M1879 Combination Tool Find

[butlersrangers]

Dick and I are forum friends. Discussing and pondering is a good route to learning.

I suppose, we can all agree that 'blind', clumsy, unskillful disassembly has permanently marred many handsome historic arms.
The U.S. Military Ordnance Department certainly knew this. Military units did have trained Armorers with proper tools and spare parts to execute minor repairs.

[Fred]

Just removing the lock from the mortise can do damage to the wood (place hammer at half-cock first) . . . Never mind disassembly of the lock proper!

An old timer taught me almost half a century ago to back off and loosen the tang screw a tad first before attempting to remove the lock.
Also loosen the mounting screws of the lock plate a tad before attempting to remove the barrel.
He said that this relieves the Pinching effect upon the part wanting to be removed and will reduce wood chipping off.

[Dick Hosmer]

Loosening the tang screw and the lock screws is an EXCELLENT way to remove both the the lock and the trigger guard (which, BTW, you should NEVER do unless you absolutely have to). In both cases you can tap on the screw heads to start the pieces out, all the while checking for impending chips, proceeding a couple of threads at a time. I always full-cock the hammer before taking out the lock - have seen case where half-cock wasn't enough to raise the spring out of the way.

[Fred]

Excellent advice from another Old Timer.
Thanks Dick!