What the ?@*% is a frizzen bridle??

[Hawken62_flint]

I have been around flint locks for some time and recently came upon this term--frizzen bridle?  I am familiar with the lock bridle and have seen many locks with and without a bridle.  Is this what they are referring to as a frizzen bridle?  If not, where would I find a frizzen bridle and what does it look like?  I am only familiar with the frizzen itself and the frizzen spring.  I'm feeling pretty dumb here, so please help me out.

[Don Getz]

Poorboy........... A siler lock has frizzen bridle, some early locks do not.    The bridle is the outer leg extending forward from
the pan and which a screw goes thru to support the frizzen.   Some early locks do not have this, they merely have a screw
that goes thru the frizzen and threads into the lock plate.    Did I make this clear, or are you still confused?            Don

[Tom Currie]

Take a look at the Chambers Early Germanic Lock , it does not have a frizzen Bridle, I believe all their others do.

http://www.flintlocks.com/locks.htm

 

[Jim Kibler]

Just a note...  I believe the frizzen bridle showed up in the third quarter of the 17th century.  After this it was used on and off.   So as a general rule, it's not wise to used the presence or absence of a frizzen bridle as a dating feature. 

[Kermit]

http://www.flintlocks.com/locks5.htm

Take a look at this page from Chambers' site. Compare the early and late Ketland locks in the photos, looking at where the frizzen screw is and how it is supported.

[flintriflesmith]

Jim is right on the mark. The external pan bridle, AKA frizzen bridle, is not a function of "period" by the time we get into the second half of the 18th century. (In some fine European guns from the mid-century the lock maker left off the external bridle to better feature the engraving.)

In this country locks without any bridle at all were sold as bridleless or unbridled. A lock with an internal bridle on the tumbler and sear only was called a single bridle lock. A "double bridle" lock had both an internal bridle and a pan bridle. There were also locks with a partial bridle that supported the tumbler but not the sear and that was called a "half bridle."

By the period of the longrifle locks with more bridles were generally considered superior but they also cost more. Trade gun quality locks were more likely not to have bridles.

There are several examples of locks of various quality on this web page. http://www.flintriflesmith.com/antique_gun_locks.htm

Gary

[mbokie5]

Is the bridle the part that you can see that is holding the pin that goes through the frizzen?

[Hawken62_flint]

Thanks Don, Kermit, Jim, TD and all others.  I never knew what that "whatumacallit" was called and mistakenly thought that all locks had it.  I am enlightened and grateful to all who responded.  Just goes to show, you are never too old to learn something new.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Gary, I enjoyed your lock collection.  Regarding the Blair trade lock:  if the screw in the tumbler goes right through, it might be an adjustment screw for scear engagement, rather than a stop screw.

[rich pierce]

Is the bridle the part that you can see that is holding the pin that goes through the frizzen?

yes

[mbokie5]

Is the bridle the part that you can see that is holding the pin that goes through the frizzen?

yes

That makes it very simple for me. And it needs to be. 

Thanks Rich.