Blackpowdersmoke
40 Cal.
Hey, any of you skinners ever dealt with one of these? This is the lock from my neighbor's .45 Flintlock imported by Ultra-Hi and made by Miroku Japan. It's a clone of the old CVA Kentucky with the two-piece stock. We are trying to get a reliable spark out of this lock and having some trouble. I have polished the toe of the cam and top of the frizzen spring as well as the pivot screw and the holes it rides in butter smooth using India and hard Arkansas stones along with 320 paper. Disassembled the lock and did the same with all the bearing surfaces and she works pretty slick now but still not getting a good spark. This lock takes a very small (short) flint, and the one shown in the picture is in the jaws just for the picture because it's a ceramic flint that was sent to me to try by a man that manufactured them and it never worked well on any lock I've tried it on. Neither one of us had any flints of the proper size as our rifles use 3/4" flints. I managed to get a fair spark with an old flint that was worn down bad and I knapped enough of an edge to make it work somewhat, but not reliably. I'm not so sure that the frizzen is soft because the flint(s) don't seem to be gouging it, as a matter of fact, they don't seem to scrape it hardly at all. I was thinking about having it rockwell tested before we try anything like re-soling or Kasenite. The frizzen opens smoothly so, could it be that the mainspring is too weak? If so, where could we find a replacement? He is willing to spend a few dollars on it because it was given to him but not go overboard (he isn't trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear). Here are some pics of the lock and frizzen. Thanks in advance for any/all input.
BPS
BPS