Anyone ever scratchbuilt a cap lock

[Beekeeper]

Was just wondering about maybe scratch building one.
I have an old Meridan open hammer shotgun that I can't find a foregrip for and the hinge is toast anyway.
Was toying with the idea of using one of the locks to make a caplock rifle.
Do you think it could be done?


beekeeper

[twotoescharlie]

I have built several from old shotgun locks , you will have to get hammer blanks and possibly make a new sideplate, but they will work.

TTC

[RwBeV]

Thats the beauty of a ML you can build one with a Hack saw, file, and a drill. I have built many muzzle loaders from old parts. I built a double flint lock from old set of 16ga. barrels the only thing that was factory was a set of Siler lock kits. The wood was a chunk of Mertal wood that I found in a pawn shop the breach plugs and breach system I built myself, the under lug was a piece of rail road spike, the barrels, trigger and trigger guard, entry thimble and butt plate where all salvaged from an old gun that a friend of mine found in the mountains of CO. So yes it can be done, you just have to be a little creative once in a while.
Bob
http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee481/RwBeV/DSCF2339.jpg

[John Taylor]

Before I became a full time gunsmith I made many muzzle loaders from scratch, lock and barrel included. There's a big learning proses that you need to go through, not only learning how the parts work together but which parts need to be hard to hold up. Get video Gunsmith of Williamsburg and see how it was done 200 years ago.

[An_Orphanage]

When I was 12 and my father was teaching me how to use a lathe and mill, I made two 50cal caplock pistols from scrap barstock, 3/8" scrap plate (for trigger/sear and hammer), and some oak floorboard. The only parts I bought was a nipple and a leaf spring.

I've not built any since, but converting a shotgun back shouldn't be very hard, youd just need to seal the breach and as twotoescharlie said, make new hammers for it.

Best of luck to you on your project, just like casting, building your own muzzle loaders is super fun and rewarding.

[curator]

Find someone locally who does Tig-welding and he can weld an extension on the hammer nose so you don't have to make a whole new one. Biggest problem with using a former shotgun lock is the lack of half cock. None the less, I have made several that worked just fine. I even made a pistol out of the left lock by mounting it backwards on a saw-handle butt-stock. Great fun and you will learn a whole bunch along the way.

[John Taylor]

I had forgot about a mule ear that I made several years back.
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l132/johnptaylor/muleear3.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l132/johnptaylor/muleear2.jpg

Or the under hammer which is also a cap lock.
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l132/johnptaylor/UHengraving.jpg

[Milsurp Junkie]

John, the under hammer is awesome!
Is the trigger guard really the hammer spring? Two moving parts: the hammer and the trigger?
Nice half cock sear and a very light full cock sear (I missed seeing it the first two times I looked at the image). Do you have any drawings of the hammer and trigger unassembled?
What caliber? I am guessing 32 caliber. That looks to be an awesome squirrel or bunny gun.

[John Taylor]

John, the under hammer is awesome!
Is the trigger guard really the hammer spring? Two moving parts: the hammer and the trigger?
Nice half cock sear and a very light full cock sear (I missed seeing it the first two times I looked at the image). Do you have any drawings of the hammer and trigger unassembled?
What caliber? I am guessing 32 caliber. That looks to be an awesome squirrel or bunny gun.

Hammer , trigger and spring are the same as the old H&A, still available from deer creek (765-525-6181)