Inside a Mowery box lock

[GARD72977]

I have the Mowery taken apart and I have to say I am not impressed. The design is flawed. You can see the machined ring (shiny spot) If you look close you can see another ring inside that one. It is where the sear is wearing on the brass frame. It causes the hammer to become mis-aligned with the nipple.

I am thinking of turning a bronze bushing with a lip. Drill out the hole and machine a recess in frame. Press the bushing in and file it down on the outside (flush) and use a mill to machine it down inside until the trigger and sear will mesh on center. (hope that was clear. Then polish the part of the sear that rides on the bushing. I think this would keep it from wearing out.

Im not a gun smith so any suggestion is appreciated.

60688

After I get the action working Im thinking of re-barreling it. Not sure why I like it but I just do. This is one heavy rifle.

[Metalshaper]

if its an older Onley, Texas version.. the tumbler only has the hammer axle on the right side??
later "improved" models by Deer Creek had a tumbler with a second axle on the off side supported by the
side plate. This improves the function of the action and prevents the hammer from leaning over and thusly
wallering out the hammer hole or galling inside the frame..

You may be able to order the replacement tumbler from Deer Creek?? and work to fix it that way? I did this for a guy
who had an older model that suffered some of the same difficulties you show..

Just a Thought??

Respect Always
metalshaper/Jonathan

[GARD72977]

Not a bad idea. I am really starting to worry about the brass braking when I try to unscrew the barrel .

[Maven]

GARD, Is the bbl. *****? If not, why not keep it and try it? I.e., Kroil, 0000 steel wool, followed up with white auto body compound on tight patches (and a bit of elbow grease!) may restore it. Btw, I have a Deer Creek iron framed .50cal. (.495" RB) Mowrey, which is quite accurate inspite of its rather chintzy lock work.

[Rattus58]

I have the Mowery taken apart and I have to say I am not impressed. The design is flawed. You can see the machined ring (shiny spot) If you look close you can see another ring inside that one. It is where the sear is wearing on the brass frame. It causes the hammer to become mis-aligned with the nipple.

I am thinking of turning a bronze bushing with a lip. Drill out the hole and machine a recess in frame. Press the bushing in and file it down on the outside (flush) and use a mill to machine it down inside until the trigger and sear will mesh on center. (hope that was clear. Then polish the part of the sear that rides on the bushing. I think this would keep it from wearing out.

Im not a gun smith so any suggestion is appreciated.

60688

After I get the action working Im thinking of re-barreling it. Not sure why I like it but I just do. This is one heavy rifle.Heavy guns are accurate. The idea of doing things that make sense to you that meet the engineering requirements that you indicate, are certainly options that ifn it were me... I'd be doing if I knew what I was doing... :-D

[GARD72977]

bbl is not in bad shape. It has a stuck ball in it. Don't know if it has powder behind the ball or not. This make it interesting to work on. Some one tried to pull the ball and broke the tip of the ramrod off in the bbl. The rifling looks pretty strong. It may be a good shooter.

[Green Lizzard]

i love those kind of projects

[I'll Make Mine]

Sounds like you need a CO2 ball discharger to get that ball and broken rod out before you go further with the barrel.

[fouronesix]

:mrgreen: Ya, I think the first thing to do is get the stuck "whatever" out of the bore. Just got one out today. A friend found an older Pedersoli 45 cal plain jane cap lock abandoned in a building. It had something about the length of a loaded PRB in the breech end. I also noticed that the brass jag was missing from the ramrod. Humm sounds familiar. There was a good amount of rust around the breech and lock.

