Clay Smith Trade Gun Build

[Rob M.]

@Rob M. another surprise was the lack of finish on the cock jaw bolt and the cock retaining screw. Both had deep machine swirls that couldn't be polished out. Had to put them in a drill chuck and work through sand paper grits to get them smooth. Never saw that condition before.

Hmmm.....yeah , she needs to be told about that . I'm going g to call her , I hope you will too .

 

[TDM]

Hmmm.....yeah , she needs to be told about that . I'm going g to call her , I hope you will too .

I will, promise. I'm back home in Louisiana for a long weekend. I'll call tomorrow.

 

[Rob M.]

I will, promise. I'm back home in Louisiana for a long weekend. I'll call tomorrow.

No hurry , and I'm not trying to be pushy or anything , just hope you will . Its not cool .... Thanks . Be safe on the road ...have fun

 

[Timmit]

I purchased the type G trade gun from Clay Smith several years ago and got the same Davis lock as you. After using it for a year and having trouble with misfires, always seemed to be when there was a nice gobbler in front of me, I took it to Brad Emig. After he worked on it I have had no trouble at all. It works like a totally differant lock. I use this gun as a dedicated shotgun for turkey and small game. I don't shoot roundballs out of it because I had Lyle Tennison jug choke it for me. I have flintlock rifles for that. Lyle suggested not shooting round balls out of the jug choke. My lock looked a lot ike the one you got. It took a lot of cleaning up on most of the cast parts. Drilling for the 3 lock bolts, especially the back one was a little tricky. Also drilling for the tang bolt to go up through the front of the trigger guard and then up through the barrel tang made me a little uneasy. I took my time and it all worked out with a lot of help from a more experiencd builder. It took the two of us to keep the gun positioned properly in the drill press while drilling this hole.

 

[TDM]

I purchased the type G trade gun from Clay Smith several years ago and got the same Davis lock as you. After using it for a year and having trouble with misfires, always seemed to be when there was a nice gobbler in front of me, I took it to Brad Emig. After he worked on it I have had no trouble at all. It works like a totally differant lock. I use this gun as a dedicated shotgun for turkey and small game. I don't shoot roundballs out of it because I had Lyle Tennison jug choke it for me. I have flintlock rifles for that. Lyle suggested not shooting round balls out of the jug choke. My lock looked a lot ike the one you got. It took a lot of cleaning up on most of the cast parts. Drilling for the 3 lock bolts, especially the back one was a little tricky. Also drilling for the tang bolt to go up through the front of the trigger guard and then up through the barrel tang made me a little uneasy. I took my time and it all worked out with a lot of help from a more experiencd builder. It took the two of us to keep the gun positioned properly in the drill press while drilling this hole.

Luckily, after all the cleanup and tuning I'm pleased with how the lock functions now, but it took a lot of hours to get it there. And yes, the angled tang bolt will not be fun, but I've built a point to point drilling jig that should work fine. My new drill press has a good angle adjustment which will help too. One other change I'm going to make is that I'm not going to use the vent liner Clay includes in the kit, it's quite small. I have an extra Kibler vent liner to use, should make for a better ignition.

 

[TDM]

Looks awesome ! I'd certainly be calling Log Cabin about that spring . Liza , the owner , also owns RE Davis . At least get you a spare for free hopefully . Looks great ! Keep posting as you go ! I'm excited !

Rob, I call Liza today and I'm glad I did. We had a good discussion about the problems. She had already seen some photos I had posted on ALR and very apologetic over the issues. She is sending me a spare mainspring and frizzen spring and she assures me the issues will be addressed in the lock shop. Wish I'd called sooner, great people. I'm happy now.

 

[Bnewberry]

Thought I would throw in a couple of pictures of the lock I bought at the Kalamazoo show for comparison.

 

[TDM]

Thought I would throw in a couple of pictures of the lock I bought at the Kalamazoo show for comparison.

That one looks much better!

 

[Bnewberry]

That one looks much better!

It seems so. The only thing I am wondering about is the strength of the mainspring. Compared to the Kibler I have the cocking effort on this one seems light.

 

[TDM]

It seems so. The only thing I am wondering about is the strength of the mainspring. Compared to the Kibler I have the cocking effort on this one seems light.

