You can also polish the bearing surfaces on the internal parts of the lock to improve performance. A sparing amount of graphite grease keeps them spinning smoothly. My Silers have thousands of shots and still spark well. I have sanded the frizzens a couple of times.
Frizzen advice needed
- Thread starter brazosland
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@brazosland, you may want notch the flint leather as @Loyalist Dave has often recommended. The leading edge of the flint will be moved a short distance from the face of the frizzen. You will also have a bit of flexibility in placing the flint in the jaws of the lock. See his recommendations for cutting the leather.
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/leather-to-hold-the-flint.132167/#post-1839304
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/leather-to-hold-the-flint.132167/#post-1839304
SwanShot
36 Cal.
A wet wheel grinder was one of the best things I ever bought. I just got through refacing the fizzen of a pedersoli Kentucky pistol. Polished, shiny, lookin good and sparking well. I actually got it for shapening wood workings tools.
Reminds me of my tc renegade from when I was a kid. No one sold flints around me and this old guy showed me how to use and make chirt (sp?) flints. Worked. What did I know. Replaced it years later. Did try redoing it, but couldn’t get the hardening right. Does it work and you’re just embarrassed by the ugly or are there problems?
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I still say when a frizzen looks like that leave them alone and change the flint, any metal you grind off or otherwise remove would have been sparks if you changed the flint.
mhb
40 Cal.
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Be very careful here! It's not just what you say, but how you say it, and to whom, that can get you in serious trouble! In many cases, silence is golden, and safer.
mhb - MIke
You are not wrong…however, an uneven surface will wear the flint considerably faster. And, that same chatter that wears the flint will result in less contact down the face of the hammer and thus less “sparks” as a result. A smooth face yields a smooth swipe from top to bottom and more of the flashy things.
TrapperDude
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Doesn't smoothing the frizzen face remove the hardened layer and just lead to more gouges happening sooner?
I believe this could happen on a lock with a frizzen that is not properly heat treated. A good quality lock should have a frizzen that is hardened and tempered all the way through the frizzen. I’ve been shooting a Siler lock since @1980 and have never had to do anything to the frizzen after thousands of shots and it still sparks like new.
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On a case-hardened frizzen, grinding as I described would shorten the life of a frizzen; if needed you could fix that by re-hardening or half-facing the frizzen. Modern frizzens are hardened clear through the frizzen, so it isn't an issue in the same way.
