Thoughts on Chambers locks?

[Loja man]

I only have two flintlocks. So not the most knowledgeable. But the lock on my Chambers Pennsylvania Fowler is amazing.!!

 

[Caterpillar Hunter]

My custom rifle has the Chamber's Early Ketland lock. It is fast and entirely reliable. I know it would throw sparks if it had bread dough between the jaws.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

This lock would fit my Pedersoli Frontier. TOTW locks come tuned and ready to shoot? I'm no gunsmith.

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/724/1/lock-ek-frb

 

[simonbeans]

I have a large siler on my new Isaac Haines. It’s a good lock. Two things I don’t like are the skinny pan. It’s hard to wipe out. I know I can grind it out to help that. Just haven’t yet. The other thing is the hammer isn’t in line with the frizzen. I have to hang the flint to the right to hit all the frizzen and not the barrel.

I have a kibler smr. I wish I would have bought the lock he had for my Haines. View attachment 386046

Enlarging pan is easy. Dremmel tool does a nice job. This is a small Siler by Chambers

 

[Jim K]

Enlarging pan is easy. Dremmel tool does a nice job. This is a smallmouth Siler by Chambers
View attachment 386214

Looks great. Interesting that your hammer lines up correctly with the frizzen and you don’t have to offset the flint like I do.

 

[RiverRat]

Chambers, Davis or Kibler, close your eyes and pick one. You can’t go wrong.

 

[M. De Land]

Thoughts on these? Looking at early Ketland style lock.

Who’s using Chambers locks?

I bought the Chambers Deluxe for my SMR and it's a superb lock worth the extra cost in my opinion.

 

[Texcl2]

Who knows what people do to locks after they leave the factory. Most take their locks apart while building and some for maintenance. A crooked hammer could be as simple as improper re-assembly anywhere down the line. I’ve done it myself.

 

[FlinterNick]

Thoughts on these? Looking at early Ketland style lock.

Who’s using Chambers locks?

The best out there with Kiblers.

 

[Rebel bull]

The best out there with Kiblers.

possibly but only if the lock they offer fits the rifle that you have

 

[Old Bear]

Thoughts on these? Looking at early Ketland style lock.

Who’s using Chambers locks?

I have a York Pennsylvania with his no worries it’s a great lock

 

[rich pierce]

This topic is a little shocking to me. Chambers locks have been the mainstay of custom builders for many decades. Their customer service is outstanding as well.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
Chambers locks are what I buy most if I am not making the lock from castings. IMO their late Ketland and round-faced English locks are the best of the line. The early Ketland is fine too but it is essentially the same internally as the round-faced English lock. Their Colonial Virginia lock is almost identical to the round-faced English lock except it has no border or raised pan. The standard Siler lock is OK but not the best. That is not because of any manufacturing issue but the design of the lock. Chambers improved it a lot by making the flint cock and frizzen taller on their Golden Age Siler and Deluxe Siler locks. Here is my best performing lock, a Chambers round-faced English lock. It successfully fired the rifle 671 times without a misfire using up only 10 flints.

Here are sparks produced using a rounded piece of quartz from my driveway.

dave

 

[Brokennock]

Hi,
Chambers locks are what I buy most if I am not making the lock from castings. IMO their late Ketland and round-faced English locks are the best of the line. The early Ketland is fine too but it is essentially the same internally as the round-faced English lock. Their Colonial Virginia lock is almost identical to the round-faced English lock except it has no border or raised pan. The standard Siler lock is OK but not the best. That is not because of any manufacturing issue but the design of the lock. Chambers improved it a lot by making the flint cock and frizzen taller on their Golden Age Siler and Deluxe Siler locks. Here is my best performing lock, a Chambers round-faced English lock. It successfully fired the rifle 671 times without a misfire using up only 10 flints.

Here are sparks produced using a rounded piece of quartz from my driveway.

dave

Any problems, ever, with the reported issues of the misalignment of the cock and hammer?

 

[Omahkapi'si]

This topic is a little shocking to me. Chambers locks have been the mainstay of custom builders for many decades. Their customer service is outstanding as well.

Never seen or had one. Hence the question.

 

[longcruise]

This lock would fit my Pedersoli Frontier. TOTW locks come tuned and ready to shoot? I'm no gunsmith.

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/724/1/lock-ek-frb

I don't think Track does anything to any of the locks they sell. Just as they receive them.

 

[mikesto44]

Chambers has been making and selling locks for decades. That in itself speaks for them as a super quality lock and company.

 

[Flint1]

I have had the Colonial Virginia since the early 2000's. I have never polished it or had it tuned. I don't know if Narragansett did anything to it or not when they installed it on the Early Virginia rifle I ordered from them. It has always worked flawlessly and throws a great shower of sparks using a black English 7/8 flint. I just checked and the flint is straight and not offset and scrapes the frizzen face all the way across.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

I see TOTW has 2 early Ketland Chambers locks. With and without pan bridle.

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/738/1

Can someone walk me through the pros and cons? Thanks

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
You will get a bunch of responses saying "Oh I have no bridle on my pan and the lock works just fine". Well, there is a reason why pan bridles were developed and why even military locks had them, and thought them important. They supported the frizzen pivot screw and reduced wear. Every original lock I've examined without a pan bridle that was clearly used a lot shows extensive wear on that pivot screw and the frizzen wobbles. Now in your case and the vast majority of modern shooters who are not using their guns everyday or fighting the French and Indian or Rev Wars in earnest, whether your lock has a pan bridle or not won't really matter that much as long as the pivot screw on the bridleless lock has a solid shoulder to the threads. The important consideration is not performance but what type of gun you are making. By 1750 or so, only the cheapest British trade guns would have locks without pan bridles. Many American long rifles would have cheaper locks as well. In fact, so many locks I examined on original American long rifles were really cheaply made. So if that is what you are making the bridleless early Ketland is fine. If you are trying to make any kind of better grade English gun you want a bridle on the pan.

dave