Tuning an L&R Lock

[grey8833]

Hey All:

I have an L&R English Bar Lock I am putting on my latest creation. I just finished tuning up the sear / tumbler / fly assembly to where I want it to be.

Should I case harden the sear tip? Tumbler?

Mike F

 

[paulvallandigham]

Have you talked to L&R to find out what kind of steel is used in making those parts? Or if they need to be hardened?

I don't think they do, but I would certainly call L&R if I had a question about hardening them.

 

[longcruise]

Looking forward to any and all of the scoop that gets entered on this thread, since I have an L&R on the bench ready to be . . . well, whatever you guys do to them!

 

[grey8833]

Paul:

Tumbler and sear seemed to file out awful easily, and the sear is marking up the tumbler - at a guess I would say that the one I have is dead soft, as these things go. I would have thought they were hardened, but the tuning went way to easy for that (well it went easy when I figured out what I was doing) :hmm: .

Mike

 

[boondocker]

Looking forward to any and all of the scoop that gets entered on this thread, since I have an L&R on the bench ready to be . . . well, whatever you guys do to them!

Me too Me too an L&R Dickert!

 

[rabjr]

You may want to ask Roy if he don't see this thread. We went with an l&r lock on my newest project and I was a little concerned with this companys lock but he tuned it and hardened the tumbler and frizzen to his liking, not sure what else he did to it. Its looking and producing sparks pretty darn sweet now. :thumbsup:

 

[Stophel]

L&R tumblers and sears are SOFT. Some time ago they told me what steel they used. 6150 (or is it 5160?...I can never remember. Same thing as their springs). At any rate, I personally don't think they are anywhere near hard enough as they come for wear resistance. On the rare occasion when I use one, I will case harden them with Kasenit, which puts a nice hard skin on them, and then temper them down to brown, like I would if I didn't use the Kasenit (the colors have to be polished off in order to properly see temper colors). I will usually try to temper the half cock hook just a bit more, being careful to not temper down the full cock notch any more. The fly I harden and temper while it's on the tumbler. It's just too dang small for me to do anything with it by itself.

I now do almost everything with Siler parts. Even though I hate O1 steel, I have finally got the hang of fooling with it. It's a decent design, and it makes parts replacement cheap and easy. Plus, I can buy them cheaper!

 

[paulvallandigham]

As critical as the tumbler is to having hardened sear notches in it, L&R has no business selling kits or full locks that have soft tumblers. That is why I suggested you call them.

L&R buys cast parts just like everyone else does. They may not even know that some of the tumblers they are selling are " too soft"( if that is the case). They have been around for some time now, and I think they take their reputation for making a quality product seriously. Tell them what you have written here.

I suspect they will want you to send the lock to them. They will either replace it, or harden the parts free of charge for you, if that is necessary. Let us know what they say.

 

[longcruise]

L&R tumblers and sears are SOFT. Some time ago they told me what steel they used. 6150 (or is it 5160?...I can never remember. Same thing as their springs). At any rate, I personally don't think they are anywhere near hard enough as they come for wear resistance. On the rare occasion when I use one, I will case harden them with Kasenit,

Dealing with the tuning of the lock will probably be one of the last things I do with this gun. By then I'll need to come back and ask for a refresher, which I will plan on doing.

Thanks for the heads up on the need for hardening. I'd like to fix up a set up for case hardening without the use of kasenit but that probably won't be happening any time soon.

Thanks for the tips.

 

[grey8833]

Paul:

I will drop L&R a note. I work in metal all the time, never occured to me that soft was a big deal, but you make some good points.

Mike

 

[paulvallandigham]

MIke: Their site indicates they have an 800 number to call- monday through thursday, 8-5, and Fri. 8-12:00. 803-481-5790.

Pecatonica River also sells their locks. If anyone can give you the straight dope on the L&R locks, it would be **** Greensides at PR. And don't hesitate to call Track of the Wolf, and talk to those guys about the locks. If people have trouble with L&R locks on the guns purchased through Track, they are the FIRST to hear about it. That is one reason I suggested that you skip over the dealers and go to the manufacturer directly.