American Pistol

[Eric Smith]

  I will soon begin a pistol build. I have never attempted a pistol so I'm excited.I have my wood. It's a hard piece of sugar maple that is 2 1/4" thick ,with a lot more figure than I expected for the price I paid. I have a Green Mountain straight octagon .45 cal 7/8ths barrel. I have several fine books on pistols. This will not be a replica of any particular pistol, just a incorporation of several facets of early American pistols which appeal to me.
  I need a lock. I am undecided between the Small Siler, the Queen Anne, from J. Chambers, or the L&R "John Bailes" lock from TOTW. I would greatly appreciate any and all advise and previous experience you may have had with these locks and what might be most compatible with the info provided.  Thanks and have a good day.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Any one of those locks will serve you well.

[Daryl]

Here is mine, with that same barrel with a Bailes lock.
The bottom picture is as it is now, with the cap-lock when using the .45 bl. and flintlock with the .54 bl.

[Dale Halterman]

In my admittedly limited experience, I believe a round faced lock like the Queen Ann would be move appropriate for an octagon to round barrel rather than a straight octagon barrel.

I have used both small Silers and a Bailes lock and I prefer the Siler, but either will work. Decide which one looks better for your application and go for it.

Dale H

[Rolf]

Here is a link to a pair I made with Bailes locks and GM calber 50 barrels.
https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=14643.0

Best regards
Rolf

[alacran]

A lot depends on what you want the pistol for. The Bailes is a very fast lock. However it is difficult to get good trigger pull weight with it. The Siler is a very dependable lock it is quick but there is a lot of downward torque, since the mainspring is not linked but rides on the cam of the tumbler. The shortcomings of the Bailes can be overcome with a single set trigger. My 2 cents.

[David Rase]

I were building a generic American pistol, I would go with the small Siler.  I have used Bailes locks in the past and actually have a couple of future builds coming up that will utilize Bailes locks.  The problem with Bailes locks over the years has been consistent quality.  The Bailes locks I have in my parts drawer have been hand picked.  I have rejected quite a few Bailes locks due to gross misalignment of tumbler and sear screws.  On the locks that I have selected, only a couple of them have been what I would call ready to use "out of the box."  If you can find a Bailes lock that has all the holes in the plate drilled perpendicular and alignment is good you can, with considerable work, turn that lock into a highly functional lock.  I have found that the older Bailes are way better than the newer one.  The older Bailes locks have a different main spring than the newer ones.  There is a little extension spur that fits under the bolster in lieu of the entire end of te spring resting against the bolster.  If you want a lock with consistent quality basically ready to use out of the box then get the Siler.  If you want a lock that will still need a lot of hours to tune it up, go out and find a Bailes.  My two cents worth.
David   

[Bob Roller]

The Bailes lock externals are a good platform for a custom mechanism
but I may have been the only one that ever made them.Most of these went
to Europe.CNC and very precise castings will help a lot in the making of locks
and triggers but until there is a market for these improvements there will be
few.When I started making these locks I ran into a mindset that said "If it's
a part for a muzzle loader it HAS to be cheap." This is not as prevalent now as
it was then but as far as I am concerned I have no interest in restarting lock
making again.Chambers,Kibler and others have made major upgrades in locks
and triggers and none of these folks are near to me in age.A few triggers on a
monthly basis are my focus and that's IT.

Bob Roller

[Dale Halterman]

Alacran and Dave gave you most of the reasons why I prefer the Siler.

Also note that the lower edge of the Bailes lock is quite curved making it a bit more problematic to design a nice looking pistol around it. Daryl and Rolf have both done nice jobs, but I still think that it would look better with a straighter lower edge. Just my opinion.

Dale H

[BrianS]

This thread is making me feel comfortable... I'm embarking on same/similar as Eric (except 50 cal.) and bought a small Siler but was concerned that I'd hear a good reason to reconsider.

[Bob Roller]

The Bailes is a better looking lock IMHO.My paternal ancestry is Hanover Germany
and my mother was Scotch/Irish and guess her side is slightly prevalent and so is
my preference for English guns and locks.When I was making locks the fine 4 screw
locks of Brazier and Stanton were the ones I tried to copy and nothing from old
Heinrich or Adolf caught my eye as something to duplicate.
Bob Roller

[flinchrocket]

With a straight barrel I would also consider Kiblers new English lock.

[Pennsylvania Dutchman]

I used the small Siler on my pistol build.  I did reshape it slightly.


Mark

[Eric Smith]

Just ordered a small Siler from Chambers in N.C. After looking at photos of 18th century American made pistols, I think it will incorporate nicely into this project. Many thanks for everyone's advice.