roller frizzens ?

[bigsam]

i have been advised that an english lock would be more period correct for the southern rifle that i currently have on order. are the roller frizzens present on some of the late english locks that are available period correct? did any of the origonal rifles have a germanic or siler type lock in them?

 

[texcl]

The chambers late ketland is a good lock for a southern rifle, if you look around at some of the PC builds that are on the forum you'll see that a good portion wear the late ketland. I used a manton lock by L&R on my tennessee rifle build only because it was left handed I would have gone with the ketland otherwise.

 

[J.D.]

Yes. Yes. And it depends on your definition of a Southern rifle.

Some early Va and NC rifles had Germanic locks, but later TN and SW Va rifles nearly always had English style locks. Some of the higher end English locks did have roller frizzens. However, of the two styles, the hardware store variety locks used on Southern Mountian rifles would more commonly have had roller frizzen springs similar to the one on the Chambers Late Ketland.

IMHO, if I were to build an East TN or SW VA rifle, I would use the Chambers Late Ketland. I would also move the location of the frizzen spring forward about the diameter of the mounting lug, to better position the cam of the frizzen for a faster, smoother kick over.

Moving the spring any farther than that will cause the counter bore for the frizzen spring mounting screw to interfere with the mainspring mounting lug hole. Don't ask how I know that. :hmm: However, that small issue can be overcome with a little creative adjustment. :wink:

IMHO, Moving the location of the spring also makes the lock easier on flints.

There are an assortment of original locks, with some small commentary at the link.

Both styles of locks are illustrated, as are those no roller on either the frizzen or spring.
http://www.flintriflesmith.com/antique_gun_locks.htm
God bless