Shotgun Forums banner

LC Smith Project Starting from Scratch Part B continued from Part A

1K views 4 replies 1 participant last post by  4575wcf 
#1 ·
Hey All
One hundred fifty posts and almost two years later, I think it is time to start another thread on the build. The old one is getting a bit lengthy to get through IMO.

You will remember at the very beginning of the build I stated the project would involve, fitting, jointing, stock work etc. My plan in general has been to bring the stripped receiver up to the point of needing barrels. The project should be completed to the point of having the receiver permanently fitted and glassed to the stock, the trigger assembly assembled and fitted, the top snap and the locking mechanism fitted and working, the stock worked down to 1/16 inch oversized on all external dimensions, with the butt plate and grip cap fitted, and given a temporary protective finish.

We are short of that goal a bit at post #150 but we are gaining on it. The stock is fitted and drilled for the stainless steel pillars. The top snap and locking mechanism are new made, or restored, and fitted to the frame, although the stock is not yet inlet for them. The butt plate and grip cap are not fitted, nor is the outside of the stock profiled.

Picking up here where we left off from part A, we are currently doing a bit of judicious fitting on the triggers, pending getting them looking right and pinned in place.

Pictures #1 and #2 we see the front and rear triggers respectively with a good amount of TIG weld added on pending a bit of finishing here at home.

Picture #3 is the front trigger caught in the jaws of my "inside vise" with the bulk of the TIG filed off. This is a pretty relaxing way to spend a wintery day at home, with new snow falling and not much opportunity to do much else.

Picture #4 when the bulk of the TIG is filed off, the trigger blades are gotten flat and even again by vising a double cut file, and drawing the triggers along the file, in effect a jointing operation. A smooth file is substituted for the double cut when the profile gets close, stopping when the trigger blades will just enter the slots in the trigger plate.

Picture #5 when the blades are smoothed enough to enter the plate, the triggers are once again clamped in the vise aligned, with the aluminum spacers between them, and the outside profiles are filed together.

Picture #6 this is where I stopped for the evening, the back trigger is ever so slightly too thick to slide into place easily, and the lobes on front are cleaning up, but not quite filed to finish profile yet.

Picture #7 this is an original set of LC Smith triggers from a FWT, recently offered online, although this set fits the three position safety. You can see as the fitting process has continued the triggers I have modified are beginning to take shape much like the originals--as they should.
 

Attachments

See less See more
7
#2 · (Edited)
Hey All
We have about 1-2 inches of new fresh fallen snow here on the Snake River Plain, with temperatures hovering just a few degrees above freezing, it is still a pretty sloppy mess outside here on the little farm.
.
It occurred to me this would be a good time to check the fit triggers to sears before I went any further on these triggers, now that they are beginning to get to a point to slide into place. I put the new rotary bolt, coupler, and top lever into the frame, and installed the pillar blocks front and back. The whole works was tightened in place using the usual hardware mush bolts to avoid thread damage in the frame until she is assembled the last time, an operation way down the road.
.
Picture #1--I modified yet another mush bolt to hold the left sidelock in its place. LC Smith tapped these holes for #8 x 32. This is curious to me, since I have had the small coarser thread series refuse to stay tight in other gun work. At any rate, that is the thread LC Smith used, and if any tendency for the external lock plate screws to back out shows up later, we will address the issue then.

Picture #2--The front trigger is slid into the left hand (rear trigger) slot in the trigger plate, and we can get a good visual check of how the final fit will look. My right hand lock lacks a mainspring, which I have but have not fitted yet, so I am using the left hand lock, but with the front trigger. By now you have guessed that the order of firing with an LC Smith double trigger gun can be reversed by simply switching the triggers in the slots, and I see no reason whatsoever to assume this is not the case, at least on this ca. 1927 FWT model. We are in good shape. Plenty of blade under the sear where we need it. More material needs to be removed from the lobe around the trigger pivot holes to allow the triggers to move forward a bit more, clear the front pillar and swing freely, and some material is left on top of the blade to remove during the final fitment of triggers to sears.
 

Attachments

#3 ·
With the triggers rapidly approaching the correct dimensions, I will set them aside until Monday morning next at work.. Provided a milling machine is open I will make another attempt to get the pivot hole in the front trigger drilled precisely where I want to see it. Then we can finish fitting both triggers up and getting them finally pinned in place. In the meantime another wear issue needs to be addressed.

Picture #1--The fit between the boss of the top snap lever and the matching recess of the frame is not tight enough. When the top snap is properly installed and sprung, there is fully .01 of side to side play in the lever. I am at a loss to explain this poor fit, I doubt the gun left the factory this way, although the lever is numbered to the frame and original. The lever seems to be too soft, and the electrolysis process perhaps removed rusted material from these mated surfaces. At any rate this issue needs corrected so I will have the lever boss TIG welded with some build up, fit and lap the surfaces for a smooth sliding fit with zero play. Then later 4575wcf's first attempt at color hardening (gulp) may produce a couple of good hard surfaces to prevent further wear.
 

Attachments

#4 ·
Hey All
Missed a post last week, my work didn't bring me in so I was out an extra week getting the top lever TiG welded. Full retirement is looming. I am going to sure miss those TIG guys at work. I guess I will have to pony up and attend some welding classes at the Community College and lay in some welding equipment. At any rate we got the top lever welded up and refitted this last week, and I was able to get the job out here at home.

Picture #1--This is the top lever with quite a lot of TIG weld added. The top lever is much too large now to enter into its counterbore so it is file and try at this point till we get a lot closer to size.
Picture #2--A bit of judicious filing on the bottom of the top lever, staying well away from any fitted surfaces at this point.
Picture #3--It is important to match your file to your work. We are using a small file with a safe edge--no teeth--against the shank of the top lever, an area where we absolutely do not wish to remove any metal while filing the worst of the welding bumps off the bottom surface.
.Picture #4--The lever boss is marked up with a Black Sharpie, and run in the counterbore with a tiny bit of Clover 500 grit lapping compound. The high spots light right up, and are filed off. Nothing really changes in this fitting process until the boss gets close enough to size to begin to drop into its counterbore.
Picture #5 and 6--The fitting process continues until the lever is within .005 or so of being solidly fitted along the boss radius, and into the bottom of the counterbore. At that point, we can switch over to the Clover lapping compound and get the last few thousandths. Lapping compounds, like any abrasive, have an annoying property of cutting on all surfaces and spoiling a fit, so we limit their use to the last stage of the fitting. Here we have complete freedom of movement with the lever from the extreme right position, to somewhat left of center, and only a couple thousandths or so side play. Any pressure applied now is transferred to the rotary bolt where we need it, and nothing lost in slack. The yellow arrow points to the only serious rust pit in this frame, we will get it touched up with a bit of TIG weld after work Monday, and then semi finish the top of the standing breech and the weld humps still on the top lever together.
 

Attachments

#5 ·
Hey All
Sorry to not be posting here of late, I have been working on the Stevens 335 (the Guinea Pig) trying to get it caught up with the LC Smith. I am going through the "try barrels" process again, only this time I incorporated extruded aluminum lugs so the barrels will hinge and lock like the real thing. I will do a picture post in the Stevens forum when I get them worked down a bit more and looking like a set of wooden barrels. Forends for the 335 are scarce and they get expensive, the same goes with the forend iron, so I will use the barrels to get some out if necessary, then the usual stocking etc.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top