Gemmer Hawkin wedge PIA

[buckheart]

Have quite a few kit builds to my credit over the years. Starting back to the mid 80's. A TC hawken, Pedersoli Pennsylvania, Dixie mountain, a couple of CVA guns for friends and as of late I've done all three of Kibler's offerings. So I have some experience though limited to kit guns.
So after I completed the WoodsRunner, which is an awesome piece, I decided I wanted a left hand gun. Got a Gemmer Hawkin flintlock kit from Muzzle loaders.com. I know Kibler has me spoiled but man that gemmer is a problem child. Miss fire about 80% of the time so I got an L&R lockset. Had to remove a lot of wood from the inlet and could never get the bolster to sit tight enough to the barrel so I am back to the original lockset. I have drilled out the flash hole liner so we will see how she works this weekend with that mod.
Something I can't seem to get right is the wedge. They remain loose and fall out no matter what I do. Tried bending the wedge, twisting the wedge and bending the wedge bracket that is welded to the barrel all to no avail. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[JHB]

I built a left hand percussion model. Nothing lined up wedge was missing the wood was not as advertised. Left a review on their website it lasted an hour and they took it down. Sorry about your luck but I don't think we are the only people that got junk kits. Myself I will never use them as a supplier again.

 

[LME]

Have quite a few kit builds to my credit over the years. Starting back to the mid 80's. A TC hawken, Pedersoli Pennsylvania, Dixie mountain, a couple of CVA guns for friends and as of late I've done all three of Kibler's offerings. So I have some experience though limited to kit guns.
So after I completed the WoodsRunner, which is an awesome piece, I decided I wanted a left hand gun. Got a Gemmer Hawkin flintlock kit from Muzzle loaders.com. I know Kibler has me spoiled but man that gemmer is a problem child. Miss fire about 80% of the time so I got an L&R lockset. Had to remove a lot of wood from the inlet and could never get the bolster to sit tight enough to the barrel so I am back to the original lockset. I have drilled out the flash hole liner so we will see how she works this weekend with that mod.
Something I can't seem to get right is the wedge. They remain loose and fall out no matter what I do. Tried bending the wedge, twisting the wedge and bending the wedge bracket that is welded to the barrel all to no avail. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Looks like you are tired of doing one of the only two things that will help you? I have the same problem and resigned myself to one wedge . It is the only one that stays in.

 

[reddogge]

On the only Hawken I own, a 70s era Ithaca kit I built, I had to peen the barrel lugs slightly to tighten up the wedges. Bend them down a little.

 

[buckheart]

So yesterday before the rain set in I ran ten rounds through it with only one flash in the pan. What I had done was drill out the flash hole to 1/16" and flipped the flint over so the angle gave a better line up with the pan. For the barrel wedge I'm going to peen it a bit on the narrow side and try and make it thicker as opposed to bending or twisting it like I did. I ran the gun with one wedge like LME said and it was fine.

Still waiting for Comfortably Numb to come along and say I told you so.

 

[pwbsmokey]

Have quite a few kit builds to my credit over the years. Starting back to the mid 80's. A TC hawken, Pedersoli Pennsylvania, Dixie mountain, a couple of CVA guns for friends and as of late I've done all three of Kibler's offerings. So I have some experience though limited to kit guns.
So after I completed the WoodsRunner, which is an awesome piece, I decided I wanted a left hand gun. Got a Gemmer Hawkin flintlock kit from Muzzle loaders.com. I know Kibler has me spoiled but man that gemmer is a problem child. Miss fire about 80% of the time so I got an L&R lockset. Had to remove a lot of wood from the inlet and could never get the bolster to sit tight enough to the barrel so I am back to the original lockset. I have drilled out the flash hole liner so we will see how she works this weekend with that mod.
Something I can't seem to get right is the wedge. They remain loose and fall out no matter what I do. Tried bending the wedge, twisting the wedge and bending the wedge bracket that is welded to the barrel all to no avail. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Is the wedge loose in the barrel lug when the barrel is out of the stock?

 

[buckheart]

Not loose any more. I've peened the wedge just a bit and bent the lug.

As far as establishing more reliable ignition I'm wondering if a White Lightnin touch hole liner might help.
What is the thread size on and invest Gemmer Hawkin?

 

[buckheart]

Any one know off hand what the thread size is on the Gemmer Hawkin flash hole liner?

 

[Coolhand]

Any one know off hand what the thread size is on the Gemmer Hawkin flash hole liner?

6x.75mm

 

[Coolhand]

Might try an RMC replacement liner. That helped mine. Also if you have a wedge that is to loose or to tight you can loosen or tighten the tang screws a little bit sometimes.

 

[buckheart]

Coolhand - Thanks for the info

 

[buckheart]

Also... I tried AquaFortis on the stock and when I blushed it with the heat gun she turned totally black. Had to scrape it down and go with a walnut oil based stain. I've used the iron nitrate successfully on a beechwood stock but what ever this European wood was it wasn't liking the iron nitrate.

 

[1stnamebassist]

I built a left hand percussion. Lots of wood removal. It was my first kit and managed to get it done. My wedges were loose also so I did twist the wedges a bit and finally they fit.