Shooting a Wheel Lock Pistol

[PathfinderNC]

I got around to taking out and shooting the Wheel Lock pistol that I built back about 1995 or so. I stocked it from a block of Maple that I had band-sawn to my outline and I worked on crafting this pistol with basic home/garage shop tools. The lock and the barrel were from Dixie Gun Works. Evertything else except the forward ramrod pipe I made. The wire inlay was just steel wire I pounded flat and inserted into the groves I cut with a knife. I had no instructions or any models to go by. I had never seen a real one as well. just photos I had seen in books.
It is a very cool pistol. A bit unwieldy due to the heavy barrel. But it shoots fast and it's fun!
The video can be seen here:

 

[PhDBrewer]

Great job!

 

[PathfinderNC]

Great job!

Thanks- I really don't remember having that much patience to do all the wire work though!

 

[flinter1977]

Great video , thanks for posting.

 

[Rich44]

That was very interesting to watch, thanks for sharing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[PhDBrewer]

Could you show some close up images of your lock?
Really curious about the mechanism.
Thanks!
~William

 

[PathfinderNC]

That was very interesting to watch, thanks for sharing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am glad you liked it!

 

[PathfinderNC]

Could you show some close up images of your lock?
Really curious about the mechanism.
Thanks!
~William

I took these yesterday but can do more close-ups of the internals later for you. It's interesting that the wheel is held in locked position by a ball bearing that the sear lever (?) force presses it into a dimple in the wheel surface. When the trigger is pulled back, it releases that pressure against the ball bearing and the wheel is free to spin.

 

[toot]

you did real good in making it!

 

[PathfinderNC]

you did real good in making it!

It was an interesting project that’s for sure

 

[SOLANCO]

Wonderful work!
Can't believe you waited 26 years to fire it?!?!

 

[BigAl52]

Well I just got my history lesson for the day. I had never heard of one of these so I looked up the time frame it was around. Very interesting

 

[rickystl]

Nice pistol. I vaguely remember these locks being offered in the Dixie catalog. Do you know who made the locks ?

Rick

 

[TFoley]

That, Sir, is remarkable. We, your earnest fans, demand a reprise of the video in modern HD to give it the appreciation it deserves.

As for our friend BigAl52, have a look at the movie 'Cromwell' or. more recently, the Mort Vigensen movie 'Alatriste' about the Thirty Years War in Europe involving EVERYBODY. In particular, the Battle of Rocroi -



A few months ago, friend of this forum capandball posted a great half-hour movie on his brand-new pair of custom-made wheellock pistols - well worth a watch -



and another post from him about accuracy -



Ia McCollum on 'Forgotten Weapons' has a great article, too, shooting a hunting carbine -

 

[PathfinderNC]

Nice pistol. I vaguely remember these locks being offered in the Dixie catalog. Do you know who made the locks ?

Rick

I have no idea who made it.

 

[PathfinderNC]

Wonderful work!
Can't believe you waited 26 years to fire it?!?!

Yeah, its been in the case for a loooooong time. I had shot it before but got involved in other things. I am Glad it aged well in the garage lol.

 

[Poguetx]

The one and only time I took my India made one from Loyalist, I averaged 2 nothings, 2 flash in the pans, and one actual ignition. I successfully got off 3 shots - I said I'd keep trying until I hit the man-sized silhouette 15yds away!

 

[Jay Templin]

Jamestown Settlement has a series of videos exploring the various ignition systems used in the early 1600s on their YouTube channel- JYFMuseums.
Jay

 

[Canute Rex]

The one and only time I took my India made one from Loyalist, I averaged 2 nothings, 2 flash in the pans, and one actual ignition. I successfully got off 3 shots - I said I'd keep trying until I hit the man-sized silhouette 15yds away!

The Loyalist wheellocks should be considered assembled kits. It's random chance what you get in terms of lock function. A friend of mine bought one of their locks and built a rifle around it. A gunsmith friend had to partially rebuild and tune the lock to make it spark reliably. The geometry of the dog/**** is generally wrong and the dog spring is generally weak. Even after rebuilding it isn't half as reliable as the Bolek lock in my rifle. I have done a whole woods walk with just one misfire. That takes proactive maintenance, though.

 

[Rudyard]

These pistol / carbine wheellocks sound very like ones offererd by Paul Jacobi in Europe, Germany I think .Then similar or the same where offerered as guns by Navy Arms ,Both I and Felt wad made guns from them that ball bearing scear nose was a feature of them Good for the money but 30 odd years or more years ago( more like 40 ).But at the time seemingly few grasped them I was all' Gotta get a Hawkin ' thinking' . I only made two of them for patrons heavy brutes but no accounting for taste . Rudyard