Surprisingly even with the issues on my mainspring it's pretty strong. When I was finishing the inletting I took the lock out in the full cock position and unfortunately the sear caught the edge of the mortise with my thumb between the cock and frizzen! My thumb is still black & blue!!

 

[TDM]

Finally getting caught up on spring chores. It’s a chilly, rainy day. So I got back to work on the build. I wasn’t happy with a slight gap in the breech inlet so worked on tightening the fit. Actually had to add a little wood then remove most of it to get good contact. Then I slotted the barrel tenons. I disassembled to lock after marking the mainspring outline at full cock. Using calipers I measured and marked where to drill the lock bolt holes and clear the mainspring and barrel. I eyeballed the ram rod clearance, but I’ll measure before drilling. Hopefully get the holes drilled tomorrow.

 

[Rob M.]

Finally getting caught up on spring chores. It’s a chilly, rainy day. So I got back to work on the build. I wasn’t happy with a slight gap in the breech inlet so worked on tightening the fit. Actually had to add a little wood then remove most of it to get good contact. Then I slotted the barrel tenons. I disassembled to lock after marking the mainspring outline at full cock. Using calipers I measured and marked where to drill the lock bolt holes and clear the mainspring and barrel. I eyeballed the ram rod clearance, but I’ll measure before drilling. Hopefully get the holes drilled tomorrow.

That breach looks great ! Hate seeing gaps there .....lookin good bud

 

[Rob M.]

Finally getting caught up on spring chores. It’s a chilly, rainy day. So I got back to work on the build. I wasn’t happy with a slight gap in the breech inlet so worked on tightening the fit. Actually had to add a little wood then remove most of it to get good contact. Then I slotted the barrel tenons. I disassembled to lock after marking the mainspring outline at full cock. Using calipers I measured and marked where to drill the lock bolt holes and clear the mainspring and barrel. I eyeballed the ram rod clearance, but I’ll measure before drilling. Hopefully get the holes drilled tomorrow.

Wooohh !!! The box looks too low on the lock !!! It looks like it is below the bolster , the thick part on the back , inside of the lock , the bolt is to thread into .... Bottom of the square marking on the outside should be the bottom of the bolster on the inside. That center side plate screw needs to go right through the middle of that bolster .... Up and down wise . Then ....mark where the barrel ends ....thats the right side of the box , and then that set where the hammer rides , that engraved line ....that the left side of the box ....center punch the center.....

 

[Rob M.]

....

 

[TDM]

Wooohh !!! The box looks too low on the lock !!! It looks like it is below the bolster , the thick part on the back , inside of the lock , the bolt is to thread into .... Bottom of the square marking on the outside should be the bottom of the bolster on the inside. That center side plate screw needs to go right through the middle of that bolster .... Up and down wise . Then ....mark where the barrel ends ....thats the right side of the box , and then that set where the hammer rides , that engraved line ....that the left side of the box ....center punch the center.....

Thank you Rob! Even though you showed me the photos, going through the bolster went right over my empty head! I will re-read and re-measure before drilling! Thanks again!

 

[Rob M.]

Thank you Rob! Even though you showed me the photos, going through the bolster went right over my empty head! I will re-read and re-measure before drilling! Thanks again!

Oh thank goodness ! You haven't drilled it yet .....Middle bolt first !

 

[Rob M.]

Thank you Rob! Even though you showed me the photos, going through the bolster went right over my empty head! I will re-read and re-measure before drilling! Thanks again!

Its a lot of stuff , info , to keep in " the ole noodle " all at once . Sometimes it can be over whelming .... No problem bud

 

[TDM]

Oh thank goodness ! You haven't drilled it yet .....Middle bolt first !

No, no drilling till tomorrow, or whenever I finally get it figured out!!! Got a question, is it ok to drill through or partially through the back edge of the barrel, just the back edge? I’ll be limited by the mainspring to clear it.

 

[Rob M.]

No, no drilling till tomorrow, or whenever I finally get it figured out!!! Got a question, is it ok to drill through or partially through the back edge of the barrel, just the back edge? I’ll be limited by the mainspring to clear it.

Nope , never drill through the barrel proper BUT .... The barrel bolster , the metal of the Breech plug behind the barrel , the middle bolt goes through the center of it .....

 

[Rob M.]

If you need to call me go ahead bud ..... strange you would say back edge of barrel and then mention the mainspring as the mainspring is an issue with the front bolt , not the rear bolt