call Jim.

 

[Stumpkiller]

For giggles I fired by Chambers Virginia lock 30 times. No flint work and just loading and priming.

I believe it's the same lock as the English except for the veining around the perimiter of the plate and hammer. Are you using a 7/8" x 1" flint?

With the frizzen closed and at half-cock I position the flint so there is 1/16" to 1/8" clearance to the flat of the frizzen face.

 

[hoochiepapa]

Man o man, Stump, you should clean that thing onceta while! :haha:

 

[JOHN F]

54, there are chatter marks on the frizzen. I have always thought that they look really rough . I will try the polishing to see . If stump killer can get 50 sparks with no failure I should too. Will have to order some 7/8 flints to see if that is the poss problem. Thanks for the responses guys..

 

[Stumpkiller]

That was 30.

Normally I go maybe 15 or so and then either knap or flip the flint over in the jaws. Doing that I get 60 to 100 shots on a flint. Then I retire them into a jar for that time when flint is scare and I may need to eek out a few more shots (OK - so I'm paranoid).

 

[hanshi]

There's a Chambers Colonial Virginia on my smoothbore (the same lock, really) and that thing gets lots of shots from the large white R. Pierce flints I use. It's one of the very best locks I've ever had. Go through the items listed and if there's no improvement, send it back to Chambers.

 

[JOHN F]

Hanshi, I am gonna look into the flint size . I have had fires where the frizzen didn't drop. The flint size may be the culprit. Thanks for your help !!

 

[Dewey]

I have had fires where the frizzen didn't drop.

Didn't drop or didn't appear to drop?

You CAN'T SEE a rebounding frizzen - it's just too fast!

Believe me, I was astounded at this fact, too !!

Try putting a piece of paper on the frizzen spring - if the frizzen is rebounding, you will see a dent in the paper from the frizzen tail, even if it looks like the frizzen didn't open fully (mine came back against the flint, dulling it).

 

[Zonie]

Hanshi, I am gonna look into the flint size . I have had fires where the frizzen didn't drop. The flint size may be the culprit. Thanks for your help !!

I've seen two different kinds of "the frizzen didn't drop" happening.

With one kind, the edge of the flint ends up hanging on the lower part of the frizzen face and the frizzen is held opened slightly by the flint edge.

This is usually caused by the flint being too short or set too far away from the frizzen face when the cock is at "half cock".

Usually, setting the edge of the flint so it is just touching or about to touch the frizzen face fixes this kind of a problem. Often, a small piece of wood or stick needs to be put between the rear of the flint and the jaw screw to keep the flint from being pounded back into the jaws.

The other kind of "frizzen didn't drop" ends up with the heel of the frizzen where the face meets the pan cover, sitting on top of the flint or on top of the cock jaw.

In these cases, the frizzen actually opened fully and the frizzen feather spring kicked it back closed. That's why it ends up sitting on top of the flint or jaws.

Occasionally, this sort of frizzen bounce will crack the flint. More often than not, it doesn't hurt anything.

If this is happening and the pan is flashing, don't worry about it.

If it is keeping the pan from flashing, some gentle work with a file on the cam lobe that rides on the feather spring sometimes helps but describing what needs to be done is not easy to do.

If this closing frizzen is the problem and the lock is made by a good company like Chambers or L&R, send the lock to them with a description of the problem.
They can fix it.