doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Older side lock guns

I don't recall this topic coming up before and so thought I'd point out a bit of experience gained over many years and guns. I don't think I ever got a side lock gun, percussion or center fire, that didn't have loosened internal screws in the locks. Using a gun in this condition has got to raise the risk of expensive damage. The first thing I do with a new acquisition is to tighten those screws. If you have an older gun you haven't checked, you may want to do so. If you don't feel qualified to do this, it won't cost much to have it done.

Bill,
Thanks for the heads up, although I usually have a strip & clean on new acquisitions, that specifically newer occurred to me.
Karl

How old of a gun would you expect to see this in?

Any age.
Only real solution long term is to Loctite them all in place but simply tightening them up is a good first step.
On a properly stocked British gun, the minimum inletting of the locks means that the pins aren't going anywhere but obviously they shouldn't be loose.

I can't speak for other gun makers but I have L.C. Smith's. I take every one apart and clean them, some have never been taken apart. The inletting for the locks is so tight that the screw heads are seen in the wood and I have never seen any of the bridle screws loose. The axle pins for the sears are screw posts on the locks and the outside of them are rounded to look like a pin.
I have seen outside screws loose and many buggered by not using the right screw driver.

I think 90% of the repairs I have done or had to pay for were to repair previous repairs. Very few things wore out from my use. It is a good tip to check if functional problems may just be a minor issue of a loose screw.

I think Toby ought to be the final word here. He's absolutely right that they can't back out far due to great inletting. As for Loctite, be careful not to make your locks permanently assembled.

Well Billy, you have really never offered anything of value or substance here, and this thread is no exception.



I wouldn't expect to see this. A screw could certainly come loose in any gun, but this most likely is an example of the Democrat Chicken Little rocky mtn bill screaming an alarm to take attention from his unrelenting support for anti-gunners and new gun laws to restrict the rights of law abiding citizens.

I have had plenty of side lock guns apart, and can't recall a single loose screw internally in any of them. If anything, the opposite is true, and that explains the many threads over the years where guys were asking for advice on removing a frozen screw, or one where someone already did damage attempting to remove one. Tang screws sometimes become loose, and this can lead to stocks cracking due to movement under recoil. The cause is not that the screw itself backed out, but that the old wood has shrunk somewhat over time... especially in very dry climates. Care must be taken when tightening these, because flexing the tang or trigger plate can affect the trigger-sear geometry.

If Billy knew anything about using Loctite, he would have suggested the appropriate types, and correct application techniques, to ensure the ability to remove the screw in the future. The Loctite 222 (Purple) is low strength and good for fasteners under 6 m/m. The Blue 242 and 243 are also for smaller fasteners, and also work well when only a very small dab is applied. We're not mounting scopes on a .460 Weatherby Mag. here

I seriously hope that my "screaming an alarm" hasn't caused anyone here tear his hair out. Bear with The Organ Grinder. He is severely challenged but tolerated here, perhaps for that reason or maybe because he has something on Dave, who knows? What is truly impressive about The Organ Grinder is that if his experience doesn't coincide with someone else's, he automatically knows that person is operating out of some sinister motive. Toby Barclay seems to recognize the problem, but what does he know? No one's opinion matters here but The Organ Grinder's.

Not saying it couldn't happen. As Toby said, it certainly could. But, I've shot sidelock percussion rifles and shotguns, and L C Smiths, and sidelock hammer guns hard for 30 years at least, and never had screws to loosen on any of mine. Yes, I've checked them when cleaning and lubing the locks.

I agree with Toby's assessment that a properly inlet gun will not let the screw back out much, but I've never had them to even loosen. My son reminds me occasionally that I have a tendency to over tighten fasteners, tho'.

It's never mentioned but, the percentage of thread engagement has a bearing on how well a screw stays tight, too. The higher the percentage the less likely for it to loosen on it's own.

SRH