Return of the Bob Ditchburn / JP Beck Lock!

[Chris Evrard]

Hey All,
As some of you have heard, I recently bought the Ditchburn Lock Co. from Stan Hollenbaugh. This included the Ditchburn rifle and pistol locks along with Stan’s John Armstrong lock.

The first one I am going to produce for sale is the Ditchburn/Beck rifle lock. I’ve been calling it the Ditchburn/Beck lock, as the molds were made from an original JP Beck lock by the late Bob Ditchburn. Bob first built this lock in the late 1950s with Stan taking over sometime around 2000. I am excited to be a part of this 60-plus-year legacy, and I can’t wait to have these locks once again being produced in volume and used in new guns!

Right now, I’m modeling the various components of the Ditchburn/Beck rifle lock in CAD and turning out prototype parts via CNC. These locks will be a hybrid of CNC machined and cast parts like some of the more recent arrivals to the market. The Ditchburn/Beck will be a premium product with no tuning needed when received by the customer. In addition to the standard features of most modern locks, I intend to use a hardened bridle, and a forged mainspring for ultimate longevity. 

This thread is to meant to document the progress as I work through and get these first locks ready for release/sale. If you have any questions, please ask away.

Best to you all, and happy gun building!

Chris E.
Evrard Machine Works

PS. For those of you who don’t know me, I am a machinist and former lock builder for Chambers Flintlocks, having produced many thousands of locks for them over nine years. In fact, I still do machine work for Chambers today. I’ve done custom work for Brad Fountain, Tim Williams, Ron Scott, Allen Martin and others. I also built the lock that went into one of the CLA auction guns a few years back, though I cannot remember what year. Maybe someone will remind me!





Here is one of the first CNC cut D/B lockplates:



Here are the machined bridles:

[smylee grouch]

Best of luck on this project Chris. 

[AMartin]

Oh man .. good stuff and exciting times !!

[P.W.Berkuta]

Very nice parts indeed

[Jdbeck]

I cannot wait to get my hands on one! Congratulations and good luck!

[rich pierce]

Bring it!

[davec2]

Chris,

Will you be producing the smaller version of that lock as well ?  I have purchased them in the past from Stan and found the smaller size to be perfect for several projects like pistols and smaller rifles (like the one I built recently for my grandson).

Best of luck with all of this.  The parts in the photos look great !!

[Stoner creek]

Chris
 If you need that tiny little lock that Dave was referring to, I have one that you can use as a pattern.
Wayne

[penobscot]

best of luck parts look good

[Jim Kibler]

Looks nice.  So what parts are going to be castings?

Jim

[t.caster]

That's great news! I can see one in my future.

[far55]

Are these parts interchangable with the origial handmade locks ? I have one on a 54cal. deer rifle I built about 5 years ago, and after some fiddling and finding the right flint for it, I am very happy with it, Roland

[duca]

Wow Chris great news! Good luck and keep us posted.

Anthony

[Chris Evrard]

Chris,

Will you be producing the smaller version of that lock as well ?  I have purchased them in the past from Stan and found the smaller size to be perfect for several projects like pistols and smaller rifles (like the one I built recently for my grandson).

Best of luck with all of this.  The parts in the photos look great !!

Dave,

Yes, that would be the pistol lock, and it will be next in production.

Thanks for your interest!

CE

[Chris Evrard]

Looks nice.  So what parts are going to be castings?

Jim

Jim,

Like you, I will be casting the hammer/top jaw and frizzens.

Best,

CE

[Chris Evrard]

Are these parts interchangable with the origial handmade locks ? I have one on a 54cal. deer rifle I built about 5 years ago, and after some fiddling and finding the right flint for it, I am very happy with it, Roland

Roland,

Most parts will be interchangeable. The internals however would best be replaced as a unit (tumbler, sear and fly)

Best,

CE

[Chris Evrard]

Chris
 If you need that tiny little lock that Dave was referring to, I have one that you can use as a pattern.
Wayne

Wayne,

Thank you. I am pretty good on pistol plates, but it is good to have options.

Good to meet you at Front Royal!

Best,

CE

[Chris Evrard]

I forgot to mention in my original post that Stan H. had also come up with what he called the "Early Beck" which was a slightly larger, longer version of the lock. I will also be adding that to the lineup after the pistol lock.

So, the "Standard" Beck will be the first produced, The "Pistol or Small" Beck will be second, and the "Early" Beck will be third.

CE

[Bob Roller]

While I was making locks they were all a mix of cast parts such as all external parts were cast with a bench crafted mechanism and I hope you have a high rate of success.The market of today is more affluent than it was in past years.I came close to stopping any and all work for muzzle loading guns because of the mindset that said the lock  HAS to be the cheapest part of the gun.An inquiry from Germany changed everything for us.The Germans had a very different view about the bench craftsman and paid quickly when the work was done and did not ask for price cuts.Most of the locks I sent to the Germans were based on the external parts of the L&R small Manton and their Percussion Schuetzen plate and hammers with a fancy mechanism I styled after a Stanton "3 pin"lock.I told the owners of L&R i really appreciated the fast help they gave me and they were glad for the sales.
  The Chet Shoults Ketland was all castings except for the screws and the Cochran was 99% copied from the Shoults.The line of Russ Hamm locks were never intended to be a quality item.The Silers(Chambers)locks are good examples of all cast locks that have quality control and a recently mentioned lock from Canada,the Clark was a good one and good looking.
   Jim Kibler's CNC lock making has set new standards and excludes the "gotta be cheap"ideas and I wish he'd hold off on that "Hawken" in favor of an English Manton styled half stock. IMHO,the Hawken Shop has that particular market well covered.OK,My rant is over and good
luck on this project.
Bob Roller

[Habu]

Congrats!  Will you also be doing the triggers?  That single-set trigger is one of my favorites, I'd hate to see it unavailable.

[HighUintas]

Hi Chris, good luck in your endeavor and I hope you succeed. It's exciting to see another person pursuing locks with a manufacturing method that produces tighter tolerances.

Will you be selling your locks on this forum, or will you have a web site?

[Chris Evrard]

Congrats!  Will you also be doing the triggers?  That single-set trigger is one of my favorites, I'd hate to see it unavailable.

That is something I've discussed with Stan. All I can say at this point is..... Maybe...

It is a cool trigger isn't it?

Thanks,

CE

[Chris Evrard]

Hi Chris, good luck in your endeavor and I hope you succeed. It's exciting to see another person pursuing locks with a manufacturing method that produces tighter tolerances.

Will you be selling your locks on this forum, or will you have a web site?

Thank you!

I really need to build a website but it is unlikely to happen before the first locks are ready for sale (one man show here!). If not I'll certainly put a for sale listing here.

Best,

CE

[godutch]

 It's certainly heartening to see new components appear, or re-appear in this case. 'All the best on your efforts!   

[2 shots]

 good news and good luck. its always good to hear that an old item will not be lost to time.