Question regarding early Lyman Trade rifle

[CaptainKirk]

I have a Lyman Trade Rifle (Investarms) that I purchased new in the mid-'80s. It's .50 cal in percussion. Recently when talking with one of my buddies he suggested that the Trade and GPR rifles could possibly be able to switch between flintlock and percussion by removing the snail and lock, and threading in a touch hole liner and flint lock such as the L&R replacement for the Lyman GPR. I never heard of such a thing...is this possible, or would you need a different barrel and possibly have to modify the stock to clear the frizzen and pan (I would want to be able to shoot it as a caplock as well)? Has anyone heard of this (or tried it) and what were the results?

 

[user 48679]

IMO it would be a conversion from capgun to rocklock, but a switchlock would be a non-starter.

Although the rifle can be converted by changing the breechplug, it's inadvisable to switch back/forth, as it will most likely weaken the threaded joint, increasing the possibility of failure.

 

[CaptainKirk]

IMO it would be a conversion from capgun to rocklock, but a switchlock would be a non-starter.

Although the rifle can be converted by changing the breechplug, it's inadvisable to switch back/forth, as it will most likely weaken the threaded joint, increasing the possibility of failure.

That's sort of what I expected. Thanks for the reply!

 

[Grenadier1758]

A barrel with the breech plug and replacement flint lock will cost just about as much as a complete rifle.