Modified Flintlock

[Zonie]

OK. I can hear you now. "SACRILEGE! The guy must be out of his mind!"

I did have a good reason for modifying this Siler Flintlock kit lock into a Percussion lock though.

Back in '01, I started building this kit and after drilling and tapping all of the holes except one I clamped the frizzen in place and proceeded to drill thru.
As my lack of luck would come to the forefront, the drill was slightly cocked and it tore half of the frizzen bridle away. What to do??

This is my new Tennessee with the answer:

I plugged the un-needed holes with threaded stock and cut off the pan leaving enough to support a nipple drum, bought and installed a Siler hammer and set the lock on a shelf for some project like this Tennessee.

After installing the lock into the stock and determining the location of the drum, I filed the pan out to support it.
Normally, I would have filed the notch in the lock and then used the drum installed to position the lock in the stock but this was a Pre Carved stock with the lock inletting already done. That pretty much dictated where the drum would have to be located.
Because of the location of the mainspring under the bolster, I was limited to using a 7/16 diameter drum. Larger would have required removing so much material from the pan that the tip of the mainspring would break thru the bottom of the cut.

Notice the hammer has a number of filed "teeth" on the face of it. These were cut with a small triangular file with the upper edges roughly parallel with the barrel. I highly recommend cutting some sort of roughness and this method is much easier than trying to file a knurling pattern. I guarentee your thumb will not slip when you cock this hammer. :grin:

There are more pictures of my rifle over in the Percussion Forum if your interested.

Zonie

 

[Bookie]

Zonie, some food for thought if you modify another lock like this: I have seen originals that had the holes plugged with lead or brass. I have used both, but prefer brass as it contrasts nicely with a brown lock. Brazing rod works great. Leaving part of the pan in place was a good touch. I have also altered hammers by removing the striker or jaws and replacing it with a straighter "pipe" as depicted in a few photos to replicate a modified flint hammer. Ugly, but quite different. Good work, lad. Bookie

 

[Zonie]

Ah thanks ye sir!

Hope ye don't mind mee kallin ye Sir. Ah nose sum folks arr kinda tuchie about that sort o stuf. :grin:

 

[faw3]

Im fooling with he idea of trying to do a semi copy of the Smithsons? Hawken and this is what Ive been wondering about since it shows flintlock parts still on the now perc lock. Thank much every little bit helps fred :hatsoff:

 

[mikelange]

As many flintlocks as were converted to percussion, as the 19th century wore along, I don't see anything wrong with your re-working of a Siler assembly that wasn't going to function as a flinter, anyhow. Besides, what was an extremely common conversion, originally, is now something of a rarity. Flint-styled percussion locks (like the Siler and L&R Classic) only approximate the look of real flint conversions (though Chambers does make his Golden Age percussion lock in a much more correct "conversion" style).

I did the same thing to a Dixie Tennessee Mountain lock I bought at a flea market. The miserable thing never sparked right, and one day I got sick of fooling with it and went nuts for about half an hour with a hacksaw, file, and hammer. When I was done I had a c. 1800 Lancaster rifle with a converted flintlock, that I used as a backup deer rifle until a friend's kid needed it worse than I did.