Possible wheellock build

[sbaker]

I have a question I possibly might try to build a wheellock pistol. What I wonder is how is the lock plate inletted is it fully  or partially inlet into the stock The one I would attempt is one like Bolek did a while back or somewhat of a facsimile.

Thanks,

Scott

[volatpluvia]

I can't answer that question, but from my experience building four locks and shooting two of them, you are entering the twilight zone.  This is not meant as a discouragement.  Dive right in.  Don't be diverted.  Determine up front to make it fun. 
If you have experience already building and shooting wheellocks, kindly disregard my comments.
volatpluvia

[raszpla]

I badly understand English. - but I understand that you will build wheellock - I was very glad of this - cordial greetings.

[pushboater]

Welcome to the forum Scott.  I don't know a thing about building a Wheellock other than what I've seen on this forum, but I've seen enough to know that it's an ambitious undertaking and I applaud you for your courage at attempting such a project.  Do a search of the archives and you'll find a lot of useful information, and Good Luck with your endeavor!

Capt. David

[sbaker]

Thanks guys for the encouragement. It might be best to hold questions till I actually have a problem. I was just trying to grasp what was going to be involved.

Scott

[volatpluvia]

Okay,
first, as far as I know there are no locks being offered completed.  This may have changed since I last played with these wonderful, crazy devices.  There are two men who were  developing locks for production.  Dixon might be able to tell you who they are and whether they have succeeded.  My first lock was a bag of parts from the Rifle Shoppe.  I do mean a bag of pàrts, not a kit, just rough cast parts.  you can make a working lock from their parts but it takes a lot of work.  However it would be a place to start.
Once you get the lock working, ie., lighting priming powder with pyrites against the spinning wheel, the gonne is fairly straight forward.  But once you put the lock on the gonne it is a new ball game making the lock fire reliably.
Okay, mind is working now.  One of the men is Burney Tolino.  I last saw him at the gun maker's faire at Dixon's shop.  The other man will also likely be at Dixon's for the faire.
I have seen the prototype parts for their locks.  I think they will be easier to build than the bag of parts from TRS.  Just my humble opinion.  But that is a few years back, before I came to México.  and I have not heard anything about them going into production.
I will say this.  When you fire your first shot you will be amazed at the difference than firing a flinter.
volatpluvia   

[sbaker]

Volapluvia

Yes I agree about TRS bag of parts. A couple of my castings were sloppy. I decided that it would be about as much work to make my own using this as a pattern. Your builds years ago piqued my interest but was put on a back burner. My understanding is a great deal more improved since Bolek started posting his builds with the diagrams.

[SuperCracker]

I believe Blackleys offers one or two sets of Wheellock castings.  Might not take a lifetime to get either.

[sydney]

Hi-- A copy of " How to build your own wheelock " is on line
     c/w drawings ect--it s a great help
      There are of few errors but worth looking at
          Sydney

[sbaker]

SuperCraker,

Yes blackleys has a couple wheellock castings for rifles, I may give one a try in the future. Thanks,


Sydney,

Thanks for the info I have had this for a while now, and was going to build one, but I heard of several issues and put it off for now, but not before I had profiled and drilled the lock plate for all the holes.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I've only built one - the one in the picture, and it was from the book of which Sydney speaks.  He too built an excellent pistol using the book.  Errors?  I suppose there's a few, but nothing to cause one to throw in the towel.  It took me a month of eight hour days for me to build this lock from scratch.  I made two wheels for it - one smooth for using a flint, and the other serrated for using pyrites.  Trigger pull is ounces, and ignition is significantly faster than a good flint lock.

Here's Sydney's build...

[sbaker]

D. Taylor Sapergia

Wow both yours and Sydney's pistols are an inspiration. I need to dig my lockplate out of my parts box, and finish it.
Would you have a photo of the lock mortise I would like to see how it is inlet.

Thanks,

Scott

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I don't have a picture of the lock mortise but I'll take one for you.  The mortise is huge by flintlock standards. 
I've posted this reply to encourage you to go ahead with the build.  It is an elephant for sure, but when you eat it one bite at a time, you'll find it do-able and a fun meal too.  Anytime you build something from scratch, especially for the first time, you'll find you have do-overs.  I once built a single set trigger for a pistol, and I'm sure I build three before I was happy.  The blueprints from the book are an enormous help, even when the measurements are in metric.

[sbaker]

Thank you for the coming photo.

I agree it is a huge project and also about the mistakes. I had planned on profiling several pieces of each part, that way when I goofed I wouldn't have to stop everything and start over.
I have the barrel and have profiled a piece of cherry, I have never intet an oct to round barrel this should be exciting at times. Its a good thing, that I have a 12 wide and 5 foot length left or it could get ugly.
Scott