AmericanLongRifles Forums

General discussion => Antique Gun Collecting => Topic started by: rich pierce on October 24, 2011, 04:15:47 PM

Title: Picked up an original lock
Post by: rich pierce on October 24, 2011, 04:15:47 PM

Picked up an original circa 1820-1822 Ketland & Adams lock.  Later than my wheelhouse but I'm a sucker for such things.  Rare to find one with the frizzen and all, unconverted.

(https://preview.ibb.co/d6GN0y/D6_D8_C9_EA_19_AC_4_DF9_982_E_8089649_F4_ECE.jpg) (https://ibb.co/iVMpfy)

Title: Re: Picked up an original lock
Post by: tallbear on October 24, 2011, 04:39:22 PM

NICE!!!!!Will comes up with some neat stuff.Wish I had checked out FF a couple of hours earlier ;) ;) ;) ;)

Mitch

Title: Re: Picked up an original lock
Post by: Majorjoel on October 24, 2011, 05:03:07 PM

A great find Rich! I have never seen a Ketland and Adams. Must be on the tail end of the Ketland run as well as the flintlock era in general. Original flintlocks (that haven't been converted) are rare, no matter what period they were made. Do you plan to replace the needed parts and get her sparking again? There are probably a lot of 1820-30 percussion converted or lock replaced longrifles out there that would shine with this lock!

Title: Re: Picked up an original lock
Post by: rich pierce on October 24, 2011, 05:46:20 PM

Yes, I hope to restore it to working order.  Looks like no internal bridle?  Weird if it has a frizzen bridle and no internal bridle.  Figuring out the screws should be the hardest trick for a guy w/o a lathe.  I have some old screw plates that might finally come in handy.  Looks like a good lock for an early fur trade gun as well as a later flintlock longrifle or fowling piece.

Title: Re: Picked up an original lock
Post by: Dphariss on October 24, 2011, 05:56:13 PM

Looks like it has a bridle screw hole above the tumbler, show above the cock on the external view.
The tumbler, if thats the original, has (had) a pin for a bridle.
Locks with no bridle did not have this.

Dan

Title: Re: Picked up an original lock
Post by: rich pierce on October 24, 2011, 06:00:03 PM

Thanks, Dan, might be best to make a new tumbler as well as the bridle though a pin could be put in there.  Will wait and see how the notches are.

Title: Re: Picked up an original lock
Post by: alyce-james on October 24, 2011, 07:04:34 PM

Rich; I for one will be looking foreward to seeing the lock restored. Thanks for sharing. Jim

Title: Re: Picked up an original lock
Post by: Dennis Glazener on October 25, 2011, 02:19:20 AM

Nice find, I usually keep an eye on that site on weekends just for that reason. Wasn't able to this past and looky at what popped up. Congrats Rich, am sure you will put it to good use.
Dennis

Title: Re: Picked up an original lock
Post by: JV Puleo on October 25, 2011, 07:09:29 AM

Very good... and you're pretty realistic about the dates.
Ketland & Adams is the last marking of the old "T. Ketland" firm. Thomas Ketland Sr. died in November of 1816, at which point his partnership with William Walker and John Adams probably dissolved. I suspect that William Walker chose to retire... he died about 18 months later and both men were in their 80s. John Adams was quite a bit younger and may have been Thomas Sr.'s brother-in-law. I've yet to be able to decipher Thomas Sr.'s will (written in a particularly difficult chancery hand) but I suspect that he left his share of the business to his oldest son, Thomas Jr., who had returned from Philadelphia with his family about a year earlier. Thus, I believe that "Ketland & Adams" is the partnership of Thomas Jr. and John Adams. They went bankrupt in 1821 so most reasonable possible dates are 1816-1821.

Title: Re: Picked up an original lock
Post by: rich pierce on October 25, 2011, 04:15:18 PM

Thanks for the info!  Rare to be able to nail a lock down to within a couple years.

Title: Re: Picked up an original lock
Post by: Glenn on October 25, 2011, 05:32:50 PM

Nice find Rich.  Please post the restoration developments.  Congrats !!!   ;D