Doc Cherokee, SASS#48332 Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 I've been working on my Jim Chambers flintlock for nearly a month now..It came with a set of instructional DVDs that are actually pretty good, and I have some friends I can consult when I hit snags as well..My inletting work ain't the best, but this IS my first build..I figured I was going to play he** ever getting the thing to actually trip the sear, sometimes one has to disassemble the rifle repeatedly in order to get it to work right..Add to this the fact I went too deep inletting the triggers and wound up having to shim them up a little..Then today I spent the day inletting the lock...Just for the heck of it I decided to try and see if the thing would even halfway work, so I clamped the lock in place, put it on full-cock, set the rear trigger, touched off the front trigger and VOILA! I got a nice shower of sparks! Guess I'm better at this than I originally thought! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apache Hawk 60642 Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 I've been working on my Jim Chambers flintlock for nearly a month now..It came with a set of instructional DVDs that are actually pretty good, and I have some friends I can consult when I hit snags as well..My inletting work ain't the best, but this IS my first build..I figured I was going to play he** ever getting the thing to actually trip the sear, sometimes one has to disassemble the rifle repeatedly in order to get it to work right..Add to this the fact I went too deep inletting the triggers and wound up having to shim them up a little..Then today I spent the day inletting the lock...Just for the heck of it I decided to try and see if the thing would even halfway work, so I clamped the lock in place, put it on full-cock, set the rear trigger, touched off the front trigger and VOILA! I got a nice shower of sparks! Guess I'm better at this than I originally thought! Doc...I don't know a damn thin' bout buildin' a flintlock, but I do know a thin' or tree bout "big heads"....... Yur gettin' mite close ta havin' one ! Please post a video wif ya shootin' it when finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Cherokee, SASS#48332 Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 Doc...I don't know a damn thin' bout buildin' a flintlock, but I do know a thin' or tree bout "big heads"....... Yur gettin' mite close ta havin' one ! Please post a video wif ya shootin' it when finished. :lol: No worries Hawk..I'm actually scared to death I'm gonna screw it up somehow! Usually one has to put it together, try it, take it back apart again and do some filing and polishing, then put it back together-Repeatedly! And I opted for double set triggers, which I was afraid would complicate things even more..Just dumb luck I got it to work on the first try! Now if I could only get so lucky with the lottery.. I'm putting this gun together from a kit, and even though it's mostly inletted it's still a heckuva challenge..But I'm having fun putting it together, and it's giving me a lot of insights into what it takes to build a shooter..And I have to say My hat is off to those master builders from back in the 1700's that could build those beautiful old longrifles from scratch, even the barrels, locks, and trigger assemblies..They had no electricity, no drill presses or power tools and worked by candlelight..Everything was done by hand,..And they built some of the finest rifles that at the time, were considered the best, most high-tech firearms one could own.. I hope to get some pics and video going not only for the flinter, but other stuff as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Those long slender rifles are things of beauty, no doubt. Would like to see what you end up with. With my limited skills, I will leave that project to those more suited to it. Good luck. What caliber? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Cherokee, SASS#48332 Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 It's a .54 caliber, with a swamped Rice barrel and a Golden Age lock..The swamped barrel gives it great balance! A buddy of mine has a .58, but .54 is plenty big enuff for me..I wouldn't be afraid to hunt elk with that caliber out to 100 yards.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 It's a .54 caliber, with a swamped Rice barrel and a Golden Age lock..The swamped barrel gives it great balance! A buddy of mine has a .58, but .54 is plenty big enuff for me..I wouldn't be afraid to hunt elk with that caliber out to 100 yards.. :ph34r:/> A 54 sounds like big medicine for an elk. Most elk hunting around here is under 100 yards. I have a .58 and I would think that is too big for most deer/elk size game. Destroy too much meat. Of course mine is a military and shoots a ,577 minie ball. That said, I would imagine that a patched round ball would do similar damage. I think that .54 is a good choice if you plan to hunt elk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowhouse Sam # 25171 Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Doc ya got lucky cuz generally the lock is inlet before the triggers. That's unless they indicated where the plate shoul be positioned. Don't worry about messin up so much. A famous builder told me once that the mark of a good maker was the ability to make mistakes look like they belonged there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Cherokee, SASS#48332 Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 Actually the lock area was pretty much inletted, along with the trigger opening and barrel channel..Although it still needs to have a bit of fine-tune type inletting done, quite a bit more as it turns out..Also it wasn't inletted for double-set triggers, so I had to open it up quite a bit, and that was flying by night, so to speak..But yup, I did get purty dang lucky! I got the sideplate in and the lockplate drilled and tapped today, still getting good spark, but now I'm getting a bit of a gap in the pan against the barrel that wasn't there before I mounted the lockplate..Unacceptable, as priming powder can sift through and create a buildup..Then one day ya touch off a load and the lock blows off! Yikes! :blink:/> I'll get 'er fixed though..Somethin's got in a bind once I tightened it down I reckon.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowhouse Sam # 25171 Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Yep, ya can't have any gap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Footloose 1797L Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Doc. I built one of them once. It took quite a while. I first used a raw piece of wood for the stock. By the time i got the barrel channel cut out with hand tools I decided that a precut stock was a better way to go. This was back in the day of Siler locks. It shot pretty good and I won a match or two with it. But it was never finished. Never start shooting it until you are finished. Once you start shooting them they never get finished. I still had the nose cap to pin on when it was stolen out of my truck. I never did recover it but I will know it if I ever see it. You can always build a new stock for it if the first doesn't turn out the way you like. And you will learn from your mistakes. Footloose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G #1840 Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 If the lock is pulling away from the barrel try adding a little shim at the bottom of the lock where it contacts the wood. Tightening the lock may be pulling the lockplate in farther on the bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Cherokee, SASS#48332 Posted January 1, 2013 Author Share Posted January 1, 2013 Got it fixed..The area around the front of the lockplate is inletted a little too deep, once I backed the screw out a little it went back to where it's supposed to be..I'm probably going to put a shim underneath it..Sorry to hear about your rifle, Footloose..Hope you get it back someday..Mine has a Golden Age lock, which is reputed to be as good (or better) as a Siler, and the parts are interchangable with Silers..I'm definitely going to do the finishing before I shoot it, an unfinished stock is too much at the mercy of the elements, and I want it as weatherproof as possible..The stock on mine is a rather expensive upgrade-Curly maple with an awesome figure in it, so I've got to get it right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 You know we are going to want pictures of it when it is finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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