Making one of these lock kits would be made easier if you were experienced at making small clocks, or wrist watches. If you have made a combustion engine from scratch, that would also serve you well.
In the pre-1700 period, we had either Flintlocks, or Match locks, or Wheellocks. ( You can gain a huge education about these arms, by going to the threads on this forum that discuss these arms.)The "Dog lock" was one of the earliest of Flintlock styles. It has the double-throated "****" of the Brown Bess, but has a mechanical lever behind the **** at the rear of the plate, that has a "hook" that locks over the back of the **** when its cocked to full ****. Pulling the trigger moves this "doglock" back and releases the **** to fall. Think of it as an External sear and full-**** notch.
Since the Percussion ignition system, and " action " was invented in the 1820s, there should be no confusion about what kind of lock you can find. WE DID NOT HAVE such guns and LOCKS built here in the Colonies, back in that period.
Any gun that might have made it to our shores, came from England, France, or Holland, or Germany. You simply don't have a lot of choice in either arms, or designs. Match locks came to the colonies with the first settlers in the early 1600s. The Wheellocks followed, altho they were so expensive to own, and maintain, that the match locks remained as the principal tool of the common man until the appearance of the flintlock action. The flintlock has been with us since the late 1600's. With very little design change, its still going strong.
