LI_Novice
32 Cal
Are there any businesses/individuals in the US making wheellock kits or finished custom guns? Not really in the market at the moment, but I am curious about the subject.
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Custom Wheellock Builders
- Thread starter LI_Novice
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Not sure about American builders. I think Leonard Day’s sons have been displaying a wheellock lock at shows, but when I spoke with them a couple of months ago, they were still tooling up for their main set of guns.
Lodgewood MFG has an example of wheellock they built from a Rifle Shoppe kit, so that may be a possibility.
Wheellock "Paddle Butt" Cavalry Carbine
There are at least three Polish builders that make complete guns to order. They are expensive and all have long wait times.
Lodgewood MFG has an example of wheellock they built from a Rifle Shoppe kit, so that may be a possibility.
Wheellock "Paddle Butt" Cavalry Carbine
There are at least three Polish builders that make complete guns to order. They are expensive and all have long wait times.
LI_Novice
32 Cal
Shame theres not any in the US, but I kinda get it. During their heyday wheellocks were never really as significant here as in Europe. Any revival wouldn’t be as much a thing as we saw with flint and percussion.
As a side note, I’ve had this concept in my head for totally ahistorical fantasy blend. basically just a typical sort of American longrifle (any of the particular regional styles would do) but swap the ignition system with a wheellock. I think that would make for a nice piece if not practically than aesthetically.
Last edited:
Canute Rex
40 Cal.
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The problem with wheellock building is the lock itself. It's a custom build every time.
You can get a lock from Loyalist Arms in Canada, made in India, but you should consider it a pre-assembled kit. It will need to be taken apart and rebuilt; geometry changed, springs replaced, tweaks made. Few people know how to do that properly on a wheellock.
The Rifle Shop wheellock lock kits are a bunch of cast parts that need extensive work to be turned into a functional lock. It's not just an assembly job.
There's just not enough demand for someone to tool up to make a truly functional wheellock lock in the way that we can get flint and percussion locks.
You can get a lock from Loyalist Arms in Canada, made in India, but you should consider it a pre-assembled kit. It will need to be taken apart and rebuilt; geometry changed, springs replaced, tweaks made. Few people know how to do that properly on a wheellock.
The Rifle Shop wheellock lock kits are a bunch of cast parts that need extensive work to be turned into a functional lock. It's not just an assembly job.
There's just not enough demand for someone to tool up to make a truly functional wheellock lock in the way that we can get flint and percussion locks.
You do not necessarily need to be ahistoric. Later wheellock muskets are in the same style that club butt fowlers evolved from:
At the end of the wheellock era, some wheellock Jager rifles had the same style as the flintlocks:
LI_Novice
32 Cal
I suppose, yeah. Just make that Jäger longer and you’ve got the basic idea down.
