I don't know of any American made lock that can replace those Spanish locks. Sorry. All I know is that I spent a lot of time( a nice way to learn, BTW) "fixin'" my lock and gun to make it function at all.
When the lock was removed, there were HUGE CHUNKS of wood chips in the lock mortise- and in parts of the lock, which made it next to impossible to make the lock parts work. Those were easily removed.
Then I found the lock plate had been bent, or "bowed" so that the parts in the lock were rubbing against the lock plate, and could NOT function, until I removed all the parts, and straightened that Plate! Once I got the plate straightened in a bench vise, SLOWLY, so I didn't break it, the parts began to work correctly.
The bend was part of the problem with the hammer not aligning with the nipple, for instance. I did have to bend the Hammer a bit to get it to strike the nipple squarely, but that was Not nearly as big an issue as I thought it would be when I first examined the lock.
I had Lots of Burrs on the edges of all the parts, and the mainspring, which made the hammer fall sluggish. All those lock part problems were "fixed" with a minimum of filing using jeweler's files, and polishing with emery cloth, backed by a flat file.
I got the help of a friend who had access to a metal lathe. He took a bit of metal off the side of the drum closest to the barrel, so that we could rotate the drum so that the nipple aligned properly with the hammer, when the drum was tight against the barrel. I filed off the extra metal now sticking into the bore, to provide clearance for my cleaning jag. It was only then that we bent the nose of the percussion hammer a bit, to get it to hit the nipple squarely. I still had to grind the face of the hammer, inside the skirt, to get the face to strike the top of the nipple squarely. I also beveled the skirt, so that the front of the caps would open up more, and the cap would not stick to the nipple after it was fired. There was a notch in the front of the skirt, but it was not deep enough, nor wide enough, so, I used a triangular shaped file to deepen and widen the notch.
My mainspring was tapered too much near the hook, so it was weakest when the hammer was down on the spent cap. I could not find replacement springs, then, so after a few instances where bits of cap came flying out, and stuck me in the arm, and face, I drilled a 1/64" hole into the clean-out screw in the end of the drum, right through the screw slot, and the center of the screw, to relieve gases.
Today, I would simply buy an "Uncle Mike" Hot-Shot nipple with the holes in the nipple, so that gases escape and blow the sides of the spent cap apart for easy removal. The shape of the nipple, and those holes prevent blow-back that pushes the hammer back to half cock, and allows the spent cap to escape.
If I still had that gun, I would replace the clean-out screw, and the nipple, and not have to deal with smoke and flame shooting sideways like you get shooting a flintlock.
My point is that while there are problems with those guns, its not in the barrel. And, if I can fix the lock to make it work reliably, anyone can. :thumbsup:
