By Ron Geppert
Over two decades ago, I acquired a French 1822 T-Bis percussion pistol in .69 caliber made by Chatellerault, but it was missing the hammer and screw. I finally found a hammer from a Westley-Richards lock that was close enough to fit. To determine the thread pitch and diameter for a hammer screw, I folded a piece of wire solder in half and then screwed it into the tapped hole. It was not pretty but produced enough threads to tell me it was not a standard pitch but was fairly close to something metric (Photo 1).
I tucked the nonfunctioning pistol into my coat pocket and headed for the specialty fastener section of a local hardware store. So as not to arouse concern for having a gun, I secretly tried screws until I found a metric socket head screw that would go in several turns before binding.
Returning home, the hex socket hole of the screw was filled with a MIG welder. I turned a “button” to the appropriate size with a hole in it smaller than the weld-filled screw head. The head was then turned down for a tight press fit in the button. After some careful shaping with files and cutting a screwdriver slot, I had my hammer screw (Photo 2). It was intentionally blued carelessly in an attempt to make it not look like a new screw.
The joint between the original screw and the button is visible but not noticeable from a trotting horse at several paces! Many people have handled the restored pistol and no one notices the screw is not original until I proudly tell the story. Most enthusiasts are so impressed by the bore diameter on this almost two century old pistol they fail to notice any imperfections (Photo 3).
The next project is to replicate a ramrod.
