Gusler article in Muzzle Blasts

[rich pierce]

Thankfully Wallace wrote an article for Muzzle Blasts and "made" the magazine for me.  I enjoy these a lot.  His comments on using the presence or absence of a bridle on the pan as useless for dating an early gun were right on the money and combat a prevalent stereotype.  I also enjoyed seeing the price differences for guns with different grades of parts.  Of course a gun with a lock with 2 bridles may also have other finer features, etc.  It looks like the actual stocking of a trade gun contributed a fairly small proportion of the cost, because locks were so expensive to produce by comparison.

Anybody here ever use a lock w/o a tumbler bridle?  I know TRS offers some, and they would be right for many trade guns.

Great pictures of early locks and lock mortise, too.

[Majorjoel]

Rich I know this is kind of a moot point when it comes to comparisons but it is relevant concerning a low price\ low quality lock. Some of the old CVA mazlin type locks have no inner bridle. They do have a tumbler set screw for fine adjustments. When you compare these cheap import modern locks with the nice quality locks we have available today, it's like apples to oranges. To work so hard on a fine custom project and to install one of these locks on it would be foolish to my way of thinking. 30 years ago when the good stuff wasn't around is another matter. 

[rich pierce]

 Maybe my desire for authenticity gets a little carried away sometimes.  I have had bridled and unbridled locks that were poor sparkers to non-sparkers.  I'm trying to ressurect an old but un-used Lott lock now (has a tumbler bridle) and think it will need all new springs as a first step.  For sure the sear spring is no good and the cock falls forward so slowly I can go get a bite to eat and come back before it hits the frizzen.

Actually I got a couple of those CVA locks to be reliable.  I think that maybe the larger locks without bridles worked a little better than those Maislin locks did out of the box.  At least I hope so!  If I ever do build a cheap grade trade gun I intend to use one of TRS's unbridled locks.

[Tom Currie]

Wallace's article made the magazine for me also. I for one , did not know there were even locks made without a tumbler bridle. No frizzen bridle I knew, no tumbler bridle I wish there was more stuff like that in MB. Looking forward to his book.

[flintriflesmith]

Tom,
For good pictures of a lock with no interior or exterior bridle but nice engraving look at the English lock signed Blair on this web page.

http://www.flintriflesmith.com/antique_gun_locks.htm

Gary

[Stophel]

Since none of the modern made flintlocks have locator (anchoring) pins in the rear of the bridle to hold them solidly in position, they are free to twist around a bit, making them...less than optimal.

[Tom Currie]

Thanks Gary for posting those pics.

[Majorjoel]

This lock is off an Italian pistol ca 1700. I cannot say if bridles were an option back then. [ftp][/ftp]  [ftp][/ftp]

[Tim Crosby]

Tom,
For good pictures of a lock with no interior or exterior bridle but nice engraving look at the English lock signed Blair on this web page.

http://www.flintriflesmith.com/antique_gun_locks.htm

Gary

  Gary,
  The article mentions a book that you are coauthor on, what is it about? When will we see it?

Thanks, Tim C.

[Dphariss]

Rich I know this is kind of a moot point when it comes to comparisons but it is relevant concerning a low price\ low quality lock. Some of the old CVA mazlin type locks have no inner bridle. They do have a tumbler set screw for fine adjustments. When you compare these cheap import modern locks with the nice quality locks we have available today, it's like apples to oranges. To work so hard on a fine custom project and to install one of these locks on it would be foolish to my way of thinking. 30 years ago when the good stuff wasn't around is another matter. 

There were decent locks 40 years ago too. Before CVA came into being. Dig up a mid 60s Muzzle Blasts and look at the ads.
Locks with no bridal  seem to have always been around some of the low end percussion locks of the 1840-50s had no bridal. John Baird had a box of original Golchers or some such in his office that were really cheaply made most had no bridal.  Probably imported and then marked.

Dan

[C. Cash]

OK...I tried to read the article but got lost pretty quick(not hard for me to do).  For the uninformed, what is the bridle portion of the lock?  I looked at the locks in the article and they all looked the same to me.  Help!   Thanks!

[flintriflesmith]

There are two parts of a lock called bridles. The internal bridle provides support for the tumbler and is a bridge that spans (usually) from the sear (AKA dog) screw, across the tumber, to the attach to the lock plate between the pan bolster and the tumbler.

The external bridle is the arm on the pan that extends toward the muzzle and gives the frizzen screw and frizzen foot extra support on the exterior.

Gary

[C. Cash]

Thanks Gary,

I will restudy the pictures in that article with your info.  Much appreciated!

[flintriflesmith]

  Gary,
  The article mentions a book that you are coauthor on, what is it about? When will we see it?

Thanks, Tim C.

The book is in the planning stages and will deal with both frontier economics and frontier "material culture." For those of you not in the museum world "material culture" is a fancy term for all the stuff people in a period and location owned, wore, and used.

I have been looking at (researching) both the deer hide trade and the type and variety of goods available to whites and Native Americans alike on the frontier in the 18th century. I will be debunking some of the 19th-century myths about trade by barter and the lack of access to manufactured goods.

Eve Otmar has been researching and recreating the clothing/textile side of the material culture. She will be looking at documentation for the various garments from hunting shirts to garters, the fabric used, how period dyes were made and used, sewing techniques, etc.

In addition to his well known study of arms and accouterments, Wallace is intersted in presenting some of the lesser known life stories of real frontier personalities to help folks interested in creating a persona have a factual base to begin from.

Some components of the book have been written and other have been talked about but deciding on how to merge our three branches of research into a coherent whole may be the biggest step. That and finding the time to get it done. Eve and I are still working full time and Wallace is still wrapping up the final couple of chapters of his Virginia longrifle book.

Gary

[lew wetzel]

hope you guys can pull it all together real soon,sounds like it is gonna be a great read.looking forward to when it comes available.

[Tim Crosby]

Some components of the book have been written and other have been talked about but deciding on how to merge our three branches of research into a coherent whole may be the biggest step. That and finding the time to get it done. Eve and I are still working full time and Wallace is still wrapping up the final couple of chapters of his Virginia longrifle book.

Gary

  Something to look forward to, both of them

Thanks, Tim C.

[T*O*F]

I have been looking at (researching) both the deer hide trade and the type and variety of goods available to whites and Native Americans alike on the frontier in the 18th century.

Gary,
Can I assume that you have already looked at Deerskins and Duffels by Braund?  It deals with the deerskin trade of the Anglos and Creek Indians from  1685-1815.

If not, I have a copy if you would like to borrow it for reference.

[flintriflesmith]

I have been looking at (researching) both the deer hide trade and the type and variety of goods available to whites and Native Americans alike on the frontier in the 18th century.

Gary,
Can I assume that you have already looked at Deerskins and Duffels by Braund?  It deals with the deerskin trade of the Anglos and Creek Indians from  1685-1815.

If not, I have a copy if you would like to borrow it for reference.

TOF
Thanks for the offer I have studied it a length. What I have been doing is expanding on her research to the northward and Mark Baker's research to the southward--filling the void between Pittsburgh based trade and Charleston based trade.

Gary