The lock is fairly slow compared to a flintlock because the foot of the serpentine has to push the spring-loaded sear nose out of the way to fall forward. As the foot of sear rides over the sear nose, it is slowed down. I haven't had a chance to test fire it, but I get good sparks as long as the flint is sharp. I had to bend the serpentine forward to get a better angle with the flint on the battery so that the sparks were directed into the pan, rather than hitting the retracted pan cover (the picture below was taken before I bend the serpentine or cock).
Before firing, the battery (frizzen) is moved down so that it is sitting right above the edge of the pan. When the flint hits the battery, it kicks the battery forward and out of the way of the pan. It also has a pan cover that retracts automatically when the serpentine falls forward. It is connected directly to the serpentine by a lever.
This is a picture of the primary and secondary sear. It works just like a wheellock sear:
I got the blank from Goby Walnut. I visited their business this summer and they have a nice selection of walnut. I bought a rather plain 61" black walnut blank when I was there for $80 and a shorter English walnut blank for $50. The blank that I used with this gonne was a challenge because there was a large knot right in the middle of the forestock. I was able to successfully work around it though. I think I also ended up with good grain direction through the wrist as well.
This build did teach me one important lesson. I should always make up a try stock before cutting out the profile of the rifle. I think I would have been happier with this one if I had lowered the top of the comb a little more.
