Matchlock mechanism drawings, anybody?

[CapnJack]

OK P.B.

, here is the first picture....

A 3' pipe and I taping the breach for a plug, a quarter turn at a time.
What a gut buster. It's a shotgun barrel blank and some tough steel.
Next will be rough out the stock and cut the barrel channel.
No hurry a?

Stay Safe, Jack

 

[Pukka Bundook]

That's a start, Jack!

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Many folks want to make their own, and that it fine. I purchased a ready made match lock a few years ago from M. Sikligar in Udaipur India. (Yes one of the Indian Firearms makers. in business for 50 years) It was a non-snapping action, ie it works by a fulcrum instead of a sear and tumbler. Frankly it was well made and polished to a near mirror finish. Cost me a whopping $65. I just recently obtained a barrel to use with it.

 

[CapnJack]

Here are a few more pictures of the progress on my, .62cal. "Marble Shooter".
I'm working on the lock now. I later found I had to skeletonize the cock as it was too heavy for the trigger linkage. Working out the design on a piece of Plexiglas, as someone else had shown, is a tremendous help. *Note: Due to, I've been told, as of the terrorist bombing in Oaklahoma, it seems to be almost impossible to purchase "Nitrates" in most forms, so I am going to try as someone suggested dissolving old road flares in water to make a solution for slow matches.

 

[Zonie]

Don't mess around with flares. It's dangerous and it's not needed.

You folks don't have cut off tree trunks that need to be dissolved?
You know there is a powder that can be sprinkled onto wood that will cause it to break down?

Lowes, Home Depot, Ace Hardware and other similar stores along with farm Co-Ops sell the stuff that is made by Spectracide and HiYield.

Spectracide Stump Remover is 100 percent Potassium Nitrate (Salt Peter) that sells for about $6.50 a pound.

Hi-Yield Stump Remover is 97 percent Potassium Nitrate. Wal-Mart price is about $5.50 for a pound and a half.

 

[CapnJack]

Thanks Jim, I'll give that a shot. I remember reading that suggestion some where, but plum forgot about it.
Piece by piece this project is coming together. I'm sure I'm re-inventing the wheel as I go along, but I needed
a project. it's still too cold to go to the range, or work on the boat.

 

[Pukka Bundook]

Jack,

Other stuff to use to make your slow match, is plain old wood ashes dissolved in water to make a lye solution. It works about as good as any nitrate.
Also, a handful of black powder in a gallon or two of water works fine. Was the ash off afterwards, because in firing, your slow match will catch any sparks from the flash and start smouldering all over if you don't wash or rub the surface clear of particles.

Jim's source is good and maybe best though. These others work if you can't find it though.

 

[Preflint]

Would love to make my own matchlock or even wheelock but lack the time, skill and equipment to do so unfortunately. Not sure where I could purchase one given the few places I found having mixed reviews on their India made guns.

Very frustrating.

Edit
This was supposed to have qouted @zimmerstutzen but I managed to mess that up lol.

 

[Pukka Bundook]

Preflint,

I've made the odd one.

Here is one from ages ago;

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/first-matchlock-from-decades-ago.111663/

also one from a year or two back here;

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/snapping-matchlock.109391/

Farm work means I can only get a bit done in the winter. " Stuff" always gets in the way!

 

[CapnJack]

Pukka Bundook,
All I've got to say is, WOW!!!....I'm feeling intimidated. Those muskets are beautiful
and your work is museum quality. I'm hoping I can just get mine to work. So far it's,
one step forward and two steps back. I just keep picking away....

 

[CapnJack]

Well, Bummer !!!
My build is going to have to go on,"The Back Burner" for a while I do some re thinking. My lock turned out to be so oversized I would have to use a 4x4 for a stock. I'm going to have to rebuild my lock if I want to retain the stock I made. Oh well, it's all in, "The Curve".

 

[burlesontom]

If you are looking for Potasium Nitrate check here. I bought 10 pounds just in case I want to try making BP again. This much cheaper than stump remover and free shipping.

https://www.seedranch.com/Potassium-Nitrate-Powder-KNO3-Saltpeter-p/kno3-powder-5.htm

 

[Pukka Bundook]

Thanks for the tip, Mr T!

Jack, just keep at it and you'll win in the end!

 

[CapnJack]

Pukka Bundook, Thanks for the encouragement. I haven't given up.
I'm back to the drawing board

 

[RAEDWALD]

Lead acetate soaked into the match cord will slow the burn, raise the temperature and reduce the ash on the coal. Saltpetre/black powder only makes it spit and burn faster. Lye (sodium hydroxide) will remove the lignin from the material and let it burn slower and with less ash. When I was using a borrowed modern Indian matchlock I did some comparisons and found the above correct (all ideas stolen from others) and the burn was slow enough to copy the very old practice of keeping the long match cord in a match case and using it to light short stubs of match cord which went into the lock and were discarded into a bowl of water upon reloading. New little stub each shot but they would actually last long enough for at least five shots. I also have a large bag of dried tinder fungus which I may slice into square strips to see how they perform once I link the lock to a new gun.

 

[hawkeye2]

If you are looking for Potasium Nitrate check here. I bought 10 pounds just in case I want to try making BP again. This much cheaper than stump remover and free shipping.

https://www.seedranch.com/Potassium-Nitrate-Powder-KNO3-Saltpeter-p/kno3-powder-5.htm

I bought 10 lbs. online from Walmart w/free shipping to my home for just over $30 so it isn't difficlul to find and is much cheaper than stump remover. It can actually be used as stump remover too if you need to justify 10 lbs..

 

[Pukka Bundook]

Jon,

Gunpowder works allright if you make sure to wash off the excess. It burns (in my case) about an inch in 5 minutes. Bit fast but OK in a pinch.

The tree fungus works well, and doesn't need any treatment except drying.. Some in fact will work straight off the tree, but maybe its drier here than there.
Hawkeye,

I'll get some of that and give it a try.

Thanks.

 

[Rudyard]

'Western Washington' Have you heard of Elmer Johnston ? .He was My great mentor for archaic arms . Hes about given up making but hes made scores mostly now in a Museum in Idaho . I know your region Lived in BC in the 70s . Elmer was up against the' Gotta Get a Hawken' brigade who useually banned him to the car park at R vous Elmer was too much a visionary for their tastes gifted with emagination and the skill to translate it to reality Only Puckle gun I ever fired was Elmers make .
Rudyard

 

[CapnJack]

'Western Washington' Have you heard of Elmer Johnston ? .He was My great mentor for archaic arms . Hes about given up making but hes made scores mostly now in a Museum in Idaho . I know your region Lived in BC in the 70s . Elmer was up against the' Gotta Get a Hawken' brigade who useually banned him to the car park at R vous Elmer was too much a visionary for their tastes gifted with emagination and the skill to translate it to reality Only Puckle gun I ever fired was Elmers make .
Rudyard

I watch a YouTube on the Puckle Gun the other day. It was well ahead of it's time.

 

[SgtWinterer]

Here are some plan sets in metric dimensions for matchlock including the locks.

1514 Snapping Matchlock, more of the massive short early type
http://www.feuerwaffen.ch/index_htm_files/Konst_10_Schwammbuechse.pdf

1570 Matchlock, more the slender long type later becoming popular in 30year war
http://www.feuerwaffen.ch/index_htm_files/Konst_11_Luntenmuskete.pdf

1713 Matchlock Wallgun. Pretty dated construction for the 1700s
http://www.feuerwaffen.ch/index_htm_files/Konst_19_DoppelhakenHallau.pdf

Hope that helps. If you need additonal info or translation of specific parts, i would gladly help.