Brad Emig is my go to for locks. He has done at least 3 for me. Fair price, quick turn around and real sparkers when they return. Can't go wrong with Brad. Good luck.
I have fixed a few 'lock' problems by looking to the stock and how the lock was inlet. Not uncommon for the lock internals to be rubbing against the wood of the inlet. I little scraping can often 'fix' the lock. Not to be overlooked is that many rifle owners use too much force when tightening the lock after removal and replacement.Not sure why you’d have to ship the whole rifle to tune a lock. Most quality locks today don’t require a lot of attention. Just some general smoothing and polishing. Where the average guy can get in trouble is changing angles on sear and tumbler. Can get dangerous in a hurry.
Got to know your limitations.
Sounds like a good gig for me when I get to old and tired to go out in the cold and up on a ladder to bring in some income. I'll be brushing up on this skill set as it seems an interesting and enjoyable need to be filled in the muzzle loading family. Already have the hand tools , heat treating equipment and shop machinery.Brad Emig is my go to for locks. He has done at least 3 for me. Fair price, quick turn around and real sparkers when they return. Can't go wrong with Brad. Good luck.
Let me refine my post please, because in addition to tuning for spark, I was having an issue with powder falling out of the lock, and for that, he needed the whole rifle because he was concerned that my lock may not be perfectly inlet (not a custom rifle).Not sure why you’d have to ship the whole rifle to tune a lock.
Why not buy a good lock to start with?
When I checked into tuning one of my flintlocks, the struggle I had was that you have to ship the whole rifle, not just the lock. Shipping out and back gets pricey, and for the rifle that needs to be tuned, that plus the cost for tuning is nearly the cost of the rifle.
I just finished tuning up and older L&R about a week ago and after working on Siler/Chambers locks they are definitely a few cuts below in quality of parts and fit. I could copy make a tumbler and sear from solid stock but would certainly take some time.Good point, but not everyone is dealing with a new lock or even if they are, most things can be improved upon. A couple of examples:
1. A used gun that happens to either have a lock with a lot of use, or maybe it was never done properly in the first place. My second flinter was like that. Beautiful gun that was well built, but the L&R Queen Anne on it was, I've been told, of a vintage where apparently they were having some issues with how well they hardened the frizzen...perhaps a base metal issue in what they used in production. I can't remember. Brad Emig had it sparking like crazy in no time. Overall, I'm not impressed with L&R and it wasn't just that lock.
2. I bought one of Roundball's rifles when he was liquidating. Roundball is as meticulous as one can get in his firearms and their care. On all of his custom guns, the Chambers locks were sent to someone in TN or KY (I sure wish I had the name and address yet) that reworked and tuned the lock. I've had several Chambers locks but never, ever one that was like the one on that gun. It was unbelievably silky smooth in function and was so fast it was actually noticeable over any other lock I've had...even the one Brad fixed up for me (of course that was an L&R to start with). Whoever did that tuning was clearly exceptional in that kind of work. That lock taught me that even what is considered as a high quality lock can be improved upon by the right person.
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