What's the damage likely to be?

[dromia]

More misinformed nonsense ...

If you ask a wide circle of people for advice, and search around on the Internet thoroughly enough ... that's what you get. :)

Second hand books and old gun magazines offer a greater reference material. Books and magazine articles were "peer reviewed" and bad ones never saw more than one print. A keyboard and an ISP has turned so many clueless amateurs into "experts" almost overnight....

Isn't that just the truth.

My book shelves, the library or bookshops are always my first port of call if I want to know anything. Rarely the internet unless it is to find a book.

My current companion is my well thumbed copy of Walter M Cline's " The Muzzle Loading Rifle Then and Now"

One of the joys of old guns is that there is a lot of material contemporary to the time written by people who used the guns and were true experts as they were recognised as so by their peers, unlike the internet where experts are now self proclaimed.

If the issue of internet's cavalier, glib and superficial "content" wasn't so serious it would be laughable.

Still at the end of the day it isn't the content that is sad but the fools that choose to believe it.

[Dark Skies]

Well, it turns out there's bugger all to this gunsmithing lark after all. Bought a kit of parts from Henry Krank for about £34, a nipple wrench, and some decent Grace screwdrivers.

Watched the very excellent Mike Beliveau's vids (below) and had at it.
https://youtu.be/ui5uXl33n8g
https://youtu.be/wzs3xYeTERc

The cylinder stop guides were a bit ropey with some burrs - I cleaned those up with a Swiss file to leave nice crisp edges and hoicked out some impacted debris. Replaced the knackered nipples whilst there - feint smear of Copperslip on the threads to make removal easier.

The edges inside the pistol frame around the mechanism were a tad sharp with burrs. Gave those a quick dressing with some 400 -> 600 wet and dry paper wrapped around a metal nail file.

The new hammer was a bit tight - slightly thicker than the one that came out. I put a vernier across the width of it in places and found it had some high spots. Bit of judicious dressing on some 400 wet and dry laid flat on a bit of plate glass rubbed evenly on both sides/ Followed up with 600 paper. Made sure all the new bits were free from burrs, dressed as required. Cleaned everything off, lightly lubricated, and replaced everything back in its place - didn't bother changing the main hammer spring as there was no need. Only replaced the worn parts shown in the pic.

I was surprised to see everything worked as it should right from the getgo - had expected to have to fettle the cylinder timing but everything functions nice and crisp - indexing perfectly.

Cleaned up the witness mark running the circumstance of the cylinder from stop guide to stop guide using various grades of wet and dry and finished with wire wool and then Autosol. Looks better than it did but not perfect. I didn't want to run the risk of rounding the edges of the guides.

All a bit of a doddle really - don't know what the fuss was about. :)

[1066]

Excellent job - It's really not rocket science is it. These are very simple machines designed a hundred and fifty years ago using fairly basic machinery.

[dromia]

It would be churlish to say "I told you so".

Regardless it is still the fact of the matter.

[Dark Skies]

:)

I'm pretty sure right at the start I said something like 'Pffft, piece of p***' or something like that.

[channel12]

Excellent job - It's really not rocket science is it. These are very simple machines designed a hundred and fifty years ago using fairly basic machinery.

"Victorian" engineering at it's finest designed to be dismantled, repaired and reassembled with simple hand tools.

I don't copperslip the nipples, removed every time the gun is cleaned and replaced "finger tight" only with light oil on the threads.

[bradaz11]

let it not be said that I ain't churlish

told you it wasn't rocket science, bet you even found it fun!

[Dark Skies]

let it not be said that I ain't churlish

told you it wasn't rocket science, bet you even found it fun!

If it hadn't have worked out so well though it'd be a whole 'nother story.

[dromia]

However some of us on here stuck our necks out in making the totally unfounded assumption that you were not a completely handless, useless, blind, incompetent, gormless, witless, cretinous, numpty.

In this particular case you vindicated our faith.

[Dark Skies]

However some of us on here stuck our necks out in making the totally unfounded assumption that you were not a completely handless, useless, blind, incompetent, gormless, witless, cretinous, numpty.

In this particular case you vindicated our faith.

:)
I'm already making plans to buy another in a sad state and modding it a bit.

See, this is what happens. I bought a motorcycle thirty odd years ago as a sensible commuter - next thing I know I've a crapload of tools and a hacksaw and am pulling things apart and 'improving' things for the rest of my life. Clearly I haven't learned from that expensive venture.