Interesting Dovetail

[Craig Wilcox]

Cleaning a 10-bore single barrel shotgun, found this "half cock" notch had been dovetailed into the tumbler.  The lock is stamped "W. Afflerbach   Phila"

Really curious as to why the half-cock notch would have been made, and was it "as new", or a repair?  Seems that if it were a repair, it would have been easier to make a whole new tumbler.  This half-cock notch, BTW, only lifts the hammer about 1/4" above the top of the nipple.

Oval GS inlay on sideplate side "PARKER"

The shotgun itself is in pretty good condition, just needs a good, thorough cleaning.  I do not think that this is a particularly valuable percussion shotgun, and do plan to use it.  Barrel is 33", with no discernable choke.  Anyone have a 10-bore ball mold?

[Craig Wilcox]

I did find this listing in our list of American gun makers - no other data found.

AFFERBACH, Wm.
 Philadelphia, Pa. Percussion derringer; Aston lock.

Now, the spelling on the firearm itself is A F F L E R B A C H, but I figure it is the same gentleman.  Nicely made lock, but the lock plate itself mics at just over 0.250, which is a pretty heavy plate.  Do wish my camera was better, or that my antique hands wouldn't have tremors.  I DO have a tripod, somewhere, someplace!

[rich pierce]

I recently worked on an original late percussion lock with no half clock notch. Seems undesirable but there were plenty of those around.

[mountainman70]

Hi guys. This proves the sayin Ya learn something. Every day.
Have a goodun fellows. 

[Craig Wilcox]

Rich, this half cock surprised me - I thought that something was preventing the cock from striking the nipple, then wasted some time looking for the "click" of the sear falling into the half-cock step.  Nope!  IT does come a LONG ways back to the cocked position, and feels like about 4 lb trigger pull.  Not a feather, nor an elephant squeeze, just a bare bit of trigger "slop", then the cock falls, rapidly.  I had put a piece of wood in the way of it falling, so no harm done.

And after cleaning and lubing, that lock works a charm!  Slick, silky feel to the mechanism.

On another note, I had used some ebony wood recently, and fashioned a couple scraps into "flints" to keep in the jaws of flintlocks.  Looks realistic, for sure!

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Why not just put stone flints in the locks?

[mountainman70]

Hi guys. This proves the sayin Ya learn something. Every day.
Have a goodun fellows. 

[Craig Wilcox]

Taylor, I put a real flint in it when it is mounted in rifle or pistol.  But while I am working around them, I prefer to not lose a digit to a sharp flint.  I usually "catch" them when testing off-firearm, but the wood is there if I lose my grip.  Besides, it fools folks!

So, no comment on the half-cock notch being dovetailed into the tumbler?  Was it common?  Or perhaps it had a half-cock that didn't work., or was not there in the first place.

[Carper]

Just a guess but I’d bet it never was there in the first place. I’m sure most of you have had the same experience I have, that of noticing almost none of the hardware locks of the late 1800’s had a half cock. I sure most of you have seen a few old rifles that are used by modern shooters who fashioned a little piece of wood tied to the triggerguard that fouled the hammer off the nipple . Nice job with dovetail and it sure would make the gun safer if you planned to carry it with a cap on. Birds and rabbits sure aren’t going to wait for you cap.😂

[Craig Wilcox]

Thanks, Cap.  I hadn't known about late 19th century locks being minus a half cock notch, and that dovetail job certainly did a nice job of providing one.  Just wish they had done it about 30 deg more, closer to the full cock.

Pretty nice l 10-bore overall.  Steamed out a few dents, gave it a good going over with some soft steel wool, then a couple coats of that nice Renaissance wax.  Most of the steel parts, including the "German Silver" fittings.  They were that pale yellow color, but cleaned up very well.

Dropped a fishing lure chem-lite down the barrel, and it looked great.  It does seem to still have some soft carbon buildup;  some bore-brite and a brass brush will get it even better.  Nothing wrong with cool water and soap - Dawn takes carbon out of your way.

Look forward to shooting it soon.  I had gotten my paws on a double 10-bore, but it really needs a new stock as the one holding the metal bits apart has a lot of damage.  Those two locks also need some re-building/cleaning, etc.  So I already have the various cards, wads, etc.  Probably will shoot 1.5 oz #7 shot just fine.  Gotta find some of those clay pigeons flying around.  Or the doggone possum in the back yard.  He has a wonderful white fur coat I could make a hat out of - Lord knows I am already crazy as a bedbug in a flop house.

[Longknife]

Craig, I have an original flint half stock fowling piece that has both notches dove tailed into the tumbler and brazed. I believe that repairing a tumbler this way would take less time than making a new tumbler...Ed

[Bob Roller]

MOST of the American cap lock rifles I have examined closely have only a full cock and some of these had to have the trigger set to cock them.I had a new and never installed Goulcher and I think it started at the bottom and went down from there and it was a single position tumbler as well.Making a new tumbler without a lathe or access to one would be a labor intensive job and takes a bit of "doing" even with a lathe and decades of experience.A local man,George Killen made them from square barge spikes and used a file and hack saw and a drill with a shoulder stock.He watched me make and install a mainspring in a new lock and wanted to know what
kind of steel I was using and I told him it was 1075.I gave him a piece and he made a spring from and he thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.
Bob Roller

[Craig Wilcox]

Thanks, Bob and Ed.  Chances are that this is one of the "no half-cock" locks, and indeed, the dovetail mortise is an elegant solution.

I recon that even a dolt like me could use his jeweler's saw and some files to make one.  And as I said earlier, it would have been even better if they had made the new notch a wee bit closer to the full cock notch.  As it is, on half-cock, the cock is just barely above the percussion cap.

At least the spur is nicely checkered to provide a firm grip when cocking it.

Still have the new stock to make for the double-10 bore.  I do have a nice piece of English walnut for the new stock.  And I lucked into a great piece of quilted maple, so I could go either way.  As it is a British firearm, it might be more appropriate to use the walnut.  The locks are kind of terrible, so will have to do some work on them.  And I now have another choice - I have a pair of "G. Goulcher" back-action locks in pretty fair shape.