british sea service lock

A few years ago while in a second hand book shop, the owner who knew my interest in all things firearms and engineering offered me a box of "gun bits" he had acquired in a house clearance. It turned out to be mainly rubbish but amongst the junk was a flint lock in good condition marked "tower" to the rear of the hammer. I have never used the lock , but i was wondering if the lock was from a rifle or pistol ? Were there two different sizes eg one for the rifles and one for the pistols ? I would like to use the lock if possible to build a british sea service naval pistol as a wallhanger.

Several different sizes actualy.

I'll take some measurements and put them up here , maybe someone would know what firearm it is from.

hotoSmile:

Right, i measured the lockplate, its 6 1/2 inches in length and 1 1/4 wide (top to bottom) it has tower engraved behind the hammer and a crown in front of it, without the "GR" engraving. Also the hammer (correct term ?) has no border engraving, as i have seen some on the web which do. It seems very large to be from a pistol, so i am guessing it from a musket ?

Kind of a puzzle, for sure. From British Ordnance specifications pistol locks ran about 5 &1/4", carbines 6" and muskets around 7". There you are, stuck in the middle. Without pictures to help us out, it may be a real tough time giving you any specific information. Pictures will help determine the hammer or cock type, lock plate curvature (an aid to dating), pan configuration and other nuances of construction that changed over the years. It's also possible it's been cobbled together from parts, though this is probably less likely. Hate to sound like a broken record, but pictures are almost essential here. :thumbsup:

One quick help might be that all the Sea Service pistol and muskets had flat lock plates and cocks (hammers), as did the wall pieces which were large bored, heavy guns (often with yokes) used to defend fort walls, etc. The Sea Service pieces didn't usually have the border engraving you mentioned, though neither did some of the carbines types. Sorry this isn't more helpful...but again, pictures really are important! :thumbsup:

Some muskets have these smaller locks but I have never seen one from Ordnance origins , these were from the Gun Trade and I have seen some EIC stocks cut for these locks ,yours sounds like a Jap Bess lock ie. of modern manufacture .

I will take some pictures tonight and stick them up, you can see for yourselves.

P.s. i forgot, the lock has "wheel" stamped on the back , and in tiny letters "rw" on the front beneath the lock.