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EJ blackley miquelet pistol lock casting set

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Gustavo Hoefs

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Any help towards finding an assembled state picture of the EJ Blackley miquelete lock would be much appreciated. I purchased a casting set for a miquelete pistol lock from E.J. Blackley. However I have not assembled a lock from a casting set before and I assumed they would provide a picture of the finished lock, so I didnt ask and of course they did not and upon followup with them it seems they returned the original lock to the owner without photographing it. On the upside I must say the parts look to be really good quality, they arrived in a timely fashion, they were courteous and it wasnt overpriced. I would reccomend them as a supplier to anyone who asks.
 
Hi,
Kevin Blackley sells casting sets but they are not kits. They are targeted for folks who know something about metalworking, heat treating, and the technology represented by the set. Do an internet search for "miquelet lock" and you will find several exploded diagrams of the mechanism that will help. You have a late 18th or early 19th century miquelet (Spanish) lock. If you look at the photo of the lock set on Blackley’s web page the parts are, starting with the bottom row, left to right:
bottom row
lock plate
second row
flintcock, sear, top jaw screw, frizzen
third row
bridle, top jaw
fourth row
mainspring, sear spring

You will have to make several screws and tapered pins or wedges. First clean up the parts by filing off the flashing from the casting process. Be careful and make sure a lump of steel is flashing and not a lug needed to anchor the part. On the lockplate you see 3 narrow rectangular openings under the pan. The lugs on the mainspring fit into those slots. The spring is mounted on the outside of the plate with the lugs passing through the plate. The lugs are anchored by small tapered pins installed vertically through holes in the lugs. The pins and holes should be positioned such that the spring is pulled tightly up against the plate. An alternative method for locking the spring is to cut dovetails into the adjacent ends of the 2 closely spaced lugs and drive a dovetailed wedge in place between them to lock them in place. The frizzen fits over the pan and presses on the mainspring. You have to fit it tightly to the pan and then drill a hole through it for a screw that either installs from inside the plate and threads into the lug on the pan or it installs from the outside, through that lug and threads into the plate. The flintcock pivots on a screw that threads into the highest hole toward the rear of the plate. I cannot tell, but it may be that the pivot screw installs from the inside of the plate, goes through the flintcock and threads into the bridle. The bottom of the bridle should have a lug or post that inserts into the lock plate to hold it in place. The mainspring passes under the flintcock and pushes up on its tail to power it forward. The sear should slip over a horizontal lug on the inside of the plate and pivot on a vertical pin. The lower post of the sear goes through the big hole on the lock plate and protrude enough to catch the forward leg of the flintcock. That is your half cock mechanism. The sear is pushed through the plate by the sear spring. That spring mounts horizontally on the inside of the lock plate. The forward end is anchored by a screw threaded into the lock plate. Near the other end is a rectangular lug that passes through the plate and acts as the full cock catch for the flintcock. The end of the sear spring is pushed inward by the sear when the sear is pushed back by the trigger during firing. That caused the lug to move into the plate and release the flintcock. The trigger pull also holds the halfcock lug in allowing the flintcock to pass it as it falls forward. Finally, the top jaw screw has to be threaded into a hole in the flintcock.
You need taps, dies, preferably a drill press, files, a grinding wheel is nice, sandpaper or stones and oil for polishing. You must also heat treat the parts. Kevin often uses mild steel for most parts except frizzens and springs. Frizzens may be 1095 steel and springs 1075 or 5160 steel. The mild steel parts should be case hardened. I typically pack the parts in wood and bone charcoal and then heat to 1550-1600 degrees in my heat treating oven for 90 minutes. They are then quenched in 10 gallons of room temperature water. Then they are tempered for 1 hour at 490 degrees. The frizzen can also be case hardened with the rest of the parts but temper it at about 400 degrees. Springs should be heated to bright cherry red (oven or Mapp gas torch), and quenched in a large can of canola oil. After quenching they need to be tempered at 720-750 degrees for at least 1 hour and let cool slowly. The key to a miquelet is strong springs. Finally all screws and pins that act as pivots should be hardened and tempered as well depending on the steel you use.
Good luck,

dave
 
Hi Dave thanks for the reply ! That was a fabulous amount of information ! The part I am having trouble with is the inside lock parts arrangement sear spring etc. I have never seen one operate. I wasnt aware of pinned or dovetail locking of the springs either. I will send Kevin an email and ask about the steel compostition of the springs and frizzen. The caution you mentioned, yes I am concerned about mistaking a locking tab for a casting sprue. I am not expecting any cast in threads to be standard if I need to make a taps that match I`ll make an extra one that you can borrow. Sometimes you have to jump in to learn how to swim
 
Hi Goo,
Jumping in is the way to learn. Hopefully, there are no cast in threads, just holes to be threaded or indents showing where holes should be. There should be a horizontal lug or tab cast on the back side of the lockplate. The "L" shaped sear fits over that tab such that the post on the sear goes through the lockplate. Unlike the flintlock you are used to, the sear pivots horizontally, not vertically. The trigger pushes the L bar of the sear back, not up. The trigger is just a vertical flat bar with a trigger shaped on its end. It pivots on a pin in the stock located above and in front of the sear. The location of the sear spring should be easy to determine. There should be a tab on the spring that passes through a slot in the lockplate just above the round hole for the halfcock catch. Fit the tab on the spring through that slot and push the spring flat against the inside of the lockplate. It should lie horizontally just under the pan bolster. The forward end of the spring opposite the tab through the plate will require a screw or some sort of attachment to the lockplate.

dave
 

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