North & Cheney conversion?

[The Elderly Kid]

A few years back I bought a repro North & Cheney/ Charleville 1777 from Dixie Gunworks. The N&C was the first American martial pistol and it was copied from the French Charlevile 1777, which had been imported in large numbers during the Revolutionary War. I let it sit around for several years before I tried shooting it and found that the lock was defective. I should have inspected it and sent it back as soon as it arrived, but unfortunately I didn't. I sent it to a repairer and he couldn't do much with it. A least it no longer dumps its priming but it doesn't fire very reliably, either.

Now, I figure some of these pistols, both US and French,  must have been converted to percussion and made their way west during the plainsman era. If I convert this, I'll have a pretty unique and reasonably authentic pistol to shine with. Does anybody know a smith who could convert this pistol with a period-correct caplock?
Thanks in advance for any help.

[Caleb Hobbs]

Howdy, Kid. I don't know of any gunsmith who would do a conversion, although I'd think there would be plenty who could harden the frizzen -- assuming that's at least part of the problem. Don't know if it is, but it's a common headache with a lot of commercial flinters.

As far as the Plainsmen period, I'm afraid the North & Cheny won't work even if it is converted. It's a pre-1803 model, and we've set a post-1803 time frame for TAPS.

[The Elderly Kid]

Thank you, Caleb. I guess I should've studied the rules more carefully. Seems a shame to bar the N&C, though, since it is believed to be the pistol carried by the Lewis and Clark expedition. The man who worked on mine did harden the frizzen, greatly improving its sparking, but I think a caplock conversion would make for a real brute of a pistol, almost a sawed-off 20-guage.

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[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

There are noticable differences in the effectiveness of different locks, but there are a few tips that might help it work better.  The re-hardened frizzen was one. Attention to detal in loading a flinter might also help;

- make sure the lock, pan, and especially the frizzen, are clean and dry.
- insert a touch hole pricker in the touch hole and leave it there until the final stages of the loading procedure.
- pour in a measure of powder and settle it by giving the piece a knock with knuckes or the heel of your hand.
- load the patched ball with starter and loading rod. make sure the ball is solidly down on the powder.
- remove the touch hole pricker. this leaves an opening for the flame from the pan to flash into the main charge.
- cock the piece and charge the pan ONLY TWO-THIRDS FULL, when the frizzen is closed.
- close the frizzen and give the lock a sharp knock with a knuckle to shift the powder in the pan away from the touch hole.

This may seem excessively finicky, but having a precise and effective loading drill works wonders.

[Tsalagidave]

I was browsing older threads and saw this discussion. If you really want a second opinion on what to do with that old horse pistol, I recommend contacting the following companies. In my opinion, they are the best options that I know of.

The Rifle Shoppe, Inc. (Jones, OK) http://www.therifleshoppe.com/online_catalog.htm
John Zimmerman (Harpers Ferry, WV) http://harpersferrycivilwarguns.com/home
Earl Kathan (Acworth, NH) http://flintlockrepair.com/
Knob Mountain (Berwick, PA) http://knobmountainmuzzleloading.com/index.html
Cabin Creek (St. Hallam, PA) http://www.cabincreek.net/

-Dave