Left Handed Chambers PA Fowler Kit

[RHenderson]

Has anyone bought the Chambers PA Fowler kit in the left handed version? My specific question is in regards to the trigger plate.
The plate has an off center slot in it which places the trigger slightly closer to the lock plate. The plate supplied with the kit is for
a right handed version so the slot position will place the trigger further away from the lock plate on the left side. Has anyone modified the
plate supplied or made a new plate to correct this? I checked with Barbie and she said the issue had never come up. Just wondering if
this is an issue or are the effects on trigger pull minimal? I know I'm probably overthinking this. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

 

[MAC1967]

I have a Chambers PA Fowler in Left Hand . . . they accidentally sent me a floral-looking trigger plate. Barbie fixed it and sent the LH trigger plate which is just rectangular with the slot. Looking at it, in my built rifle, it appears that it may be slotted slightly to the lock side, but it has not caused me any problems, and I don't notice it at all. It's a very fine gun . . . I completed it about 3 years ago. Great kit and I got used to the Siler lock look of the LH model. Jim told me the original actually had a siler lock rather than an open face.

Here are two pics of my fowler trigger. . .if that helps. The trigger on my rifle is quite good.

 

[RHenderson]

I have a Chambers PA Fowler in Left Hand . . . they accidentally sent me a floral-looking trigger plate. Barbie fixed it and sent the LH trigger plate which is just rectangular with the slot. Looking at it, in my built rifle, it appears that it may be slotted slightly to the lock side, but it has not caused me any problems, and I don't notice it at all. It's a very fine gun . . . I completed it about 3 years ago. Great kit and I got used to the Siler lock look of the LH model. Jim told me the original actually had a siler lock rather than an open face.

Here are two pics of my fowler trigger. . .if that helps. The trigger on my rifle is quite good.

View attachment 158735View attachment 158736

Very nice looking gun! I'm a big fan of the darker finishes. I got the floral looking plate too, but may see if they'll swap it out for
the rectangular plate. I was a little bummed that the kit came with a Siler lock too since I like the look of the round faced lock on fowlers. I I purchased the "Flintlock Fowlers" book by Grinslade and many of the PA fowlers shown in the book have the Siler type lock. I believe the Siler is based on a lock made by Jacob Dickert who made and sold a lot of locks in PA and probably elsewhere. It's reasonable to believe many of his locks made it onto fowling pieces as well as rifles.

 

[MAC1967]

Very nice looking gun! I'm a big fan of the darker finishes. I got the floral looking plate too, but may see if they'll swap it out for
the rectangular plate. I was a little bummed that the kit came with a Siler lock too since I like the look of the round faced lock on fowlers. I I purchased the "Flintlock Fowlers" book by Grinslade and many of the PA fowlers shown in the book have the Siler type lock. I believe the Siler is based on a lock made by Jacob Dickert who made and sold a lot of locks in PA and probably elsewhere. It's reasonable to believe many of his locks made it onto fowling pieces as well as rifles.

Thank you . . . Ha! I did the very same thing, but I was cheap about it. I went to the library and got the Flintlock Fowlers book via an intra library loan and photocopied many pages of it.

My fowler is finished with Aqua-Fortis . . . I love the color, but it was the first rifle I've used it on. (It was the Waken Bay yellow bottle label stuff ) . . the only mistake I made was I did not rub it back as much as I should have so it's darker than I wanted . . . where I did rub it more, the grain is more visible . . . but outdoors in the sun, it really gives that nice translucent grain "pop" look all over. I love AF . . . it really makes the grain pop, though my other rifle is stained with LMF alcohol stain and it works well too. My PA Fowler the basic maple from Chambers.

The floral trigger plate may not work. As I recall, our LH model is inlet for the rectangular plate which I think is longer than the floral plate of the right hand model. . . so if you use the floral plate you'd have to fill some wood (I think, but that was a couple years ago.

The hardest part of this build for me was the butt plate . . . I did add a brass muzzle cap I bought from Track of the Wolf . . . interestingly, I held Jim's build of this at the NMLRA shoot and he has a cap on his, which may be in the brochure or on his site, though it's not part of the kit.

I have a Siler on my other Rifle from TVM . . . so on this lock I filed off the two parallel lines on the plate and made it plainer to look a little different from what I have, and rounded the pan bottom some . . . I did a little work on the **** too, but it's not very noticeable. I'm a newbie and not a master craftsman, and so this is weird too, but I "aged" the metal with French's mustard.

