Help for New Guy Fitting Lock to Stock

[LFC]

I've got a question about fitting the lock to the stock on a CVA Hawken kit.

The kit had previously been somewhat-completed by a prior user--but I noticed a number of problems, and am now trying to fix them.

I'd noticed that there was a bit of a gap between the (percussion) lockplate and the wood toward the rear of where the lockplate goes. I tried building up a horizontal bead of epoxy on the wood, with the top of the epoxy line even with the top of the lockplate, just to fill in the (maybe 1 millimeter or less) gap so that smoke, etc. from the caps wouldn't get into the lock and corrode things. I got that done, but then, on putting the barrel into the stock, saw that there is a gap between the barrel and the lockplate. So, I now believe that the real problem is not that the former kit-builder removed too much wood, but that the stock needs some more inletting to get the inwardmost parts of the lock to seat right up against the barrel.

So, how do I do this? In particular, I figure I'm going to need to remove some wood very selectively within the lock inlet, but I'm having trouble figuring out exactly where. For the external brass fittings, I used candle soot to coat the metal parts, then seated them against the wood, noticed which parts of the wood were blackened by the soot, and then rasped, filed, and sanded the black parts of the wood until the brass fit. I'm not so sure about doing the candle-soot thing with the lock, since I'm not sure about the advisability of getting extra crud in among the moving parts. I guess my question here is twofold: first, is candle-soot good for this, or is some other material better in this context? Second, I probably ought to concentrate first on the likeliest spots to need wood removed. Can anyone tell me which parts of the lock are most likely the ones hanging up and keeping the lock from seating as deeply as it's intended to?

 

[mazo kid]

Comus, I'm not following your question. Why do you think the inner parts of the lock need to be against the barrel? What you should be looking for is the hammer lining up with the nipple properly. If that is the case, then that is all the further you need to inlet the lock.

 

[Allan Gray]

Candle soot, inletting black, lip stick all should work. Just clean everything off with WD when you're done.
I've found that my pellet stove creates a great soot on the glass door that works great.

Coat the suspected areas and set your lock in the recess trying not to smudge it too much on the way in. Lightly tap the lock and, again, carefully remove the lock and see where residue was left...remove a little wood in these areas.
Repeat until everything is to your likeing.

Mazo does have a point though...not sure why a perc. lock needs to be tight against the barrel...but I'm not a percussion owner

 

[Jim-Iowa]

Not an expert by any means. Am building my first from scratch rifle.
But I would want the bolster of the lock to fit tightly to the barrel( it would keep any deris from the caps and dust in general out of the lock). I would also want that bolster to fit tightly to the drum( I have heard of drums breaking from repeated hammer blows if not supported well). When I don't know I tend to follow the book, untill I know it's wrong.

 

[shortstring]

Just disassemble the lock & inlet the plate so it fits against the barrel as it should. Next add the bridle & with soot clear away the wood so it fits. Do the same with the tumbler & the rest of the lock parts adding them one at a time. Sooner or later you'll find what's binding.

Paul

 

[grey8833]

You are correct to get the bolster to fit tight to the barrel, percussion or no. The flash from the caps will send junk into any gap. As stated by Shortstring, do the inletting in stages. I use inletting black applied with a stencil brush (a little goes a long way. Take the lock apart (use a main spring vise - they are cheap and you should have one to clean the lock anyway)and inlet the plate by itself. I use a very sharp 1/4 inch chisel to SCRAPE the blackened wood off. Keep adding black, tapping the plate into place, scrapping off the black, again and again till you get a nice dead tight fit to the barrel. Then mark the screw holes in the lock onto the back of the inle, place your parts into place on the screw hole marks and trace them in, cut or drill out the forms - leave as much wood as possible (oops, forgot you said this was a refit > you probably only have to deepen up the cuts that are there). Put the lock back together one piece at a time. As you add a piece, use more inletting black to "sink" that part into place. If you tap the whole thing into place and see no black, but the lock is not fitting - very carefully check everything for a black spot. I once scrathed my head for 30 minutes before I noticed the sear bar was hitting the stock at the back of the sear hole and that is why I had no "black" wood and yet the plate would not sit down. Keep all the parts nice and black and try the lock for opertion. If it is stiff or fails to operate, the guts are probably hitting wood, pull the lock and look. Try again, etc. The process is time consuming, but generally fool proof.

Mike F

 

[LFC]

Thanks, guys!