Return of the Bob Ditchburn / JP Beck Lock!

[Chris Evrard]

Hey All,

I've been making good progress on the Ditchburn/Beck Lock over the past month. I wish could work on it full time! I now have the cnc'd tumbler, fly, sear and bridle all sorted out, and I have a good start on the sear springs. Next in line is the Mainspring. When the Mainsprings are ready it'll be time to assemble and test a few locks. Yay!

Here are a few updates.

Working on Fly(s):
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0PoZbQJmzL/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==


Tumbler and Fly Function:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0STBWMpdv4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

I have some pics to share too, but apparently the picture server is down. I'll try uploading them later on or tomorrow.


Best,

Chris E.

[rich pierce]

Looking good Chris!

[Blacksmoke]

Hey Chris:  Your  new locks look wonderful!  I especially like the sound of anew pistol lock being on the market.  I will wait and see what comes from your bench before I make a purchase of a pair to go on matched pair for a cased set.  These will be in the upper class realm of guns found at DSC.  Anyway look forward to doing business with you.  Hugh Toenjes

[Chris Evrard]

Looks like the image server is working again. Here are a few photos. The first is all of the various internals. There is a video of them working together in my previous post above.



These are my sear spring bending jigs. After a bit of tuning they are working great and making nice neat eye and bend.




Here I was experimenting with different methods of cutting the fly notch



This one I couldn't resist. My son Hap got his first pair of Calipers. He wants to be in the shop "measuring" with Daddy 

[Joey R]

That’s a great father and son picture!

[Bob Roller]

Good looking little boy.He reminds me of our only great grandson Archer Garret Jenkins.
He needs a muzzle loading boys rifle.That lock looks good and that tiny "fly".I have one
of my locks now with the old direct contact main springs that needs a fly to replace a lost
one.
Bob Roller

[oldtravler61]

   Chris it's good to see a high quality small lock being produced..

[Osprey]

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

Hopefully the Armstrong is on the list somewhere???

[Hatchet-Jack]

It's so exciting to see a new lock being produced and your little apprentice is doing a great job!

[Bob Roller]

   Chris it's good to see a high quality small lock being produced..

Or a high quality anything else pertaining to muzzle loaders or anything else.
Bob Roller

[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

Hopefully the Armstrong is on the list somewhere???

Yes! I did buy all of Stan H.'s Armstrong stuff too, and that will be on the list after the other Beck models. Stan's Armstrong was left handed so I will have to mirror it to make a right hand. I have a casting of an original signed Armstrong lock plate which will become the model for that lock. It is kind of cool that in the casting you can see where the pan was cut off to convert it to percussion.

Here are a few pics:











And thank you all for the comments and encouragement!

Best,

CE

[scottmc]

Chris, this is great news.  The Ditchburn is a great little lock.  My question is will you, by chance, be doing Stan's F&I lock which was left hand?  I have one on a gun now that I am building and it is great for early guns and would make us lefties extremely happy to have a quality choice.

[Chris Evrard]

Hey Scott,

I don't know that lock. I'll have to ask Stan about it this coming week. We're going to be forging some mainsprings up at his shop. I'll ask him about it then. There is another I know he was working on, but I cannot remember the name. It was a much later period than F&I though.

Best,

CE

[Joe Stein]

Stan had a left hand Armstrong lock. A lot of us southpaw shooters would like to see that, especially since most of the other lockmakers are not willing to consider making one.

[Robby]

http://stanhollenbaughgunsmith.com/page3.html
Good luck Chris, they are nice locks!
Robby

[Lew.495]

Wishing you the best of luck.
 I have an original Stan Hollenbaugh Ditchburn pistol lock I bought in 2009, unused except for watching the action. 
What would it be valued at? I need a ball park figure. Already have an interested party.

I saw on Stan's website from 2020 that he was selling them for $225.
I see similar sized locks by Jim Chambers are selling for $295 and the Siler locks are selling for $22o.

[Stoner creek]

Price it comparably to every thing else on the market today. 

[Chris Evrard]

Price it comparably to every thing else on the market today.

Lew,495, My advice would be the same as Stoner creek above.

Best,

CE

[Bob Roller]

Price it comparably to every thing else on the market today.

Like everything else,a willing seller and a willing BUYER.Locks,guns and cars,tools.$225 for a good quality lock is a bargain
in todays inflationry period.
Bob Roller

[mountainman]

When can we expect those first locks (Ditchburn Beck) to be on the market? Or when they are going to be available?

[Jdbeck]

Any updates? Cannot wait to make using your lock SOP for all my future Beck builds!

[mony]

Congrats. Very exciting to see another quality program in this business. Good for you. Nice Instagram posts. Best wishes

[Marcruger]

I will interject here that Chris Evrard makes some super locks.  I have two of the locks be built up and tuned (Chambers locks), and both are slick fine-sparking pieces.  I wasn't looking for "cheap", I was looking for super quality, and Chris delivered.  I will wager that the locks he's now building will be excellent as well.  God Bless,   Marc

[t.caster]

Mr. Evrard, I am needing one of your Beck locks as soon as they are available. Let me know!

[t.caster]

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