Bridle on lock

[keving]

I have read about some locks having a bridle and some being unbridled. My question is , where is the bridle on a lock and what purpose does it serve? :hmm:

 

[rich pierce]

The bridle on the tumbler is on the inside of the lock and supports the tumbler axle, stabilizing it from torque forces. Usually it also supports the sear bolt and keeps the sear flat against the plate. Very early flintlocks lacked a tumbler bridle. And some later cheap trade ones lacked it also.

Also, frizzens of most model flintlocks have bridles. Siler for example. This is a little arm that sits on the outboard side of the rizzen, and the frizzen bolt (axle, really) is supported at both ends, by the lockplate the this frizzen bridle. Locks w/o a frizzen bridle were out of style by 1790 for sure. Most export locks coming to this country pre-Revolutionary War did not have a frizzen bridle, although this depended somewhat on whether they were Germanic or English, and high end or standard stuff.

 

[Birddog6]

The actual "Bridle" is the support plate that is mounted to the inside of the lock & it is the support for the tumbler, keeps the fly in, etc.

What the guys were talking about the other day is the frizzen support, and they are referring to a "Frizzen Bridle", tho I am not sure that is a PC term for it. Old styles locks just had a screw holding the frizzen to the lockplate, newer styles had a arm on the outside in front of the frizzen & the screw goes thu it, thru the frizzen & into the lockplate, thus giving the frizzen screw more support.

If you go to Jim Chambers Flintlocks web site, he has a section for locks & it clearly shows both styles. Look at the Germanic lock & then look at the Siler lock. Note the frizzen screws & how they mount.

:thumbsup:

 

[keving]

Thanks for answering my question.