Modern percussion or flintlock locks with coil springs

[4v50 Gary]

Our subject for today is compressing a coil spring on a hammer strut.

I hate modern locks that look like 19th century locks. Instead of "V" springs they use coil springs. OK, coil springs are easier to make and increases profits, but I swear the factories either have a gorilla or some sort of jig that compresses springs to allow for easy insertion of the retention pin.

I was thinking of making such a tool today out of round stock. It would have been placed on a lathe, faced, drilled out and then cut with a hacksaw by hand. This would have been followed by a file to clean up any burrs. A knob could have been attached to the other end to make it easy to use.

Well, I suspected there was a better way so I approached an instructor at TSJC. He inserted the retention pin and placed the spring atop of it. He then rotated the spring until it wound down the strut. DUH! I felt like an idjit, but at least I'm a smarter one and so are all of you now.

Oh, if the retention pin is temporary, be sure to use music wire for the retention pin. Paperclips are too ductile and will bend.

 

[BCRider]

Let me if I'm getting this right. After some consideration of what you wrote I gather he used the pin to screw the spring into place?

If that's the case then that's freaking BRILLIANT ! ! ! !

I'm going to store that away for next time I need to install a coil spring onto such a strut rod.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Yep, he showed me how to use the pin to screw the spring down onto the strut. He did try compression first.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Rossi Overland

My new issue is pressing the hammer onto the tumbler. I've placed them in copper lined jaws of a vise and squeezed them hard, but there's still play. The trouble with the play is that if the tumbler cants to the side because of pressure on the hammer, there's enough disengagement for the sear to slip. So now I'm thinking of using an arbor press to press (with a block beneath the bridle to support the lock and prevent it from being crushed) to push the hammer onto the tumbler.

My question is how did they assemble them at the factory?

 

[Jim K]

Some of the flintlock folks believe that coil springs are too slow for a good flintlock. Since I have no coil spring flint locks, I have no way of checking that, but thought I would pass it on.

At the factory, they would have use a spring compressor to install the coil springs; Brownells sells one type, but a "universal" squeeze type can be made by scaling down a valve spring compressor.

Jim

 

[4v50 Gary]

My biggest problem with this lock was not being able to press the hammer far down enough on the tumbler. This allowed for some side to side play and if the hammer was pressed to the side, it would swing the tumbler out of engagement with the sear, allowing the hammer to drop. No bueno.

The following corrective measures were taken:

1) Tumbler notch for sear deepened.
2) Top of sear filed lightly to allow the sear to ride higher into the tumbler, increasing the engagement surface (and creating a heavier trigger pull).
3) Tumbler hole on Shim for hammer/sear opened so as to allow the hammer to sit closer to the lockplate (this was the main culprit).

With these modifications, the hammer was pressed onto the tumbler in a copper jaw lined vise. It pressed down the furthest it has even been done by my hands. In fact, I slipped on the vise and was hanging on the handle to keep from landing on the floor.