Making a 100% Jenks lock copy

[dd832]

Finito! Finished! DONE!!!

Hours of filing away got me here today:



Just some minor sanding to do yet, but it's DONE!

The lock plate thickness looks different but it isn't. The plate is .213" thick and so is the Jenks. The obvious difference is that the Jenks plate is tapered near the lock mechanism & I didn't do that. This was done to be able to make .180" diameter screws with tiny heads & I didn't do that, my screws are headless. But the Jenks plate is still .213" thick along the bottom edge.

Mike

 

[dd832]

Just finished hardening metal parts this morning. Here's what they look like:


Now it's into the oven for tempering.
Mike

 

[dd832]

Well now it's really DONE!


later, Mike

 

[Metalshaper]

I'll take two!!

Seriously good work there! still looks weird to my eye without the crossover bend, but that's a NICE lock.
you should be proud to put that on a gun!!!

Respect Always
Jonathan

 

[dd832]

Thanks Jonathan.

Here's a photo of an early Jenks with the straight hammer:


I'm tapering a barrel on my lathe right now. It's an old Green Mountain barrel I bought years ago on sale. It's a .45 caliber fast twist barrel they were making and had some seconds on sale. The breech is 1.090" in diameter and the muzzle is .860". I'm working my way down to .745" at the muzzle. I haven't figured out how to do the barrel bands yet. But I do have castings for the trigger guard & butt plate. This will be a "copy " of the muzzle loader Jenks made.

later, Mike

 

[dd832]

I finished tapering the barrel a couple of days ago. Then I pasted a copy of the stock on a piece of hardboard and here's what that looks like:


Then I transferred the drawing to a piece of walnut and inlet the barrel:


My walnut is about 1/2" too short, but no worries. I can splice in a piece under the front band.

later, Mike

 

[dd832]

This is the weapon I'm trying to recreate:



The only example of a muzzle loading Jenks carbine.

Mike

 

[Metalshaper]

This is the weapon I'm trying to recreate:
View attachment 140396
View attachment 140397

The only example of a muzzle loading Jenks carbine.

Mike

Intersting!!??? Never saw that pic before and I thought I had pretty much worn out searching for things Jenks related??

Nice Work!!

Jonathan

 

[user 34300]

You will enjoy that rifle very much. I made a back action sidelock. Because the nipple is resting right on the main charge, the lock time is similar to a modern firearm.

 

[dd832]

Work on the Jenks included inletting the barrel to the correct depth; drilling and tapping the barrel for a 1/4"- 28 nipple & making a stud to fit the hole; drilling and counter sinking for a tang screw; cutting the stock closer to the finished size and flattening and thinning the lock area; and inletting the lockplate.


The lock has only the plate inletted. I have to inlet the internal parts yet.

later, Mike

 

[dd832]

I inletted the lock mechanism Saturday and it holds full ****.


Then I spent a couple of hours making the trigger guard strap and messing with the trigger guard bow. This is going to be an assembly of parts soldered together. I've not been able to remove the trigger guard from my Jenks to look at its guts, so this is going to be a "wing it".

later, Mike

 

[dd832]

Yesterday I made two small risers for the trigger guard and worked on the trigger guard bow. It is really a mess, it was obviously a 2nd. The two halves were miss aligned and there was flashing everywhere. The "treaded posts" were misaligned & not round, but other than that is was really a great piece.
Today I milled holes for the risers:


Then I soldered them in place and inserted the trigger guard. After a couple hours it looks like this:


It's getting there slowly. I have to make a holder for the trigger and something to screw the tang bolt into. More to come.

later, Mike

 

[dd832]

I'm making the trigger today. It's been alot of machining and filing for such a small piece.

I got the trigger guard out of the stock yesterday, 177 years its been there. The brass had developed vertigris and sort of locked it self into place. But alot of swearing and tugging finally worked. Here it is:

The trigger guard is 3/16" thick and about .535" wide by 7-1/8" long and as fine a sand casting as I've ever seen! My version is 1/8" thick and doesn' t measure up to the real thing. So I bought a brass bar to machine another one and some yellow silver solder too. We'll see how that goes when it gets here.

later, Mike

 

[Metalshaper]

Mike,

Inspirational work!!

Respect Always
Metalshaper/Jonathan

 

[dd832]

"Mike,
Inspirational work!!
Respect Always
Metalshaper/Jonathan"

THANKS

 

[dd832]

The trigger is mostly finished:



Mike

 

[dd832]

I've been working on the trigger guard strap since Sunday. I got a 7/8" x 7/8" x 23-1/2" bar by UPS Saturday evening. I've been sawing & milling a lot and have this to show for it:


The two posts are for the trigger guard. They have 1/8" slots cut into it for the trigger guard bow. The extra block on the trigger guard strap is for the tang screw to screw into. I made a hollow end mill to cut the two posts that the trigger set into. It looks like I need to trim the trigger some more, too. I have to make an end mill cutter to trim the trigger guard risers on the strap also.

later, Mike

 

[PathfinderNC]

Masterful.

 

[dd832]

I ordered a rotary table from ebay (via India). It's only a 75mm machine but it's what I needed to work on my trigger guard. Here's a photo of me cutting the rear riser with a 7/32" ball endmill. I used a 3/8" ball endmill to remove most of the brass material first. It's a crude little machine but it got the job done.


So here's a photo of the trigger guard bow installed on the trigger plate along with the original part. I bought brass colored silver solder from Rio Grande to make the trigger guard bow and it worked fine. There's a fella on ALR site from Europe that did a trigger guard and I followed his intructions - just remember to flood the parts with solder and you'll be okay. I had to make two more brass risers for the bow after I made a mess trying to solder everything together.

The bow is still in its rough stage. I mistakenly made the bow slightly smaller than the original, but it was the least of my worries so far.

later, Mike

 

[dd832]

Well tragedy (?) struck the other day. I was filing the trigger guard bow and it broke right at the thinnest part of the rear riser.

So I made another riser and silver soldered it back together. Third time is a charm - or not?



We'll see if this one stays together. This is the third time I've done this, so it is getting to be like a bad habit.

I hope the two barrel bands aren't as hard to do as the trigger guard has been.

later, Mike