What is "tuning" the flintlock?

[MikeC]

What exactly does one do to "tune" a flintlock.

 

[Rebel]

Check out here'[url] http://members.aye.net/~bspen/flintlockfaq.html[/url]

 

[Many Klatch]

Basically it means removing all the sources of friction that you can so that the lock works faster. It can make quite a bit of difference. Strip the lock, file, sand and polish the back side of the plate till it shines, polish everything that turns, rubs or springs.

Many Klatch

 

[burgessrudy]

Fom the website listed above: "A good lock, a sharp flint, a well tempered frizzen.." I think they mean a well hardened frizzen?

 

Check out this helpful writeup on tuning.

[url] members.aol.com/illinewek/faqs/tuning.html[/url]
Put a //http: in front of it. When i tried the link, it kept corrupting

Hard work pays off in the future, Laziness pays off now!

 

[paulvallandigham]

Bill :Try that again. It doesn't work. Please give us the complete site to the information, so we can just click on it, and go to it. I googled everything I could, but all they want is for me to change the spelling of your illinewek, to " illiniwek". When I did that, it didn't work either!

Thanks in advance. Paul

 

[bpesteve]

Posting a URL here appears to be difficult - the "URL Link" button corrupts your entry. The bit about lock tuning is in the FAQ on the "Muzzle Loading Mailing List" web site. If you do a web search using MLML you will find it.

It is: members dot aol dot com slash illinewek

 

[Claude Mathis]

Posting a URL here appears to be difficult - the "URL Link" button corrupts your entry.

You are incorrect. Posting a link to a site that has been placed on our "no post" list will alter the URL when it appears. The "Muzzle Loading Mailing List" site was placed on that list a long time ago for reasons I cannot go into here. When you post a link to the site, the URL will automatically be changed.

There is nothing wrong with our "URL link button".

 

[Black Hand]

Fom the website listed above: "A good lock, a sharp flint, a well tempered frizzen.." I think they mean a well hardened frizzen?

You can have the hardest frizzen possible, but without judicious tempering, it will shatter like glass. Tempering takes (some of)the internal stress out of the metal, and changes the crystalline structure of the metal, allowing it to be hard, yet flexible.

 

[rich pierce]

Since spoarks are incandescent bits of sheared off steel from the frizzen, the hardness obviosly affects this. Harder is not necessarily better. Often tempering to 375 Fahrenheit improves spark.

 

[bpesteve]

Posting a link to a site that has been placed on our "no post" list will alter the URL when it appears.

There is nothing wrong with our "URL link button".

Ah, I understand. Sorry!

 

[Stumpkiller]

"Tuning" can also require altering the cock angle and other mechanical changes to improve the function of the lock. Luckily, most you run into lately are pretty good. Some of the old Belgian and Spanish made locks were horrible. The flint jaws would hold the frizzen slightly open at half-cock or a regular length flint would hit the pan when fired.

As mentioned earlier: now it mostly involves smoothing the burrs and possibly some work on the sear.

 

[Dphar]

Many times, for me at least, it means changing the tension of or otherwise modifying/making a new main or frizzen springs. Usually making a new mainspring, perhaps putting a roller on the frizzen or putting a cam on the frizzen spring to change its break over point.
Sometimes in involves changing the angle of the cock to tip the flint down a little. It might also include bending the face of the frizzen to radius it somewhat.
This all depends on what the individual lock needs. My usual problem with a lock is a weak or flabby (slow) cast mainspring which usually means making a replacement and tuning the frizzen spring tension and breakover point.

Dan

 

[paulvallandigham]

A tuned lock has all unnecessary friction eliminated, so that the various parts move smoothly and as fast as they are designed to move. A tuned lock has the angle of the jaw set so that the flint scrapes metal off the face of the frizzen and Throws the sparks into the pan, rather then gouging the frizzen, and the sparks rolling slowly down into the pan, maybe. A tuned lock has a fairly light frizzen spring, that is shaped so it only holds the frizzen closed, but puts no pressure on the frizzen whe the frizzen begins to open. The Tuned lock has a mainspring that has a slight let-off at full cock, so that there is some snap to throw the cock and tumbler over the top of the arc, and speed the edge of the flint into the face of the frizzen. A tuned lock has the pan set low enough below the touch hole, so that no powder covers the touch hole even when the pan is full. And, a tuned lock has the pan widened and polished to a mirror finish, the first to give a bigger target for the sparks through the using life of the flint, while the latter aids in cleaning powder residue from the pan before re-priming the pan so that moisture is not taken from the air to foul the priming powder. A tuned Lock has the Sear spring set correctly so that it is not contributing resistance to the trigger pull, or impeding the action of a set trigger to move the sear bar when the set trigger is released.

With all these characteristics satisfied, a flintlock is " tuned ", and is a joy to shoot. The main charge is actually firing before the cock finishes his stroke, and the shooter hears only a kBOOM!, with just that light " tick " sound as evidence of the flint striking the frizzen, rather than a separate Klatch-Boom, of an untuned lock. `

 

[Greenmtnboy]

Last spring I read Paul's thred on lock tuning.
I tuned my L&R lock like instructed and got much better lock time and much more accurate rifle.
Thanks again Paul.
:thumbsup:

 

[paulvallandigham]

You are very welcome. :v :hatsoff:

 

[ian45662]

What is the best way to go about polishing the parts on the lock to smooth them out?

 

[paulvallandigham]

ian: It really depends on the part that needs to be polished. Some need to be filed. Some need small abrasives to do the job. I use a lot of Caborundum stones of various shapes working on locks, but I also have jeweler's files, and a couple of draw files( the teeth only go in one direction, instead of being cross-hatched) I use when some serious filing needs to be done. I use a lot of fine emery paper, and emery cloth, and occasionally a Dremel Tool with a fine sanding disc in place.

You need to sit down with someone with experience to work with you on a couple of locks, doing one while YOU watch, and then you doing one while He watches and guides you. You might want to consider saving some money to take one of the NMLRA Gunsmithing courses offered each May at a college in Kentucky or Tennessee( I am sorry, I have forgotten exactly where). Top gunsmiths and gun makers teach the courses and they are outstanding educational opportunities. They are worth far more than the cost of attending, both in tuition, and in travel expenses, etc. Hershel and Frank House host a cook out and informal shoot during the week, and do demonstrations that are always enjoyed and educational to all assembled, no matter how many years a student has attended the classes.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I use the same surgical black hard Arkansas stones or white (extra fine) ceramic oxide stones as I would for a trigger job on a modern firearm. Be careful with a Dremel - it's the quicker screwer upper. I use crocus cloth around a dowel or the shank of a drill bit to polish the inside or holes, or laid flat on a board for polishing small parts without rounding off the edges.

 

[WRussell]

Check out the link for high speed video of a flintlock firing. The cock has most definitely finished its travel before the main charge goes off. In fact, long before the prime ignites. Fascinating stuff.

OK, forget it. Link doesn't work - must be a conflict with a advertiser or something.

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