Need advice for GPR kit

[the11]

Hi everyone,
I am building a Lyman GPR flinter in .54 calibre. And in a moment of madness I decided to buy a patchbox kit to go with it (all bought from TOTW). Anyway, the main inletting is done (not perfect, but not bad for my first time around) but I cannot seem to figure out just how the spring is supposed to be installed. HAs anyone out there ever installed one ofthese?

Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[the11]

And here's the second question: What do I do about brownig the parts that come pre-installed on the stock? (eg: fore end cap, and ramrod guide) Should I remove them, brown them, and reinstall them?

 

[krecords]

When I built my first this year, I removed all the parts filed, sanded a bit and then browned them. Then I reinstalled after finishing the stock.I left the lock alone as it has a case hardened color to it that seemed fine to me.
just my 2 cents.
Kirby

 

[Little Wattsy]

And here's the second question: What do I do about brownig the parts that come pre-installed on the stock? (eg: fore end cap, and ramrod guide) Should I remove them, brown them, and reinstall them?

Should I remove them, brown them, and reinstall them YES! Or at least polish them up and THEN reinstall.

 

[Tweek]

In my opinion (for what it's worth - I've only assembled one so far), all the cast metal pieces should have all traces of foundry marks (mold lines, rough cast surfaces) removed by filing and sanding to about 220 or 340 grit if browning or rust bluing. This will take a LOT of sandpaper/emery cloth, and time. I found the brown, and grey scotchbrite pads for metal to be useful in final prep after most of the sanding was complete.

I also had to file a significant amount of metal from the inside of the nose cap to keep it from rubbing the barrel and barrel rib.

Here is a link to the progress pages/pics of my GPR build if you're interested...
My GPR build.

Edit - Sorry I have no experience with patch boxes yet.