First Post: Old TOWER/GR Lock; much guidance needed!

[Stonehouse john]

Hello Longrifles.  Well I finally pulled the trigger (so to speak) and registered as a member.  I've been away from muzzleloading for many years and I'm feeling the itch to ease back into it.  I have quite a few random parts that I acquired long ago when I did a little bit of gun building and a fair bit of shooting and I'm thinking of putting some of those parts together into a gun or two to re-hone my building skills and get me shooting again.  I miss it.

For many weeks now I've been reading through all of the forum posts here far back into the past and I am SO impressed with the quality and quantity of both  practical and historical knowledge this group possesses.  What a great community and resource!

So here's my first question (or many questions I guess).  I have an old Tower/GR lock that has been considerably messed-with.  If I can get it up and running again I'd like to build a gun around it.  It appears to me that in the far-distant past someone likely converted it to percussion and then, in the somewhat less-distant past, someone tried to convert it back using, I would guess, an arc welder.  A bridled pan has been welded on and roughly shaped to blend to the lock-plate.  The welds are ugly but seem void-free and could be filed to the proper shape.  The pan seems to be attached straight and square and the pan interior looks very good.  I'm attaching photos and hoping for some wise guidance.  

1). Is this lock either something special that should be conserved rather than used, or, so far gone that it should just be scavenged for parts?

2). Are parts available anywhere for this?  It has no mainspring and I don't have the skill to make one for it.  Also, the spring-contact surface on the frizzen-spur has been globbed with weld, possibly to make it longer to contact the frizzen-spring better (it's still barely long enough to touch the spring).  AND the frizzen does not seat tightly to the pan-rim when closed; it sits up a bit (business-card thickness space).  New frizzen in order?  Is one available anywhere?

3). If this lock is worth saving, can anyone tell me roughly the timeframe it would be appropriate for?  I know they made locks of this type over a long span of time.  Beyond the TOWER and crowned GR it has a small crown and arrow on the exterior face and on the interior is stamped with a crown with the number 30 below it and the letters "FW" just below the top bridle screw.  Any hints there about it's age?

I eagerly await any and all replies!

Thanks
John

[wormey]

The pan looks like it will clean up fine.  Suggest you keep this lock or sell/trade it to someone who wants to do some restoration on a military piece and buy you a good appropriate commercial lock that is appropriate for whatever you are going to build.  You will be much happier in the end. Good luck on your endeavor.  Wormey

[Clint]

John,
There are a lot of people out there who collect locks or are looking for a lock to fill the hole on an antique musket. I suspect that the selling price on your musket lock would approach or exceed the price of a new flint lock. The lock makers today are selling nice locks that usually have spare parts and a variety of styles. The variety sets you free to build the gun of your choice. A brand new lock is a little machine which will work for you for years of shooting, without worrying about wearing it out or repairing it with hard to find parts. Good luck and welcome to the forum.
Clint

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

This lock looks to me like a 3rd Model Brown Bess musket lock, reign of George 3rd.  So it's right in and around 1800 or first quarter 19th C...think Napoleonic War.  I am in agreement with the other posters, that this lock should be saved or sold to someone restoring an original gun, and the proceeds spent on a new lock, rather than spend the time fussing with this old one, to place in a new gun.  But that fussing might be what you are actually looking for.  The journey is everything, it is said, so you will have to decide.

[Stonehouse john]

Thank you all for your replies! 
I think it makes good sense to take your unanimous advice, let this lock go to someone who needs this particular one and find myself one that's reliable and ready to go.
It's funny, the last post before I posted this one (entitled "barn gun") resembles what I had envisioned doing with this old lock.  I hadn't seen that post before I submitted mine but it seems that some maker very long ago took what parts were available and created that gun.  I have a fowler barrel and I immagined building a plain, utilitarian, "assembled in the colonies" type piece.  I know that some such projects just become "Franken-guns" that don't really represent anything "real", but some (like that "barn gun" example) do seem to kind of work out stylistically, at least to my eye.
Anyway, I hope to regularly use the gun I'll be building and I need it to be solid and dependable, so thanks again for steering me toward something else.  So the next question is, what's a fair price to ask for this one?  It seems fairly well preserved for its age but does need the previously mentioned work done to it.  Seems it would be hard to find a comparable example for sale somewhere to base my price on.  Is there anyone here on the forum who might give me a ballpark idea of a fair current value?

Thanks,
John

[Rajin cajun]

John as someone stated before your lock is for a 3rd model India pattern Bess. It came off of an 1809 pattern Bess, the double throat hammer replaced the serpent cock in 1809.
You decide what contemporary lock you would like to build your Fowler with, and offer your lock in trade. I think both parties would come out on the winning end. Your original lock is not in bad shape, it’s worth quite a few dollars..




Bob

[Stonehouse john]

D. Taylor Sapergia and Rajin Cajun, thank you for the help with timeframe and type ID.  I got to thinking though, were there any design variations on the internal lock parts that changed between various models of these locks or were all models internals exactly the same?  If this lock spent part of its life converted to percussion and was later changed back, the cock, frizzen and frizzen spring were most likely not original to this lock; maybe just whatever model parts someone had on hand to add back to it?  Is there any way to know that? 

I'm a newly-minted member so I can't sell or trade for 30 days but, when I can I would be very willing to offer this lock in trade to someone who needs it.  The "for sale/wanted" section says that you are required to list a price/value for all ads including trades.  Does anyone have advice as to what a fair value would be?

Thanks,
John