• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades

Breaking in a lock

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

ebiggs1

69 Cal.
Joined
Apr 27, 2009
Messages
3,893
Reaction score
11
Do you suppose flintlock locks need to be “broken in”? I have several name brand locks and think I have noticed this phenomenon. I will only mention one here. It is my oldest and is an L&R. From day one it shot 8 or 9 times out of 10 and I was unimpressed with it as compared to my TC locks. It now has many 100s, possibly 700 or 800. It never misfires now and is as smooth as glass. I shot it 35 times Wednesday and again Saturday trying to learn cut patches. It is a grand lock.
 
Not sure if its the lock breaking in or my learning curve for that particular lock kicking in. There always seems to be some initial frustration with a new lock that seems to go away after a few range sessions.
 
I have a Traditions that was terrible at first. I was lucky to get it to go off once out of three tries! :cursing: It was my first flintlock, and I almost gave up on them as a result.

Now, after more than 1000 balls down range and a new frizzen, it is very reliable. But I am unsure whether the lock has gotten better or I have gotten better at setting everything up! :idunno:
 
friction is a locks enemy. I polish all my lock's friction points as part of my lock tuning regiment, it makes a big difference in speed. I'm sure wearing down all the burs and irregularities is causing less friction and making the lock function better.
 
The lock on my TC seems to be getting better with age. It is my first flinter. Not sure if the lock is actually getting better or if I'm just getting fully initiated in the hoo-doo magic needed. :grin:
 
I have owned 2 T/C rifles, both of which were Hawkens. One was a caplock and the other was a flintlock. Both locks were pretty good right out of the box. However, I chose to lightly stone the seers on both to make them as smooth as I could. I used a fine ceramic stone and worked very carefully so as not to round the edges of the trigger seer or the notch in the tumbler. I flushed each part with automobile brake cleaner before reassembling. I then applied a very light coating of an excellent gun lubricant. It made a noticeable difference in the smoothness of the locks.

I have heard of, but not tried, folks achieving the same thing removing the lock from the gun and putting toothpaste in the assembled lock. Then just working it over and over while watching TV. Toothpaste has a very fine abrasive in it and will polish the lock internals. The abrasive is extremely fine and will take a good bit of time and patience but it is reported to work very well. It, too, must be thoroughly washed out of your lock, and the lock lubricated, before returning it to service.

Lastly, one can do as you have done and just shoot it until the seer and full cock notch have worked themselves smoother then when you first got the gun.

So, yeah, you are quite likely to see an improvement in your lock over time as the parts wear in but there are ways to speed this process as I have listed above.
 
I have occasionally seen frizzens that "improved" with use. I chalk this up to surface decarburisation during heat treatment. In plain language the first .005 of the steel's surface lost some of it's carbon. After some use the flint is now worn through the softer steel and is cutting the hard stuff underneath. Most lock makers do lightly grind the frizzen face for finish, and this will normally take care of this.
 
I have never experienced lock break in. I KNOW I got better at handling the lock with the first productions rifles. By the time I got to using the name brand locks on builds of my own, all but that L & R 'Dickert' worked with excellence right out of the box they were mailed in. The L&R had a frizzen spring that didn't let the frizzen go all the way forward unless the stone was exactly right. And when it set on top of the jaw of the cock it did not light the pan. L&R gave me a reshaped frizzen spring and then it was very reliable.
But 'break in', no.
volatpluvia
 
My most recent flinter has a large Siler lock and it has worked almost perfectly since new. Ther is no noticeable delay in firing and it always works. Love this rifle
 
ebiggs said:
Do you suppose flintlock locks need to be “broken in”? I have several name brand locks and think I have noticed this phenomenon. I will only mention one here. It is my oldest and is an L&R. From day one it shot 8 or 9 times out of 10 and I was unimpressed with it as compared to my TC locks. It now has many 100s, possibly 700 or 800. It never misfires now and is as smooth as glass. I shot it 35 times Wednesday and again Saturday trying to learn cut patches. It is a grand lock.

No. With some provisos of course :grin:
But sometimes frizzens will suffer decarb when heat treated and may need a light touch on the face with a belt sander to get through the soft surface. Shooting the lock will also cut off the soft decarburized surface and the spark will then get better.

Dan
 
I now have about a 100 rounds through the second "new" L&R lock and it is sparking much better. I think you may be correct.
 
Back
Top