I pulled the nipple out and turned out the drum. Sure enough some coarse (about FF BP) grains trickled out of a kind of rusty mess. Replaced the drum and put some FFFF in the flash channel under the nipple and replaced the nipple and put on a cap. Put the rifle in a tire- aimed at an old stump, ran some string from the trigger around the corner of the shop. Pulled the string and pop-ssst-boom. Mission accomplished. Have to wait 'til the snow melts and it warms up to dig the "whatever" out of the stump. I'm betting a brass jag + roundball. I cleaned the gun, but unfortunately the bore is sewer pipe toast. The lock is well made and is very smooth and the nice one-piece stock looks to be decent walnut. Just never ceases to amaze me how poorly some people treat firearms- especially muzzleloaders. Such laziness is hard to understand. I guess everything is supposed to be easy, clean, quick, with no understanding or study required- just disposable. :(

[lmcollins]

What you did in shooting it off scares me. You did not know what the load consisted of, or how big, if any, space there was between the ball and the powder. DANGEROUS.

I had a brass frame 54 caliber Mowery long ago. It seems like the hammer pivoted on the hammer side on the hole through the frame, and the off-side from the hammer went into recess in the side plate. Maybe the hammer was through the side plate, and the pocket was in the frame. It has been so long ago that I cannot remember which was which.

I think that if I were to start playing around with it I'd want to bush BOTH sides with steel. Do one and use it to locate the other. Maybe drill, and then ream? Solider the bushings in? Loctite green or red would work too to hold the bushings?

It is a poor design. I never did shoot mine much. Mine unscrewed easily. The thing I do remember is that there was a gap between the action nipple, and the barrel female thread bottom. If you take it apart put some antisieze or the like on the joint.

[fouronesix]

What you did in shooting it off scares me. You did not know what the load consisted of, or how big, if any, space there was between the ball and the powder. DANGEROUS.


Believe me I was absolutely "terrified" pulling that string while standing behind a bullet/shrapnel proof barrier! :roll:
Nonsense.

What would scare me is leaving that loaded muzzleloader circulating around in a population of non-shooting, clueless public (the vast majority by the way). Or even someone else fiddle dinking around in their shop trying to unload it.

[Nobade]

That sure beats the guy in gunsmith school who got the welding teacher to warm up his stuck breech plug with a torch so he could unscrew it and it nearly shot another teacher in his office when it went off.....this one was intentional!

Just another reminder to check any muzzle loaders you might be looking at to buy - I have found several loaded ones in pawn shops for sale. Gun shops know to check but often pawn shops aren't so savvy about firearms.

[bob208]

when i used to work on muzzloaders. the most common job was to get something that was stuck out of the barrel. the fun really starts when something gets stuck and then they work on it trying to get it out. i always said if you think there id something stuck set it aside and think a little. from what i have seen over the years that best thing a person could do is throw that ballpuller away far away.

[rmark]

'I had a brass frame 54 caliber Mowery long ago. It seems like the hammer pivoted on the hammer side on the hole through the frame, and the off-side from the hammer went into recess in the side plate. Maybe the hammer was through the side plate, and the pocket was in the frame.'

I have a .50 made like this, with the shaft riding in a socket on the left side, protruding for the hammer on the right side. In my case the shaft seems too short to fit securly in the left side socket, so I still have wobble in the hammer. I may solder a washer on the inside of the left sideplate to increase the depth of the socket (currently experimenting with a washer and masking tape to see if it helps).

[Airborne Falcon]

I'm about to send mine off to Bob Hoyt for a little tender loving care.

Found this thread interesting - gave me some more ideas - thanks. Here's mine - have had it since 1976.

http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx7/gallopazzesco/gunstuff/IMG_20140611_010121_467_zpskjergpsi.jpg

[curator]

No body should try to unload a muzzle loading rifle until they learn how to do it safely. This includes "gunsmiths" with no knowledge of muzzle loader technology. NEVER put a torch to a loaded muzzle loader. If the ram rod does not go to the breech when put down the barrel assume the load and ball puller are stuck in the breech. There are two ways to remove this from a muzzle loader breech; pull the breech-plug or use a Zerk fitting and high pressure grease gun to push the offending plug from the barrel.

[joatmon]

Airborne Falcon What are you having done to yours?

Thanks Aaron