Moukhalla

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by rickystl

And here is an exact duplicate of an original English snaphaunce lock, copied from a rare surviving original English made long gun from the early to mid 1600's. There are suddle differences in the European made locks and the Moroccan copies. Note the swinging safety arm. The lockplate is wider to more easily accomodate the stock in converting an English matchlock to a snaphaunce. Where the narrower plate on the Morrocan locks would accomodate their narrow stocked guns.

Hopefully, the Moderator will allow the use of this replica in this case for comparative purposes? Thank you.

Rick.

Rick, what is the story behind this replica snaphaunce lock, who made it, fantastic work.

[blue lander]

This doesn't fill me with confidence about the strength of the metal used in this lock, but I was able to bend the sear tail enough to almost straighten it out. I need to bend it a bit more, but it's enough to make the lock engage.

[rickystl]

Originally Posted by estcrh

Rick, what is the story behind this replica snaphaunce lock, who made it, fantastic work.

Hi Estcrh.
The replica was made by The Rifle Shoppe, in Jones, OK. Except for the springs and screws, the lock parts are exact castings made from an original lock. Eventually, I'll have a gun made utilizing this lock. They offer a number of early locks for guns.

Rick

[RDGAC]

Hi folks,

First, thanks for the compliments; she's a nice old thing, albeit far and away the oddest single gun in my little set so far.

Second, re: locks: I can well believe that these things aren't heat treated; however, I'd be interested to see what the workmanship of the highest-quality North African locks was like. I know that one of my jezails has a native-made lock, and it too appears to be largely devoid of any heat treatment (or if there was any, it wasn't done very well), but my other two both have British locks in them, which unfortunately doesn't make for a good basis of comparison.

Below are some more detailed piccies of my lock. There's still a fair bit of rust on, as you can see, but the worse is gone and the lock can move, albeit a little slowly. The pan shows evidence of quite significant erosion, but whether this is by localised corrosion or the deleterious effects of powder burning nearby I don't know.

Oh, and rickstl: Mine appears to have been made with holes for three screws but attached to a gun with only two holes drilled in the stock. There's no evidence that I've spotted that there ever was a third, central, hole.