If you go the route of having it TIG welded, make sure he knows if the steel is hardened all the way through. If it is, he'll need to preheat before welding to make sure the results are good.
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I won't be selling my H&A any time soon.......
- Thread starter kje54
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Thanks but most likely I'll find a Lyman or some other frizzen that will work. I'll use welding as a desperate last measure. Besides I have no idea if it was ever heat treated in the first place nor do I know how to tell the difference.
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FAB SHOP = Welding fabrication shop
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Could you remove the rest of the frizzen and show that too? I have a couple old ones floating around, maybe by chance one might work.
Woody Morgan
62 Cal.
Another term for brazing is "hard-soldered". Same process, considerably stronger and higher temperature.
Brazing rods are usually bronze or brass and used with flux.
wm
Brazing rods are usually bronze or brass and used with flux.
wm
I think you are right, in that most of the parts are gone. However, I checked the Gun Parts Corp. website and used "minuteman" as a search term. This turned up three pages of assorted parts for the old Numrich/H&A Minuteman rifles, including some lock parts. Unfortunately, the frizzen @kje54 needs was not among them.
I hope he finds a replacement!
Notchy Bob
A blacksmith could forge a new one, if you have any near you.
I'll find one. The Lyman ones look almost exactly like the one I have but I don't know what size they are.
Here is one from my GPR. Looks close but some differences.
Dave
Dave
I don't think brazing would work. Frizzen must be properly hardened to work right. Problem is that brazing requires enough heat to mess up the temper. Then the heat required to harden it again is likely enough to melt the braze. Sure, brazing will stick it back together again. But it won't spark. I see two ways to go. Take it to a welding fabrication shop to get it welded and hardened. Other option is a laser welder. I have done a lot of that. Advantage of laser welding is that it won't affect the hardness. The heat is concentrated enough so that you could weld the frizzen back together while holding it with your fingers. Look up laser welding on google. Good chance that there is a local shop that could do it.
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It may be worthwhile to contact L&R locks and see if they offer an RPL (replacement) lock that will fit the mortise on your rifle. As others have indicated, a different frizzen might be adapted to fit. If you prefer to put this into the hands of a pro, contact Brad Emig at Cabin Creek Muzzleloading in Hallam, PA (717-757-5841). Good luck.
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Might give this a try: CVA Frizzen - P362 (deercreekproducts.net)
Although not listed on their website, Deer Creek has provided me with parts for my H&A.
Although not listed on their website, Deer Creek has provided me with parts for my H&A.
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user 51067
40 Cal
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I don't know where you are located (in relation to the rest of the planet), but Dixon Muzzleloading Shop (in Kempton, PA) would be a good place to start looking. The number there is: (610) 756-6271. Muzzleloader Builder's Supply (Aberdeen, ID) has also been most helpful in procuring obsolete parts for me. Their number is: (208) 397-3008. Be certain to let us know how this story ends.
Check out L&R locks, they supposedly make replacement locks for a lot of manufactured guns.
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JCKelly
45 Cal.
The frizzen appears to have been hardened all the way through, which is why it broke in the first place - no one ever tempers these thing locally, so now & again one breaks about here.
In the Old Days when people were dumb & gunmakers knew nothing about metal, a frizzen was forged of wrought iron (soft, ductile iron, like gun barrels). It sparked because a piece of (high carbon) steel was forge welded or copper brazed to the striking face.
Then came Modern Times and we were all much smarter than them there old guys. After all, we can fly, have cell phones &c. So we absolutely must know more than any 18th century clod.
Lock on rifle #3, pp83 - 84 in the book The Kentucky Rifle, by Capt. John G.W. Dillin, 1924. Squint at the frizzen & see a piece of metal, the striking face, brazed on to the frizzen forging.
British ~,62 cal smoothbore pistol. Striking face brazed on to frizzen.
On military weapons, and higher quality/priced civilian pieces one cannot see the joint, as the steel (high carbon) face would have been forge welded to the frizzen backing & the whole thing quenched. Which hardened only the striking face, as wrought iron does not harden from quenching. At least that's how them dumb old guys did it.
J.Kelly. B.S. Metallurgy Lehigh Univ1963 + a hell of a lot of experience in mfg and a little research. First read Dad's copy of Dillin in 1951.
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No disrespect intended, but I cringe every time I see a Long Arm left resting up against a Tree or whatever.
I'm in the land of Aussies, but happy to help out if possible, I can't identify your Lock but have old boxes with accumulated Flintlock parts (including Frizzens) hoarded over decades (I salvage everything possible).
If you can Micrometer everything possible on the broken Frizzen, I'll scrounge through my bits and pieces and hopefully find one that'll do the job.
Normally if I lean it up against anything it's in a notch or corner to keep it from doing that. This time I didn't cause I was in a hurry and not paying proper attention, that was all my fault.
I'll keep your kind offer in mind if what I have going on right now doesn't pan out. Thanks.
