KanawhaRanger said:I have an old copy of that book. It does have a pretty good bit of info for the home blacksmith/gunsmith. He also put in some drawings for triggers too.
Rich Pierce said:I believe Track of the Wolf still carries a booklet or two by Pryor Mountain Bill that has some patterns for locks and shows how he used to forge them. They were cheap booklets but very helpful.
KanawhaRanger said:I have an old copy of that book. It does have a pretty good bit of info for the home blacksmith/gunsmith. He also put in some drawings for triggers too.
Not quite true - "interchangeable" parts were being used as early as at least the Lewis and Clark expedition - granted they needed some fitting, but then even today that's generally true of even so-called precision replacement parts.Before mid 1800, gun locks were first forged and hand fitted. No part from one lock could be used in another lock .
Perhaps using such drawings is not period correct but they are far from uselsss - that's based on having built a couple of locks from blueprints using nothing but traditonal methods (forge, anvil, files, stones, and a pole lathe) along with dividers, outside calipers, and a ruler.but blueprint for making gun locks the traditionnal way is just useless .
dptywrdn said:I recently purchased "How to build your own percussion rifle or pistol" by George Lauber from Amazon a few weeks back. It was used as it is now out of print. With that said, the book has full size drawings and measurements for a percussion lock. The drawings have precise measurements and appear to be drawn from a machinist point of view. Additionally, the book contains detailed drawings of the breech plug, trigger guard, thimbles, etc. If you are interested in the book or some of the drawings let me know.
I too am interested in making my own locks, made an exact copy of a Siler percussion for my 58 SM,could you tell me where I could find Bill Newtons book or if there is some way I could copy yours, it would be greatly appreciated and would save me a heck of a lot of filing and fitting-would still have to do some but no where near as much :bow: Thanks in advance either way Nault PM me if you likeKanawhaRanger said:The one I have is titled, "Handforging the Muzzleloading Gun Lock" by Pryor M. "Bill" Newton of Deaver, Wyoming. It was published in 1978.
It is only 38 pages long, but full of drawings and with some tips for the home blacksmith who doesn't have a lot of specialized tools. Mine also has an insert of 8 pages showing exploded drawings of all sorts of locks as well as 2 types of set triggers and an underhammer action. It's a neat little book.
Enter your email address to join: