Anyone using a Davis "Twigg" flintlock?

[Roger B]

Curious about the Twigg flinter from R E Davis.  It looks like a nice lock, but I've never seen one on a rifle.  How does it perform?
Roger B.

[Hungry Horse]

I've never used a Davis lock that wasn't a good lock.

  Hungry Horse

[Mike Brooks]

I used two early on, couldn't get either one to work to my satisfaction.

[Ghillie]

I have had one on an early English half stock 12 gauge fowler since about 1986.  I have found it to be a good and reliable lock, never had a problem with it.  The guns has a hooked breach and an extra .54 caliber rifle barrel.  A good lock on either barrel.

[RichG]

I modified one for use on a trade rifle and have no complaints as to reliability. It's noticeably slower than a chambers golden age or lg. Siler.

[David R. Pennington]

I put one on a rifle and don't like it. The mainspring was weak. The tumbler shaft was too loose in the hole so I made a bronze bearing and fitted it up to take out the slop. I brazed the bridle hole over and redrilled it in line.I could only get about three shots before knapping the flint.  I made another spring and got it working but don't care for it. I have even considered making a new plate and using different internals. I have spent more time trying to get it to suit me than if I had mde one from a kit. Just my experience.

[gumboman]

I have one on a fowler I built and my problems are the same as Dave R. Weak mainspring, (has been replaced 2 times with very little improvement), sloppy fit of frizzen to bridle, slow lock time and extremely short life of flints. Also had to have the tumbler and fly replaced as it got stuck in half cock when firing. It is much slower than my Chambers locks and I would never consider using it on an rifle. It has been returned to the Mold and Gun Shop twice for corrections but there is little improvement. Because it will be used primarily for turkey hunting and loaded with shot, it will be serviceable but I am dissatisfied with it and wish I would have used a Chambers lock instead.

[Bob Roller]

I have one on a fowler I built and my problems are the same as Dave R. Weak mainspring, (has been replaced 2 times with very little improvement), sloppy fit of frizzen to bridle, slow lock time and extremely short life of flints. Also had to have the tumbler and fly replaced as it got stuck in half cock when firing. It is much slower than my Chambers locks and I would never consider using it on an rifle. It has been returned to the Mold and Gun Shop twice for corrections but there is little improvement. Because it will be used primarily for turkey hunting and loaded with shot, it will be serviceable but I am dissatisfied with it and wish I would have used a Chambers lock instead.

I looked at these locks at the CLA show a few weeks ago and it seems that the mainsprings were a lot stronger.
It made me wonder if the mechanism can handle it. My opinion is that the whole thing needs retooled and to copy
that original internal mechanism is a bad idea. I know I made 14 of these locks and used only the external parts
and only one report said it was a bit too easy on the trigger but the owner was capable and readjusted the tumbler
sear relation. The Twigg is a big,nice looking lock but it needs help. I no longer want to do any more with them so
now maybe another machinist that has filing skills can pick up on this problem.

Bob Roller

[Roger B]

Thanks guys.  I've always used Davis percussion locks and triggers with no problems.  Hopefully they will take heed and make the Twigg a contender.
Roger

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I have used only two in the past forty years.  The first went on a 20 gauge fowling piece and it was a tremendous lock.  It sparks like a cutting torch.
The second is a lock I bought through this web site.  It didn't spark when I received it, and I thought it was the mainspring that was too weak.  So I took it to Dixon's GM Fair in 2007 and showed it to the Davis rep there.  He took the mainspring out of his display lock and it was better but still not what I expect from a flintlock.  I attempted rehardening the frizzen several times and made only small progress.  So I sent the lock to Bob Roller who completely rebuilt the guts.  Now the action is much better, but it still didn't spark worth putting on a gun.
In desperation, I sent it to Larry Zorne at the Mold and Gun Shop, and he replaced the frizzen.  It now sparks fairly well, but I'm still not particularly enthusiastic about this lock.  I love the plate, cock and frizzen, but it is not a good lock.  I might put it on a blunderbuss....

[T*O*F]

The first went on a 20 gauge fowling piece and it was a tremendous lock.

We used one on the 20 ga. turkey gun featured in Bob Spencer's Notebook.  It was very fast and sparked well with no mods.  I later had the opportunity to examine an original Twigg lock at Friendship.  It and the Davis lock were identical.  However, I noticed that the original had one of those long, whippy mainsprings that stored inertia, being easy to cock but accerating as the cock fell.  Reproducing that in a cast spring might be the problem.  I would use another given in the appropriate build.

