1841 Mississippi Lock Plate

[Niederlander]

Gentlemen,  Does anyone here know how close the lockplate on the various reproduction 1841's are to the originals?  I realize the internals are unlikely to interchange, but I'm curious as to how close the reproductions are.  Can lock parts for the originals be make to work in the reproductions?

[Rebel Dave]

Most repo Miss Riffle lock plates are just remarked Zouve plates. None of them are made the same as originals, so none of the parts will interchange. It is getting hard to find even repo  Zouve, and Miss lockplate parts, and they all suffer from bad, or not even, heat treating problems. About the only thing close to an original is the size of the plate itself, everything else is a no go.

 ReEbel Dave

[Niederlander]

Would it be possible to fit an original lock?

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[Blair]

Niederlander,

Are you asking about a repro or an original?
They can be, and maybe very different, similar but different, depending on which one you want to place in which firearm.
My best,
 Blair

[Niederlander]

I'm talking about fitting an original lock to a reproduction rifle.

[Blair]

In their day, the '41's were truly interchangeable.
You will find there can be quite a bit of difference between the repro's depending on the manufacture.
Hopefully the repro lock will not be oversized. This not only looks bad, but you may have problems with getting the lock bolts to line up.
The repro '41's use a reproduction of the Remington "Zouave" type lock plate. The mainspring are different in the 2 models. Removing wood from the inside of the lock area is not too bad.
My best,
 Blair

[Tsalagidave]

I recommend contacting the Rifle Shoppe in Jones Oklahoma.  http://therifleshoppe.com/ This is their specialty.  If you have an original lock, they can make the parts if needed and give advice as to the best way to mount original hardware to a repro stock.

Also check out S&S Firearms http://www.ssfirearms.com/Download%20Catalog.asp for spare parts.

Overall, therifleshoppe.com specializes in museum grade restoration while S&S has a great amount of original and repro parts. 

I've always wanted to build a period correct repro M1841 using an original plate.  If this is what you are doing, please send pictures as it comes along.

-Dave

[treebeard]

Another good source for original and reproduction parts is lodgewood in whitewater, wi. You might have to call them as they have very extensive inventory of parts that are not listed on their website.