Tower Flintlock Pistol

[TarponStalker]

I recently acquired this Tower pistol. I know nothing about it other than what I’ve read on this forum. After making sure it wasn’t loaded I tried a small Rich Pierce flint to see if it would spark as I read the frizzens are sometimes not hardened enough. This flint was the closest I have. No spark at all. Plus the cock position seems strange. The attached photo is at half cock. It sure is close to the frizzen. The correct flints will barely stick past the jaws. The other thing I’ve read is possible issues with the breech plug. I pulled the lock but not the barrel yet. I can’t even find a line connecting the plug to the barrel. Also note it’s an octagon to round barrel.
Any ideas on the caliber? I know it’ll take a chunk of lead to fill the hole
How do I go about hardening the frizzen?
Sorry for all the questions but
I know I’ll get answers

 

[nchawkeye]

Flint is too small (short) plus it should hit the frizzen about 2/3rds of the way up, it's hitting the frizzen too low...

 

[hawkeye2]

A very inexpensive Made in Japan pistol probably from the 1960s. It would have sold for about $30 and would have needed work to make it shoot even when new. The top jaw of the cock is touching the frizzen and holding the flint from touching. You may not be able to remove the breech plug. The frizzen will need hardening and the springs adjusted. They can be made to shoot if you have the time and patience.

 

[TarponStalker]

Thanks for the replies but keep in mind this is at half cock. If I use a longer flint it will be pushing the frizzen open at half cock. At least that’s what it appears.

 

[TarponStalker]

I also found the letters GR? on the lock. Any thoughts
on what that means?

 

[hawkeye2]

G R, George Rex, king of England, there is a crown above it.

Look again at your photo of the gun at half cock. You will see that the top jaw of the cock is already touching the frizzen but the flint isn't. The cock screw will very likely strike the top of the frizzen before it opens given the current situation. It needs a longer flint, try one but ignore the half cock. and see if it works. I wouldn't be surprised to find the nose of the sear broken off causing the problem but it wouldn't surprise me to find the half cock notch in the wrong place on the tumbler either. Mine has the same lock but the cock is vertical in the half cock position and yours is too far forward.

 

[Nathan55770]

I think they're around .65-.69 in caliber but you should definitely get it measured if you really want to know.

 

[Flintlock_bob]

I have one, bought it new as a kit and it was my first BP gun, still have it. However mine is a full round barrel. The timing in your lock is wrong as previously mentioned., mine at half cock would be at about 11 o'clock, i.e. left of vertical. Mine is supposed to be .69 caliber but mics out at .66 cal. I use sawn (agate?) flints. The lock work is horrendous and slow, but I have to say as long as I wipe the soot off the flint and frizzen it goes off every time even with well battered flint.

 

[Nathan55770]

I picked one up at a gun show recently and had a similar experience, mines more like .65 caliber. I haven't fired it yet but it seems like it wouldn't be the most reliable thing but its cheap for a reason.

 

[fox.44]

bought mine new for 20.00 back when i was young,got it sparkin and one day i loaded it with a wad of toilet paper and fired it,WOOF the wad landed on my garage roof burning,, 3 of my good neighbors had their hoses out and we lived happily everafter ,collected a lot of guns and never fired wadded toilet paper in to the air again,,
I guess ill get a lot of guff about this from some that never did anything like that .
And i still have the gun OH it is a round barrel and made in Japan, and like i said it happened MANY years ago.. FOX.44

 

[rafterob]

Before attempting to harden the frizzen, get a longer flint. You will need to cock to full and then set the frizzen in place. Not ideal, but that's the reality on that gun. You may see that you get sparks at that point. As mentioned these were very inexpensive so some of the fine details may have been overlooked.

 

[rickystl]

I own one of the Indian made British Dragoon pistols purchased years ago from MVTC. When I received the pistol it had the exact same problem as the OP's. No flint would work in the jaws at half-cock and allow the frizzen to close. The half-cock notch was simply cut at the wrong location on the tumbler. So I sent the lock to Earl Kathan to see what might be done, figuring he would half to make a new tumbler.
But what Earl did was to heat the tumbler shaft, and ever so slightly twist it. Then hardened the frizzen and tuned the springs. Sounded crazy at first, but it worked. Lock sparks great. Of course, Earl had the skill set to try this. If I tried to do that I would have ended up with a piece of molten metal. LOL If you look closely at the photos, you will notice the hammer sits at a point that looks like it's somewhere between uncocked and half-cocked. But it's actually at full release in the photos. A bit odd, but the lock functions just fine.

Rick