[Ken Maddock]

Hi all
I do a good bit of home repairs on firearms, in ireland a few flintlock and percussion guns come up at auction and go for big money, what tend to sell for cheap are weapons needing a bit of work which is totally understandable.
I used to steer away from those guns but a while back I got a lovely Brown Bess in perfect condition but the hammer was shorn off and I took it on as a project.
The screws holding on the side plate were completely seized
Below is method used to remove screws
Gun in question is a 1830 percussion pistol, lot of issues but got it at a good price and it is nice to have a project
Step one is grind screw driver till a perfect fit in the slot
Then put into lathe and push both parts of lathe together to ensure the driver head can not slip out of the slot in the screw
Very gently rock the chuck and screw will come out, I find actually tightening the screw initially gives better results
As screw is being un screwed move part of lathe back to ease pressure,
Result as I hope you can see is screw out
Always soak the part in diesel before to get some penetration of the metal to ease the removal

Has worked for me loads of times, if no lathe a pillar drill can be used to same effect.

Hope pictures below explain process.
I have loads to do on the gun but will document and update as things progress
Regards
Ken
The picture of me with punch is final removal of the side plate so is out of sequence