mule ear' locks........

[buckweet]

howdy ?
lookin for a mule ear lock, for my lyman trade rifle.

anyone know where to look ? im running into dead ends.tried poineer arms, and L&R locks, nothing. and other leads ?
thanks.

buckweet

 

[paulvallandigham]

Pioneer arms is the place that makes them. Call them back. My understanding is that they expect to have more locks available later this Winter.

 

[buckweet]

Pioneer arms is the place that makes them. Call them back. My understanding is that they expect to have more locks available later this Winter.

thanks, i'll do that.

im thinkin ? mule ear lock, and bore my 50 out to a .62.

weet

 

[steve nagy]

I have attached a link from a machining website that advertises custom sidehammer lock production.
http://www.johntaylormachine.com/38.0.html

 

[buckweet]

I have attached a link from a machining website that advertises custom sidehammer lock production.
http://www.johntaylormachine.com/38.0.html[/quote]
thank you. im in contact with mr.taylor.

 

[steve nagy]

You are welcome; I hope that you are able to get the lock. I know that while some smiths or builders may have one or two in stock they usually are saving them for their own builds.

 

[bob243]

Does anyone have pictures of the inside of one? I have been wanting to make one of these.

 

[chapmans]

Here are some pics of a totaly custom lock, it is made to fit a small Siler lock mortice, they make an easy conversion just remove the lock and touch hole liner and put a nipple in along with the side slapper and you have a percussion!!

 

[bob243]

Interesting.. Thank You

 

[kanati]

Wondering if the weight of the hammer and impact effects the accuracy any. Seems that it would. We tend to support guns better up and down when shooting. Some of the old "target guns" were under hammer on the center line, maybe this is why?

-Ron

 

[paulvallandigham]

If you ever look at the underhammer guns, you will be shocked, perhaps to feel how much less Tension the mainspring has to ignite those caps or primers. Most of the mainsprings on sidelocks are too strong. And, You don't need much tension on the spring for a mule ear lock, either, to ignite a percussion cap.

IMHO, its the excessive force-force beyond that needed to fire the caps-- that contributes to barrel vibration, and possibly the movement of the sight picture away from the POA on any percussion gun. 10 lbs- less if the hammer weighs a lot-- is all that is needed to fire the caps on most all actions. The length of the fall of the hammer also is a factor to be considered in determining the force actually delivered to the nipple.

Some target shooters increase spring tension, so they can shorten the hammer fall, or " Travel", trying to gain the edge that short stroke firing pins give in target guns.

IMHO, shortening the fall or " travel" of a percussion hammer can not be done enough to speed the " Lock time" enough to make it worthwhile. That additional force created by using heavier springs bashes the nipples, and rattles the barrel, as any heavy firing pin spring does in modern guns. Considering the ignition speed of most locks, even well tuned, and the slower speed of burning of Black powder, Lock and barrel time are not improved by increasing spring tension and shortening the hammer fall.

More important, as this all relates to Relative Accuracy, is the fact that we now have locks and barrels that produce SDVs in the single digits, and we have guns capable of shooting extremely small groups at long ranges, Without the shorter hammer fall or increased spring tension!

As with much of what works with BP guns, in this case, LESS is, again, MORE! :shocked2: :hmm: :thumbsup: