Seeking Guide to Lock Differences and Quality

[Brian Stuart]

Hi Brian,
The choice of lock depends first on your objectives for a gun and how historically consistent you intend to be.  For example, a Chambers late Ketland lock is not appropriate for a Rev War period rifle but a Chambers early Ketland would.  A round-faced English lock is not appropriate for an English fowler after 1760 or so unless the gun is a cheaper trade or livery gun.  Of course, those kinds of considerations are irrelevant if historical accuracy is not important to you.  Some locks are fast, some reliable, and some are both, and there are design features that contribute to those characteristics. In addition to the thread on Rice's Nock lock, I discuss a number of those features that make good locks and what constitutes poor quality in the threads below:
https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=60628.25
https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=61114.msg613031#msg613031

With respect to lock design and evolution, John N. George's 2 books on English guns provide a lot of detail about the features and design changes.   

dave

Very helpful, thanks!

[Ezra]

Certainly I am no lock expert.  But I can tell you of my experience.  I have had very positive experiences with all Chambers flintlocks, Kiblers flintlocks, Chris Laubachs early Germanic flintlock or any lock modified, upgraded or otherwise tweaked by Mr. Bob Roller.

Ez

[Bob Roller]

Certainly I am no lock expert.  But I can tell you of my experience.  I have had very positive experiences with all Chambers flintlocks, Kiblers flintlocks, Chris Laubachs early Germanic flintlock or any lock modified, upgraded or otherwise tweaked by Mr. Bob Roller.

Ez

Ez,thanks for the comments on my work of years past and the same to Heinz.It has been a year since I made
my last locks,They were 2 Durs Egg on the L&R external parts and I delivered them to Ric Lambert who is a
photographer for Muzzle Loader Magazine. I was getting tired and after I finished the last one I said,"That's it"
and it was.I have had requests for both flint and caplocks since the last delivery at the CLA Show in Lexington
but have declined all of them.I hope no maker will promise a gun made with my lock unless they have one because
there will be no more from my bench.The set triggers have been well received by the people on this forum and I
thank all of you for that.As soon as my wife can get up out of a chair with out grimacing over pain I plan to resume
making these triggers.That fall and the cracked ribs are a most unwelcome interruption as are all other painful
accidents.
Bob Roller