We have an original M1863 Springfield rifle musket that was "sporterized" after the war. The forend was shortened to a half-stock with only one band remaining, the barrel was reamed smooth, and the original sights were removed and a simple bead sight was installed. Most of them had a single, crude ramrod pipe affixed to the underside of the barrel. This was done to thousands of these old guns to make them more appealing to the post-war civilian market and they are not particularly valuable.
This particular gun belonged to a family friend when I was a child. He was a good man. This gun had been in his family for several generations. It was not functional, but my dad fixed it up to shoot in the early sixties. He tuned the lock and may have replaced the mainspring. He also fabricated and installed a replacement for the missing ramrod ferrule, and for some reason welded up the nipple seat and redrilled and tapped it for a .250"x 28 sporting nipple. I know our friend had it and shot it after my Dad fixed it up, but he eventually succumbed to lung cancer and his family kind of went to pieces after his death. His property was dispersed.
It's a long story and I don't think I even know all of it, but the upshot is this gun stood in the corner of a barn for the last 50+ years and no attention was paid to it. I now have it, although I'm not sure at this point who its rightful owner is. I'm in the process of cleaning and conserving it. Since I know people will ask, I did check to make sure it was unloaded, and I'm only killing and cleaning off live rust, without removing the patina. The nipple is frozen in place and the breech is soaking in kerosene until I can get to it and try the nipple again. I don't think the barrel will be "shootable" after all is said and done, though, due to extensive corrosion. However, after a good cleaning and lubrication, the lock works better than most of the new production locks you see these days, and ticks as smoothly as a Swiss watch when it is cocked. The trigger is light and crisp. Externally, the stock looks as if it was beaten with a log chain, and it also has a few age cracks, but it is structurally pretty solid. I've started rubbing in some linseed oil, which the wood seems to appreciate. With a new barrel, this gun would be a shooter with some real character.
My question is about the internal lock screws for the bridle, sear, and sear spring. Only one head is slightly buggered, and it isn't bad. They didn't want to turn at first, but I got the screws out after soaking the lock in kerosene for three days. The threads are not terrible, but they ought to be cleaned up or "chased." However, I don't have a tap or die to fit them. They are a non-standard thread, and don't fit any of the threaded holes in my Brownells Screw Checker. A thread pitch gauge appears to show 26 TPI, and the diameter seems to be closest to a #10. However, they don't fit in the unthreaded #10 hole in the Screw Checker, and they are not as big as a #12. The side nails are #12-24 (and in surprisingly good shape), but I need to know the size of the internal lock screws so I can get an appropriate tap and die for cleaning up the threads. I'll also need to find the tap and die. My usual source for tools for weird threads (Victor Machinery) does not list a #10 or #12 tap in 26 TPI. I suppose these screws might be metric, but I didn't think that would be likely. I think they are probably closest to a #10-26, but wanted to see if any of you fellows know for sure what size these screws are supposed to be.
Thanks!
Notchy Bob
This particular gun belonged to a family friend when I was a child. He was a good man. This gun had been in his family for several generations. It was not functional, but my dad fixed it up to shoot in the early sixties. He tuned the lock and may have replaced the mainspring. He also fabricated and installed a replacement for the missing ramrod ferrule, and for some reason welded up the nipple seat and redrilled and tapped it for a .250"x 28 sporting nipple. I know our friend had it and shot it after my Dad fixed it up, but he eventually succumbed to lung cancer and his family kind of went to pieces after his death. His property was dispersed.
It's a long story and I don't think I even know all of it, but the upshot is this gun stood in the corner of a barn for the last 50+ years and no attention was paid to it. I now have it, although I'm not sure at this point who its rightful owner is. I'm in the process of cleaning and conserving it. Since I know people will ask, I did check to make sure it was unloaded, and I'm only killing and cleaning off live rust, without removing the patina. The nipple is frozen in place and the breech is soaking in kerosene until I can get to it and try the nipple again. I don't think the barrel will be "shootable" after all is said and done, though, due to extensive corrosion. However, after a good cleaning and lubrication, the lock works better than most of the new production locks you see these days, and ticks as smoothly as a Swiss watch when it is cocked. The trigger is light and crisp. Externally, the stock looks as if it was beaten with a log chain, and it also has a few age cracks, but it is structurally pretty solid. I've started rubbing in some linseed oil, which the wood seems to appreciate. With a new barrel, this gun would be a shooter with some real character.
My question is about the internal lock screws for the bridle, sear, and sear spring. Only one head is slightly buggered, and it isn't bad. They didn't want to turn at first, but I got the screws out after soaking the lock in kerosene for three days. The threads are not terrible, but they ought to be cleaned up or "chased." However, I don't have a tap or die to fit them. They are a non-standard thread, and don't fit any of the threaded holes in my Brownells Screw Checker. A thread pitch gauge appears to show 26 TPI, and the diameter seems to be closest to a #10. However, they don't fit in the unthreaded #10 hole in the Screw Checker, and they are not as big as a #12. The side nails are #12-24 (and in surprisingly good shape), but I need to know the size of the internal lock screws so I can get an appropriate tap and die for cleaning up the threads. I'll also need to find the tap and die. My usual source for tools for weird threads (Victor Machinery) does not list a #10 or #12 tap in 26 TPI. I suppose these screws might be metric, but I didn't think that would be likely. I think they are probably closest to a #10-26, but wanted to see if any of you fellows know for sure what size these screws are supposed to be.
Thanks!
Notchy Bob
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