Homemade Siler replacement lock.

[EC121]

Here is a Siler replacement lock to replace a Siler lock. I bought a nice rifle made in 1977. However the halfcock notch was chipped, the mainspring was weak, and the hammer was bent. I found a hammer and old tumbler that would fit in my lock parts box. For those who don't know the older Siler locks have some different sized parts compared to the new ones made after Chambers re-did the molds. Old and new don't always interchange. So, I bought a lockplate from Chambers and filed it to fit the inlet of the old lock. Then I sent the plate to Chambers and had the parts installed on the filed plate. It took some internal inletting also. The new parts don't fit the old internal inletting. At any rate I now have a new/old shootable rifle. Because the sear bars aren't the same, I also had to fit a new trigger. Now I have the original lock for display and the new lock for shooting.

Here is the old lock. The bottom jaw is bent down below the fence.



Here is the replacement. I can polish it later. A drop of stain will clean up the skinned places. I beveled the plate's edges to avoid too much pressure on the wood.

 

[wiscoaster]

Magnificent metal work!! You do magic.

 

[EC121]

Finally got time to shoot it this afternoon. All is well, and it is even mostly on target. A bit heavy offhand or maybe I’m getting weak. I used a .480 ball and .018 patch. Easy loading with no blown patches.