[Dennis Glazener]

So I sent the lock to Bob Roller who completely rebuilt the guts.  Now the action is much better, but it still didn't spark worth putting on a gun.
In desperation, I sent it to Larry Zorne at the Mold and Gun Shop, and he replaced the frizzen.  It now sparks fairly well, but I'm still not particularly enthusiastic about this lock.  I love the plate, cock and frizzen, but it is not a good lock.  I might put it on a blunderbuss....

I bought one of these from Bob Roller to use on an English Fowler that I built. I love it, its a different looking lock from the normal Early Ketland or Colonial/VA Round Faced locks and it sparks as good or better than any early lock I have owned. It still seems slower than the Late Ketlands that I normally use but I seriously doubt that it is. These larger locks have a longer throw and they seem to take forever to fire but so do the Early Ketland/Colonial Roundface locks.

The nice thing is this lock sounds so solid when cocking it, just sounds like everything is making perfect engagements as it cycles through to full cock.
Dennis

[Mike Brooks]

My problems were flint life. The most I could ever get out of a flint with these locks was 10 to 11 shots and then the flint was kaputski. Unfortunately it was on a gun that was intended to shoot skeet with and 10 shots just wasn't going to get the job doe. You could never tell, sometimes 3 or 4 shots at the least or maybe clear up to 10 or 11 if I was lucky. Both locks I used were the same. There are many more dependable locks on the market. It would really be great if that lock was as dependable as Chambers early or late Ketland, always reliable and the flints last for ever.
 Really unfortunate, we could really use a lock like that Twigg lock on the market if it worked.

[Bob Roller]

So I sent the lock to Bob Roller who completely rebuilt the guts.  Now the action is much better, but it still didn't spark worth putting on a gun.
In desperation, I sent it to Larry Zorne at the Mold and Gun Shop, and he replaced the frizzen.  It now sparks fairly well, but I'm still not particularly enthusiastic about this lock.  I love the plate, cock and frizzen, but it is not a good lock.  I might put it on a blunderbuss....

I bought one of these from Bob Roller to use on an English Fowler that I built. I love it, its a different looking lock from the normal Early Ketland or Colonial/VA Round Faced locks and it sparks as good or better than any early lock I have owned. It still seems slower than the Late Ketlands that I normally use but I seriously doubt that it is. These larger locks have a longer throw and they seem to take forever to fire but so do the Early Ketland/Colonial Roundface locks.

The nice thing is this lock sounds so solid when cocking it, just sounds like everything is making perfect engagements as it cycles through to full cock.
Dennis

Dennis,
Thanks for the comments on the Twigg.  I haven't given these big locks any more thought since I
finished the ones I made. The last one went to South Africa.When I bought these parts from Davis,
all of them had the frizzen and spring installed and the frizzen was hardened.I didn't notice any weak
sparking but can't say it didn't occur later after using the lock on a gun. The Chambers late Ketland
I think is the best production lock made now and IMHO the best looking. It is a fast lock out of the box
and probably faster than the Twigg.

Bob Roller

[SR James]

I have two of Bob's excellent Twigg locks waiting for guns to be built around them. I consider myself a very lucky man. And no, they are not for sale. Don't even ask.

[little joe]

My problems were flint life. The most I could ever get out of a flint with these locks was 10 to 11 shots and then the flint was kaputski. Unfortunately it was on a gun that was intended to shoot skeet with and 10 shots just wasn't going to get the job doe. You could never tell, sometimes 3 or 4 shots at the least or maybe clear up to 10 or 11 if I was lucky. Both locks I used were the same. There are many more dependable locks on the market. It would really be great if that lock was as dependable as Chambers early or late Ketland, always reliable and the flints last for ever.
 Really unfortunate, we could really use a lock like that Twigg lock on the market if it worked.

Same with me and I was not impressed with lock time.

[Robby]

I have one. I did have trouble with a weak main spring alone with a few other problems, as received from Davis and used it as such after some work by me. When the Mold and Gun shop started in league with Davis I asked if they would look at it. They pretty much rebuilt the lock, sent it back along with the parts they replaced, and it is now a very smooth and dependable lock. I have taken many turkeys with it and it is also very dependable shot after shot in shooting trap.
Robby

[Larry Pletcher]

I have #4 of Bob Roller's "Twigg" conversions.
Regards,
Pletch