How good are L+R locks as a Hawken “drop in”

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I have had one "drop-in" a Renegade with no issues. I've had one for a Hawken that needed a little wood removal , or a little filing of the back radius on the lock. They are very close and not too complicated to get fitted. Once in a while the mainspring is thick and some wood in the lock mortise needs to be shaved down a bit. With a little blackening, or some lipstick you can see where it is rubbing and remove the precise amount from the exact area.
 
I post on this every now and then, the swap can be easy for some and a nightmare for others, my swap fell into the latter. After I posted about the difficult time I had making the swap several others posted that they had the same problems.

Of course, mine was a flintlock swap, a percussion swap may be a lot easier. I was putting a flintlock in a former percussion stock as well.

First off; I started my swap the wrong way, I inletted the L&R into the TC lock mortis only to find out the TC lock bolt hole was way off. The L&R has a blind lock bolt socket on the back of the lock bridal, the lock bolt doesn't go into the lock plate like on a standard TC lock.
I should have put the TC lock bolt into L&R socket and inletted the lock down from that point. The L&R lock is a slightly different size than a TC lock so be prepared to shim up the edges.

Here is how my lock swap went; This will give you an idea of what I considered a "nightmare". Moved the barrel back to get the pan in the right place, this required cutting a small piece off the under rib, had to redrill the lock bolt hole because the TC one didn't line up with the L&R socket on the bridal. Had to grind off the back of the hooked breech to accommodate the new lock bolt and had to grind down the side of the barrel to get the lock flush with the barrel as well as fill the gaps in the lock mortise where the lock plate was too small. Almost forgot, I had to remove a tremendous amount of wood for the lock internals.

renegade mock-up 005.JPG


It came out OK, the L&R lock is a great improvement over a TC.

finished Renegads 001.JPG
 
I was recently given a 54 caliber percussion TC Hawken with both a round ball and a slug barrel. The only thing missing is the lock so I've been thinking about the L&R. This thread is good for letting me in on what to expect. The L&R locks I've had I rate as functional as they come but they do take a lot of polishing and tuning to make them good. That's what comes with the lower price if you don't mind the work.
 
I am a tinkerer at heart so the “fitting” required was a nice diversion and my end results on the Renegade are satisfyingly endearing to me. Makes my 54 Renegade just that much more “mine”

if you can enjoy the tinkering and self engineering required , I say go for it. Just go slow and look at every angle before removing or adding anything and you will end up with your own one of rifle.
 
I post on this every now and then, the swap can be easy for some and a nightmare for others, my swap fell into the latter. After I posted about the difficult time I had making the swap several others posted that they had the same problems.

Of course, mine was a flintlock swap, a percussion swap may be a lot easier. I was putting a flintlock in a former percussion stock as well.

First off; I started my swap the wrong way, I inletted the L&R into the TC lock mortis only to find out the TC lock bolt hole was way off. The L&R has a blind lock bolt socket on the back of the lock bridal, the lock bolt doesn't go into the lock plate like on a standard TC lock.
I should have put the TC lock bolt into L&R socket and inletted the lock down from that point. The L&R lock is a slightly different size than a TC lock so be prepared to shim up the edges.

Here is how my lock swap went; This will give you an idea of what I considered a "nightmare". Moved the barrel back to get the pan in the right place, this required cutting a small piece off the under rib, had to redrill the lock bolt hole because the TC one didn't line up with the L&R socket on the bridal. Had to grind off the back of the hooked breech to accommodate the new lock bolt and had to grind down the side of the barrel to get the lock flush with the barrel as well as fill the gaps in the lock mortise where the lock plate was too small. Almost forgot, I had to remove a tremendous amount of wood for the lock internals.

View attachment 265292

It came out OK, the L&R lock is a great improvement over a TC.

View attachment 265293
Good job on the fit but touch hole appears way off from pan.
My local gun shop had a hella deal on used percussion but i wanted a flint. When i asked about the swap he advised not to , said the geometry is way different.
 
The lock bolt location did not work on mine. I had to use one of the bridle screw locations for the lock bolt. I made a special nut-bolt that secured the bridle and gave the lock bolt a place to go. I had to move the lockbolt location in the stock too.
 
The touch hole position is perfect at a centered sunset position, I had to move the barrel back to achieve this. The touch hole had the Allen wrench liner in it that looks huge, the downward angle of the camera makes things look off.
 
I put a L&R lock in a T-C Pennsylvania Hunter. The instructions with the lock say to file the lock plate to fit the mortise. I of course, tried to inlet the lock into the stock. Wrong! But it worked well. The mainspring was pretty stout and flints didn't last long was my only complaint.
 
I installed an L&R lock on one of my CVA mountain rifles. Minor fitting as expected. Turned that rifle into 100% dependable, even my homemade caps love that lock. It took less than an hour to get it where it wanted to be. Then I browned it. I have no complaints with the L&R locks I have.
 


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