Flintlock.

Qball

Qball

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I really like the Pennsylvania/Kentucky black powder rifle and is planing
to build one from an old barrel i have.
But i need a flintlock, tried to search different "parts buy/sell"
on farsebook to no help. Thats why i ask here, what should i expect
to pay for a used lock? Repro or old original. I know that "Dixie"
have new ones for $150 and up, but were to find used ones?
 
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There are several muzzleloading website I visit often. Google traditional muzzleloaders. There is always guns and parts for sale.
 
New ones from Siler, Davis and L&R are up into the $130/150 range now unfortunetly. Buying parts to 'build' a rifle is going up.

Quite often a 'new but never used' lock can be bought second hand for a little less, and maybe including the shipping.
A lightly used lock or one that has been fitted (drilled for the side lock screws but the rifle never completed) goes up for sale for around $100+.

I often see them on the ALR forum (American Longrifles Forum) in the classifieds section. They go fast though!
American Longrifles - Home - a site dedicated to the study and building of the American longrifle

click on ALR Forum ,,,then 'To Classifieds Forum',,,then to 'Items for Sale /Wanted'.
Good bunch over there.

I'd stick with a modern recent made repro from one of the above mfg'rs.
There are plenty of Spanish, Belgian and Japanese made repro flint locks out there from the 60's and 70's and even newer (Maslin (Spanish), Dixie Gun Works locks from the 50's & go's were Belgian for the most part). Many were serviceable locks but not top materials built for long service. I used some of the Dixie locks to build rifles in the early 70's.
But they are getting near 50 y/o now and worn. They can be fixed and some parts are available.
The easier soln for those is generally to buy one of the several 'replacement' locks that L&R or Davis makes that simply drop-in and match the inlet for these popular older locks. But you are back up to the above new lock prices again..

Any original hand forged F/L in decent condition is a collectible in it's own right and should be preserved as it is IMO.

Ebay is another source as always of M/Ldr parts and locks as snubbyfan points out. Sometimes the bidding gets crazy, but with some searching and luck you can find some decent deals especially if there is a Buy-It-Now at a good price and you happen to be the first interested person to see it.

There is lots of info on that ALR forum in the 'Gun Building' section. Personal opinions of certain mfg'r locks and styles are discussed quite often and the Forum has the same demeanor as this one does.
Dennis Glazener runs the ship over there and does a nice job of it,,and builds some nice rifles too!
 
Thank's for all tips.
I'll try to follow them up next week. Lots of work this weekend :(


Missed out on a pair of brass flintlock's for about $160 here in Sweden
 
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I best friend is a train (apprenticed) flint lock gunsmith. He has never has a product from CVA that didn't need rebuilt from the factory!

Quality parts can last for generations, so keep an eye out for good used parts too.

As a side note, he has a couple of muskets from our French and Indian War (ca.1750's) and they are as accurate and functional as when they were first made (that's 75-80% of attempts!)

By the American Civil War (AKA: War of Northern Aggression)(ca.1863) most military Muskets were rifled and used percussion caps; functionality was up to around 95%, which caused about 1/2 million causalities in 4 years.

Ivan
 
Go to dixiegunworks.com . They are located in Union City Tennessee. The have a good website. I buy all my muzzleloading stuff there. I don't know if they will or can ship to you, fun website to look through anyway. They list 29 different flintlocks for building rifles.
,
 
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Well... my dog found out my plans to spend some "fun" cash
so now he cant walk... has to make a trip to the vet and check his back.
Guess all the money will be spent there 😩

After all ... family first.
 
re: Dixie Gun Works,,they have raised their prices on locks quite a bit recently.
A Siler flint that you can buy from Chambers (who produces the lock) for $175,,goes for $225 from Dixie. Similar price differences on L&R and other maker locks from them.
Track of the Wolf usually keeps the price in line with the going market but as always it pays to do a little on-line shopping,,you can save quite a lot sometimes.

Knob Mountain is a good place for stock pre-carves. He will also just inlet the bbl and drill, drill the ram-rod hole and rough turn the butt portion. This is a great time saver and leaves the builder to inletting all the rest of the parts from scratch in the blank as well as the shaping and finishing.
I've done business with them in the past and they do very nice work.
Knob Mountain Muzzleloading

Another M/Ldr supply:
MBS Online Catalog
They too have most all the lock brands. The popular Siler flint is $175 from them too.

Stonewall Creek Supply I've bought a lot of parts from. I usually catch up with owner at Dixon Gun Fair in PA.
stonewallcreekoutfitters.com – Everything you need to build or fix your muzzleloader and flintlock rifle..

Just a few of the supplyers I've had contact with. You can make most parts from scratch too. Plenty of info around the M/Ldr sites on how-to. Materials are generally simple cheap all ready on hand types, but many of these places carry sheet stock, ect in steel, brass, German silver,,ect.


Q-Ball,,hope your puppy is OK,, they come first!
 
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CptCurl said:
Flintlock rifles are really fun and challenging. Good luck with your search.

For fun, here's a very short video clip showing me firing my .54 cal. flintlock in slow motion:

Flintlock 54 26 Dec 15 - YouTube

Lots of fun!
Curl
Click to expand...

Cool.

Me shooting my (now sold) Brownbess 😆
Easy to understand my alias "Qball" 😂
 

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Qball said:
Well... my dog found out my plans to spend some "fun" cash
so now he cant walk... has to make a trip to the vet and check his back.
Guess all the money will be spent there ��

After all ... family first.
Click to expand...

As they say, "Life happens while we plan our future".
Hope your dog turns out OK.

p.s. If /when you get back to your rifle project, it might be more economical to buy a beater rifle and to use as a hanger queen. My guess is you'll need allot more than a lock before your done. Good luck and
 
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Wee Hooker said:
As they say, "Life happens while we plan our future".
Hope your dog turns out OK.

p.s. If /when you get back to your rifle project, it might be more economical to buy a beater rifle and to use as a hanger queen. My guess is you'll need allot more than a lock before your done. Good luck and
Click to expand...

Thank you sir.
He got some meds and no jumping/running for three weeks.

The former owner treated him very disrespectful
and lifted him in a totally horrifying way last year.
(she lived next door at that time)
He screamed in pain and his problems started after that. :mad:

As for the project, i have a donor rifle with a cap lock that i want to convert to flint. :D
 
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