front lock hooks--English guns

[jerrywh]

 There are at leas three ways to make a hook on a lock plate.
#  1  and the easiest way is to solder it on with fine silver.  Fine silver solders well and melts at 1760°1f so the lock can be case hardened afterwards without the hook coming off.
# 2 is to chisel a slot in the plate and stake the hook in the slot much in the same way a barrel hoop is put in but with an  elongated slot.
#3 is illustrated in the drawing below.  Sometimes the hook was wide and just hooked into the wood and sometimes a lip was made on the lock plate that just hooked in the wood in the front.
           
There were only two logical reasons for a hook to be put on a lock plate That I can think of.   #1 is so that any side plate could be used even if it did not match the holes in the lock plate. #2 is to avoid the ramrod channel with the front lock bolt . In any case it was quite common on English Firearms in the 18the century.
  PS-- sometimes a small plate was placed down alongside of the barrel channel and the hook screw in the stock was threaded into the plate

[conquerordie]

jerrywh,
Thank you for posting this. So is this a blind hole coming from the inside of the plate that the hook screws into? It would only engage a couple threads, but it should be enough. It's a short tutorial, but this would be a great addition to the tutorial section for anyone who wants to add this to their next projects.
Greg

[jerrywh]

 The hook type that screws into the lock plate can be a blind hole but it is not necessary.  Some of the locks you see that look like they are installed with a through screw are actually hooked. Another method is to just drill a small hole in the plate and make the hook so it has a stud going through the plate.  Then just stake the hook in the hole as you would put a stud on a patch box release. The stud can be put in like a rivet and filed over and cannot be seen. Any average gun maker could do this. Some people say these methods were never used on American guns but never is a harsh word. The first gun shop in Williamsburg was started by a English man from the  gun makers guild in England.  His name was John Brush.

[Acer Saccharum]

Thanks for this, Jerry.

I think one of the biggest challenges in gunmaking is to make a really fine slim pistol. There is no margin of error, nor any extra real estate, in the lock area for the ramrod and front screw(if there is one). A hooked front would be of great service here.

[Curtis]

Most informative!  Thanks Jerry.

Curtis