Lyman Great Plains .54 cal percussion lock

[KennBarrett]

The Lyman Great Plains rifle, .54 cal, has a percussion lock that is case hardened. Is it possible to sand its exterior, polish to a smooth bright surface, then brown or blue its surface? I ask because I wouldn't want to begin sanding only to find the colour deeply extends into the steel. I also viewed what appeared to be a GPR that had all of its steel furniture with a bright polished finish. I was surprised by how uniquely attractive it was.

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

Color case hardening color is somewhat thin and can be polished out, however, depending on the process and depth of the case you may still see some mottled appearance when the piece is blued or browned.
.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

The Lyman Great Plains rifle, .54 cal, has a percussion lock that is case hardened. Is it possible to sand its exterior, polish to a smooth bright surface, then brown or blue its surface? I ask because I wouldn't want to begin sanding only to find the colour deeply extends into the steel. I also viewed what appeared to be a GPR that had all of its steel furniture with a bright polished finish. I was surprised by how uniquely attractive it was .

I have been taught that there was a lot of case hardening done, but that the multi-color effect was not considered good when in the flintlock era, so they would normally polish the lock to get it back to a smooth gray color. I'd bet that since it's likely cosmetic on the Lyman rifles, and that you've seen other Lymans with the color of the case hardening polished off, that it will do just fine.

LD

 

[arcticap]

The Lyman Great Plains rifle, .54 cal, has a percussion lock that is case hardened. Is it possible to sand its exterior, polish to a smooth bright surface, then brown or blue its surface? I ask because I wouldn't want to begin sanding only to find the colour deeply extends into the steel. I also viewed what appeared to be a GPR that had all of its steel furniture with a bright polished finish. I was surprised by how uniquely attractive it was.

I wonder if the lock that you saw was one of the stainless locks that Lyman has offered in the past.
I'm not sure if they were specifically available on the GPR, but I've seen other Lyman models with one including the Deerstalker on this page: --->>> https://www.spokaneguntrader.com/viewtopic.php?t=125461
I would be concerned about removing any beneficial hardening that's been applied to the lock plate.
If the one that you saw was stainless then your polished steel may not look the same or be as bright, and maybe not as hard as it was.
Would it be more susceptible to rust, pits or scratches over time?
Perhaps the lockplate can be electo-nickeled to resemble matte stainless or some other process can be applied.

The Lyman GPR manual states about the lock:
"The exterior is finely finished and color case-hardened as were the guns of 150 years ago." --->>> https://www.lymanproducts.com/media/user/file/h/a/hawken_plains_rifle.pdf

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[AntiqueSledMan]

Hello Kenn,

The color should be only on the surface.

AntiqueSledMan.

 

[tallpaul]

ya could get a replacement lock...

 

[arcticap]

ya could get a replacement lock...

They do sell just the lock plate.
The part number is in the manual that I listed above.
But the lock plate won't match the color of the hammer unless you give both the same treatment.
And then there's the color of the other parts and furniture.

 

[tallpaul]

They do sell just the lock plate.
The part number is in the manual that I listed above.
But the lock plate won't match the color of the hammer unless you give both the same treatment.
And then there's the color of the other parts and furniture.

well I was thinking a complete L&R replacement

 

[Gus Chiggins]

Hi Ken. I have an old TC Seneca lock in my parts bin that is pretty rough looking so I decided to see just how much effort it would take to remove the coloring. It's not Lyman (Interarms) but probably pretty close to the same. It only took a very little sanding with a fine grit foam sanding block. Maybe 20 seconds. ]

 

[Gus Chiggins]

I'm going to disassemble the lock this evening and try some bluing remover on the other spots and the hammer. I feel another project coming on.