Lock time. Rate my lock

[Old Sparky]

I've done quite a bit of reading on this form and elsewhere and everyone says don't get an Indian made gun the locks are manure. Lock times are slow Etc. Here is a quick video I made of myself unloading my gun after hunting squirrels. I've got no complaints. Are other locks that are more expensive faster than this? What am I not getting?. Sorry it's a bit dark in the video but I wasn't planning on filming myself I just stopped by the range and unloaded her. I really am enjoying this gun it's a Northwest trade gun with the long barrel.

 

[IanH]

That's pretty fast. I give it an 8.5 of 10.

 

[64Springer]

I'd say it's one 10th of one 10th of a second too slow.

Do you have a cap n ball revolver with a short arbor?

That could be the problem.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Nothing wrong with that.

 

[Old Sparky]

I'd say it's one 10th of one 10th of a second too slow.

Do you have a cap n ball revolver with a short arbor?

That could be the problem.

No because I sent my helper for the arbor stretcher

 

[Nuthatch]

I'd be tickled if I could get that kind of ignition reliably. And because I can't yet, I tend to stick with percussion guns for hunting.

 

[Brazos John]

Nothing wrong with that.
View attachment 260791

Go get'em, Jess!

 

[IanH]

I'd be tickled if I could get that kind of ignition reliably. And because I can't yet, I tend to stick with percussion guns for hunting.

That's interesting. I use high-quality flintlocks for a variety of reasons, among them reliability.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
Fast lock. That could be because they invented and perfected the frictionless tumbler in India.

dave

 

[IanH]

Hi,
Fast lock. That could be because they invented and perfected the frictionless tumbler in India.

dave

Those have "air bearings", very high-tech.

 

[Old Sparky]

I'd be tickled if I could get that kind of ignition reliably. And because I can't yet, I tend to stick with percussion guns for hunting.

It came without the touch hole drilled. Giving me the opportunity to make it perfect. I drilled it and coned it for maximum reliability. Down the road of course who knows how this lock will wear down. But I do like tinkering

 

[hanshi]

To my eyes it looks about as fast as any American made flint lock on my rifles.

 

[Commodore Swab]

To me it's all about reliability and India locks can be tuned to be very reliable. Tuned to the point of being more reliable than the off the shelf Italian and American. Having said this it pointless unless you have a measure to judge the reliability of a lock. Here is my agressive test, remember the test is to more to find a failing point to separate an ok lock from a good lock.

With no powder in the barrel or with the lock out of the gun ensure the lock can't move. Prime the pan and ignite the powder, reprime, and fire again. Score is how percentage of firings for 20 shots. Now for the killer. . .
cleaning any part=fail.
Reprime=fail.
Knapping=fail.
Score under 90%=fail.
Therefore the worst passing score would be 20/22 since it is not 20 attempts but 20 ignitions. Without powder in the barrel to blow out the vent and clear the pan fouling gets worse far faster. A tuned lock will typically deliver hundreds of shots per flint.
An Indian flintlock showing ignition with no powder.

 

[Old Sparky]

To me it's all about reliability and India locks can be tuned to be very reliable. Tuned to the point of being more reliable than the off the shelf Italian and American. Having said this it pointless unless you have a measure to judge the reliability of a lock. Here is my agressive test, remember the test is to more to find a failing point to separate an ok lock from a good lock.

With no powder in the barrel or with the lock out of the gun ensure the lock can't move. Prime the pan and ignite the powder, reprime, and fire again. Score is how percentage of firings for 20 shots. Now for the killer. . .
cleaning any part=fail.
Reprime=fail.
Knapping=fail.
Score under 90%=fail.
Therefore the worst passing score would be 20/22 since it is not 20 attempts but 20 ignitions. Without powder in the barrel to blow out the vent and clear the pan fouling gets worse far faster. A tuned lock will typically deliver hundreds of shots per flint.
An Indian flintlock showing ignition with no powder.

View attachment 265279

That's interesting stuff. I've only ever had one misfire and it was due to the Flint getting dull after about 25 shots. I am actually shocked that it works as well as it does considering it's breaking most of the rules as far as spring tension goes. The cock spring seems weaker than I'm used to and the frizzen spring is way stronger than it should be. By any normal account it should work like manure but it works fantastically. Maybe they know something we don't. As soon as I felt the main spring I thought I was going to have to make a new one right away. But it works great and it throws the Sparks directly into the pan.