 

[RHenderson]

I've done the same thing before. I built a rifle from a blank back in the early '90s before the internet. I relied on pictures in books and
photocopying Peter Alexander's articles from Muzzleloader Magazine.

I plan to finish my fowler with AF as well. I've used it on two rifle builds and really liked the way it came out. At that time I was using the
kitchen stove for my heat source (the wife was not happy). Now I have a heat gun.

My stock is not inlet for the trigger plate so either plate would work, but I went ahead and e-mailed Barbie to see if I could exchange the
floral plate for a plain rectangular one.

I like the modifications you made to your lock. I have a Siler on the rifle I built from a blank, but didn't do much modification. I'm always afraid I'll bugger it up. It's a shame there aren't more styles of left handed locks on the market. I know L&R makes a few of their styles
in left hand, but I've heard mixed review on L&R's so I'll probably stay clear of them.

 

[MAC1967]

Well, that floral one may work then. It was 3 or 4 years ago, and I thought it was inlet a little, but maybe not. For some reason, we contacted Barbie and she sent me a rectangular one.

I am currently working on my third build, a Southern Rifle from a blank. (I have the same coach helping me, thank goodness.)

I bought an L&R lock for that build - a left hand Manton. It is a really a very nice looking lock, perfect for a southern style. It's fast, but it has a stirrup on the mainspring and the fly is almost microscopic - I worry about losing those little parts. I like the simpler Siler mechanics better. I bought it off ebay at a decent price but the mainspring broke not long after I started the build. L&R was really great about replacing it with a better spring. It needs some tuning, but it is a good lock, but it is incredibly stiff.

Their Manton locks seem to have a good reputation. I don't know about their other locks.

Hatchet Jack on this forum recently built a RH PA fowler, that is gorgeous. He is a gifted builder and has a lot of pics of his build on a thread here you can find. He might be a good resource if you have questions.

 

[RHenderson]

Well, that floral one may work then. It was 3 or 4 years ago, and I thought it was inlet a little, but maybe not. For some reason, we contacted Barbie and she sent me a rectangular one.

I am currently working on my third build, a Southern Rifle from a blank. (I have the same coach helping me, thank goodness.)

I bought an L&R lock for that build - a left hand Manton. It is a really a very nice looking lock, perfect for a southern style. It's fast, but it has a stirrup on the mainspring and the fly is almost microscopic - I worry about losing those little parts. I like the simpler Siler mechanics better. I bought it off ebay at a decent price but the mainspring broke not long after I started the build. L&R was really great about replacing it with a better spring. It needs some tuning, but it is a good lock, but it is incredibly stiff.

Their Manton locks seem to have a good reputation. I don't know about their other locks.

Hatchet Jack on this forum recently built a RH PA fowler, that is gorgeous. He is a gifted builder and has a lot of pics of his build on a thread here you can find. He might be a good resource if you have questions.

The most common complaint I hear on L&R locks is broken springs, followed by cracked frizzens. L&R usually is good about fixing them though. I think the Manton lock will look great on a Southern rifle. I've thought about one of the TVM Southern kits with the Durs Egg lock.
Probably need to do this fowler build first.

I have seen the pictures of Hatchet Jack's fowler. He did a beautiful job! Love the carving! I'm not much good at carving, but I think I'm going to try to do some simple carving around the barrel tang and the lock and sideplate panels.

 

[MAC1967]

The most common complaint I hear on L&R locks is broken springs, followed by cracked frizzens. L&R usually is good about fixing them though. I think the Manton lock will look great on a Southern rifle. I've thought about one of the TVM Southern kits with the Durs Egg lock.
Probably need to do this fowler build first.

I have seen the pictures of Hatchet Jack's fowler. He did a beautiful job! Love the carving! I'm not much good at carving, but I think I'm going to try to do some simple carving around the barrel tang and the lock and sideplate panels.

I was working on my blank build last night and we were inletting the trigger plate. I had drilled a hole up to the lock trigger sear a few weeks before so we could trip the trigger and test that the lock parts worked without hitting wood.
Well, I drilled the hole a little off center. My coach said it was no big deal as triggers were sometimes slightly off center toward the lock side. (So my trigger plate is about 1/16th of an inch toward the lock.) I thought of your rifle and this post when he said that.

 

[RHenderson]

I'm learning some of these things a little at a time. I have the book "Gunsmith of Grenville County" and it explains the mechanics behind the single trigger. The trigger pin is placed so that the trigger bar contacts the sear bar about 1/4" behind the pin. The shorter length allows for
a lighter pull. The trigger is placed closer to the lock plate for the same reason.