[RDGAC]

Philip, thank you very much indeed for that useful information, in particular for putting me on to Lister's book; surprisingly it seems it's relatively easy to get hold of a copy (I'm looking at one going for ten quid, used) and I have no doubt that it shall serve me well.

Regarding the tool you suggest, I'm not really very well equipped, and nor is work; we don't actually own a vice (nowhere to put it even if we had one; our behind-the-scenes areas are based in a three-story Georgian townhouse) and I've been pondering whether a small G-cramp would be strong enough to hold the mainspring in place, to allow me to remove the tumbler. Having buggered up the barrel I'm in no rush to do the same to the lock.

In any event, I think I can probably manage to scrounge up the materials you suggest; a small hacksaw and the like will doubtless not be expensive, allowing me to cut the way you suggest. Whether I can do it well enough to make it work is another matter, but I did buy this guy intending to learn about working on flintlocks, so I guess I'll have to learn by my mistakes. A thought occurred to me last night, too: would a long, hollow metal tube with a sharpened end be useful? My theory was that a good steel cutting cylinder might allow me to cut the copper strands and/or the fouling (or whatever it is, which was definitely starting to give under repeated jabbing with my auger), and permit the whole lot to drop out of the muzzle.

Regarding the lock. If a G-cramp is strong enough to hold the mainspring in the right position, what of the sear return spring (is this the correct term?) and the frizzen/pan lid spring? I'm not eager to do this and then find I can't get the bloody sear or frizzen back on the lockplate; speaking of which, I'm fairly confident that the cock is rotating pretty freely. There's a good, wide clearance between the two, and the cock certainly moves smoothly when the trigger is pulled, despite snagging on the half-cock notch.

Incidentally, it's good to see that I have a well-worn lock; it makes me very happy to know that this old beast has seen some serious use!

Edit: A thought that occurred to me over lunch is that the threads on this lock are, by and large, adequate at best. Indeed, as mentioned, the fore screw of the lockplate is dire, with the thread barely cut into its end, giving it very little purchase on the lock itself. Interestingly, however, the tang on this barrel is threaded into a small hole just above the plug, and seems to have been made fairly well (it certainly holds together, when suitably tightened); a later addition, perhaps. I'd suggest, as an explanation, that perhaps cutting the large, deep threads necessary for a threaded breech plug, with sufficient consistency in quality to form a reliable gas seal, was beyond the ability of most local metalworkers, if the evidence of their smaller screws is anything to go by. Indeed, the tang screw on this jezail is square in section for most of its length, and none too straight at that.