Blunderbuss for comments

[fernando]

So far so good.
After half hour trying to unscrew the lock, applying extreme force with a cross handle screw driver, a local fellow collector managed to pull it out. Another hour to treat the interior with penetrating oil and fortunately all parts functioning again. It was all about never been touched for long, long time; rust and dirt. Actualy all parts are in a fair good condition.
What apparently has no solution is the spring that has no tension against the frizzen's toe; we stuck in its interior some wood spacer to spread it a bit, in order to gain back some tension ... only to prevent the frizzen from tumbling loose.
Now the local (competent) stock maker is going to reconstruct the 'splinter' that is missing in the forend.
Will show pictures of both details when i pick ut up from the stock maker.
And, last but not least, i have strong hopes to get a propper ramrod from someone who cared to answer my appeal.

[Kmaddock]

Hi Fernando
If you have any metal working friends you could re anneal the spring
First heat red hot and let cool slowly in very warm sand over period of few hours, I warm the sand in the oven and then put spring into the tray of sand back into oven and let it all cool down slowly, strictly a job when wives are out of the house.
It will now be soft and you will be able to bend it to desired stretch
Then heat it red hot and quench it in cold water to harden it, it now will be v hard and brittle
Next you heat to a blue colour and quench in oil, whale oil is recommended but I use engine oil
You will find this works perfectly and there is a great satisfaction in getting these old guns back operational
Lovely gun by the way congratulations on a fine acquisition
Regards
Ken

[Shakethetrees]

Originally Posted by Kmaddock

Hi Fernando
If you have any metal working friends you could re anneal the spring
First heat red hot and let cool slowly in very warm sand over period of few hours, I warm the sand in the oven and then put spring into the tray of sand back into oven and let it all cool down slowly, strictly a job when wives are out of the house.
It will now be soft and you will be able to bend it to desired stretch
Then heat it red hot and quench it in cold water to harden it, it now will be v hard and brittle
Next you heat to a blue colour and quench in oil, whale oil is recommended but I use engine oil
You will find this works perfectly and there is a great satisfaction in getting these old guns back operational
Lovely gun by the way congratulations on a fine acquisition
Regards
Ken

Please check it over well inside and out with a magnifying glass before you do any heat treating or bending!

I did this a while back and found out the hard way when it suddenly broke, turning it into a pattern for a new hand made spring!

[Ken Maddock]

Originally Posted by Shakethetrees

Please check it over well inside and out with a magnifying glass before you do any heat treating or bending!

I did this a while back and found out the hard way when it suddenly broke, turning it into a pattern for a new hand made spring!

Hi
I assume you were looking for cracks, maybe a tread on home gun smithing tips and repair advice would be worth while.
I have a great method for removing stuck screws which I am going to employ tonight, I will photograph and show method and hopefully a positive result
regards
Ken

[Shakethetrees]

I look forward to your post, and I think a thread as you propose would be of benefit to this forum.

Is there some way to do it in both the European and Ethnographic categories, as it could benefit both.

Originally Posted by Ken Maddock

Hi
I assume you were looking for cracks, maybe a tread on home gun smithing tips and repair advice would be worth while.
I have a great method for removing stuck screws which I am going to employ tonight, I will photograph and show method and hopefully a positive result
regards
Ken

[fernando]

I will have to ponder on the situation when i pick the gun from the stock maker. Will check if the frizzen stop and cam are complete and the problem doesn't reside there, which i don't think anyway. The guy that managed to unscrew the lock plate also tried to unscrew the frizzen spring and gave it up after some effort assuming, by experience, that this type of screw might brake instead of turning off. The stock maker, whom also is a gun smith of modern shot guns, didn't see with good eyes the idea of dismounting and retempering the spring. I don't have other resources around and, remember, this would be a case of having the thing functioning only for my visual satisfaction ... not for shooting. Finding an original spring with the correct shape out there, is not an easy adventure. Another not risky alternative would be, instead of placing a wooden wedge between the spring leaves, glue a little rigid (steel) bar over the superior leave so that, the spring would still tension up, while with the previous solution the spring gets rather stuck.
I am sorry if these 'solutions' are not esthetic but ... i just can't stand to have the frizzen dancing loose up and down.

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[Marcus den toom]

Why not just simply remove the pancover/frizzen instead and welt some material on the "toe"of the frizzen instead? The spring is still perfect, only the pan has been worn at the contact point (sorry for the inaccurate technical terms).

Also if you are really hell bent on getting the screw of the frizzen spring off than you could try heating the lockplate at that area from the opposite side (so not at the spring side, otherwise the spring will loos tension, but at the inside).