3 Flinters with wood stocks?
 

My son and i have 3 Lyman flinters. When you buy these they come in a box unassembled. We have 2 Deer stockers and 1 GPR.
His is about 6 yrs old,mine are about 4 and 5? These have set in gun cabinets,in the gun rooms.
When put together,you have to almost drive the wedge pins in to the stocks! Last year his wedge fell out in the woods. I thought he had done something to his gun,than i lost one out of each of my guns!
I ordered new ones from Lyman and put them in. Well,these went in too easy and to handle the gun and they would fall out. What to do? I took them to a Black powder,Flintlock Gun smith! Went to pick up the gun and he brought it down from the rack,laid it on the counter and the dam wedge fell out,on top of the BILL. He done some more fixing,still no good. I took it home and done some to it and it stayed pretty well,i think!!!!
MY QUESTION IS: Being new,in a box,not put together,then assembled and put in a cabinet,does the wood shrink?

This is aggravating but not uncommon. You can put a slight bend in the wedge. You can dimple the wedge slot on the barrel. Another easy fix to see how serious this is... Cut some duct tape the width of the wedge slot. Put a couple layers in it. Then put the wedge pin in and see how tight it is.

Yes, as Cayugad says...

You can put a slight bend in the wedge pin. Grip it with a piece of leather (so you don't mar it) about 1/2 way up the wedge then clamp it firmly in a bench vice and tap it with a smooth faced hammer until you see a very gentle bend in it and then try it in your rifle. You shouldn't need much, just a bit.

Or, you can leave the wedge pin straight and alter the barrel lug a bit. Remove the barrel and lay it on a firm but padded surface and take the ball end of a ball peen hammer and tap on the center of the lug that the wedge pin passes through a gentle whack or two (remember, you're working with soft metal). Place the barrel back onto the stock and push the wedge pin through. Do this a little at a time until you have to tap the wedge pin through with a soft faced hammer. You shouldn't have any problems afterward.

! hope that gunsmith didn't charge much for a job "not well done"... IMO

BPS

We ened up peening the lug.
But,i still would like to know why they are tight and then,over time ,come loose?

On some rifles it even makes a difference as to what side is up or down. And on double lug rifles like the GPR, which pin came from which lug. You just never know.

I got a couple tc sidelocks that I can take them out with my fingers.....electrical tape it so it don't fall out in the woods :)

Amazing how different these rifles can be. My Traditions Woodsman the wedge is so tight I have to use a blade screw driver and a soft-faced hammer and hammer the wedge out. Going back in is even worse not only do I have to use the soft-faced hammer to drive the pin but extra care is needed to ensure the wedge does not push out the brass plate because the wedge and the opening are not lined up exactly right.

Well...

I know it's gonna sound biased, but I've never had that issue with any of my T/C rifles.

BPS

I have had the same problems with one renegade of mine and a new englander I have. Had to put the bend on one of them. In fact the Renegade was so bad, I used to duct tape the wedge slot and then it fit nice and tight. Finally... I had my friend make me a new wedge pin out of just a little thicker metal then the original. He's a machinist and can do miracles with metal.