Wheellock news on the internet

[dd832]

I was just looking at the Contemporary Makers website and there's a nice article about MLF member Wulf titled "Way Back When" - “WAY BACK WHEN”
The article shows a wheellock interior by Wulf using an extension coil spring - very neat!

And there's also a couple of photos of a wheellock by Brian Anderson that used a lock by Bolek- New Wheellock by Brian Anderson

Mike

 

[fourbore]

Beautiful guns, but; what we need in this hobby are one or more reasonable price and mass produced pre-flintlock arms. Even kits that are sufficiently finished that parts do not need heat treat! I might add, guns that can actually be ordered and shipped and not simply pretty pictures on the web.

 

[dd832]

Beautiful guns, but; what we need in this hobby are one or more reasonable price and mass produced pre-flintlock arms. Even kits that are sufficiently finished that parts do not need heat treat! I might add, guns that can actually be ordered and shipped and not simply pretty pictures on the web.

I don't think that will EVER happen, the number of people who are interested in pre-flintlock arms are just too small for anyone to make a buck doing mass production. Pre-flintlock stuff is VERY niche stuff with few people interested enough to make a difference. The interest in black powder arms is not large to begin with and has probably shrunk since the 80's - 90's (just an educated guess). Also, in case you haven't noticed, many black powder folks are very tight with a dollar.... many want a $2k custom rifle for $400. Sort of like reading Popular Mechanics in the early 60's and seeing ads for "brand new surplus jeeps for $50", ain't goin' happen. Just my 2 cents.

Mike

 

[Canute Rex]

I was just looking at the Contemporary Makers website and there's a nice article about MLF member Wulf titled "Way Back When" - “WAY BACK WHEN”
The article shows a wheellock interior by Wulf using an extension coil spring - very neat!

And there's also a couple of photos of a wheellock by Brian Anderson that used a lock by Bolek- New Wheellock by Brian Anderson

Mike

I guess this is what is called a "flex", but that wheellock by Brian Anderson is leaning in a corner about two feet from me right now. It is sweet to look at but also sweet to shoot. I can swing it up to my shoulder in one motion and as my cheek touches the stock my eye lines up through both sights naturally. It shoots better than I do (low bar, but you know what I mean). Bolek's lock is a work of art, but even so, Brian moved the jaws of the dog a fraction of an inch and deepened the sear hole a hair and it is just that much better. Brian got the trigger geometry just so. A fast lock with a light trigger, even with the sideways sear.

I guess you could call it a pastiche of a cheek stock Brescian cavalry carbine. The original has a 10" LOP, but I wanted a shoulder stock. There were both cheek and shoulder stock carbines made in that area in that mid 17th c period, so Brian did it.

I agree with Mike, especially as far as wheelies are concerned. The locks have a high parts count and a lot of surfaces that have to interact nearly perfectly. It's not a device that can be mass produced and then slightly tweaked. It's all tweaking from start to finish. Even after it's "done," if you tighten the wrong screw an extra quarter turn it all goes to hell. There's a reason people went to flintlocks.

That said, I am happily hurling leaden death Italian style.

 

[dd832]

That said, I am happily hurling leaden death Italian style.

It's nice to meet a fellow patron of the dark arts! My hat is off to you Sir! And a bloody nice wheelie, too.

Like you said Canute "The locks have a high parts count and a lot of surfaces that have to interact nearly perfectly. It's not a device that can be mass produced and then slightly tweaked. It's all tweaking from start to finish. Even after it's "done," if you tighten the wrong screw an extra quarter turn it all goes to hell." Just look at my posts from 2 years ago - Rebuilding a Mendi Wheellock
It only took me from April to September to build a wheellock - but then, I am slow.

Mike

 

[rickystl]

Canute: That wheelie is a beauty. Glad to hear it shoots as good as it looks. Brian does great work. He just recently finished a Spanish gun for me. Again, Congrats.

Rick

 

[Canute Rex]

Thanks, Mike, Rick. I was just out today with a friend and fellow wheellock shooter, experimenting with load development. He built himself a copy of an early 17th C French rifle and used a Loyalist Arms lock. That lock had to get extensive rebuilding by Brian Anderson. It's still not as reliable as my Bolek lock.

The things I'm realizing about wheellocks are:

1) They were designed for cavalrymen to pull out and fire once. Or perhaps for a Bavarian stag hunter to fire once and then go dispatch the buck with a sword. Not 20 shots in a row on a woods walk.
2) Keep the pyrite clean of crud and put a few drops of oil on the junction of the square spindle and the wheel every six shots or so. The pyrite gets the blast from the vent and the priming and builds up a non-sparking layer. Crud also builds up between the wheel and the lock plate. A little oil keeps that as a slurry rather than a hard cake. As long as I do those two things I get 9/10 shots without a misfire.

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

Canute - What/where is your best source for pyrites?

 

[Canute Rex]

I have gotten a bunch of pyrite on eBay. Caveats:

There are three kinds you'll see; beads, Spanish smooth, and Chinese rough. Beads have been shaped and polished. Too expensive, avoid. The Spanish pyrite is glossy and golden cubes that look like they have been machined. The smoothness is natural, but again, they are way too expensive. You can get cubes of pyrite from China for a decent price. