navy arms flinter

[mark starr]

GreetingsI recently put a navy arms harpers ferry on lay-away. would any of you fellas know who makes thelocks for navy arms. and have you had any experience good or bad with them. It is the lewis and clark edition. I really liked the way the rifle is built it should be just the ticket to hunt elk with hope to shoot a buffalo with it this fall. thanksmark

 

[Stumpkiller]

"His [Val Forgett Sr.] concept of Navy Arms was simple. build good quality replicas and attend to the customer's needs. This commitment to quality extends to Navy Arm's valued and trusted vendors.. My father began deep relationships with these companies decades ago. Val Sr. was the first customer of such famous replica makers as Aldo Uberti, Davide Pedersoli, Gusuippe Pietta and Luciano Amadi. Like Navy Arms, these companies successfully transitioned to 2nd generation family management."

Pietta makes only revolvers so that leaves three. Uberti is mostly cartridge longarms anymore. My bet would be on Davide Pedersoli.

 

[Doc Arroyo]

IMHO the lock on these have been touch and go for years. It seems that the original that was sent to Italy for copying had a bit of a difficulty. The flint strikes the frizzen at a 90 degee angle, crushing the flints, and making for a less than reliable spark. Perhaps Pedesoli has fixed this problem as of late, but if not here is a fix.

I have repaired 2 HF pistols and 3 HF rifles with the same problem. It involves cutting through the front of the cock throat with a hack saw, bending the top of the cock down slightly (1/32" to 1/16")and brazing it back together. A bit of filing and the repair disappears, especially if you refinish the look to an in the white finish.

All the guns I repaired this way became reliable sparkers.

 

Many Holes,
I think L&R locks makes drop in locks for various commercial rifles. If you really like the navy arms gun, this may be the answer to a RELIABLE flint lock. There is nothing worse than having to deal with a cheap flint lock. This is a SWAG(scientific wild ass guess),but my assumption is the lock value on the Navy Arms is $40-$60 at best?
L&R is a quality product and if they can fit one into the Navy Arms, then you'll have a reliable, consistent sparking piece. It's worth the conversion.
Manynames

 

[LRB]

I may be wrong, but I am not aware of anyone making a replacement lock for the 1803. I have tuned a couple of them, and they became very good sparkers. I never changed the angle of the cock, but I am sure it would help. The main problem I encountered was that there was not a single screw that was drilled 90o to the plate, thus causing everything to be out of kilter. Give it a try first,it may be ok. If it is, go buy some lottery tickets, your luck is on a roll. Also if it works well, pull your lock and check the internals every few shots for a while, and pay special attention to the mainspring screw. One plus is the one I worked on that was made in the late 90's, is a tack driver. Very nice bore, however it did have a noticeable bend to the left, but shot a very tight group at 50yrds.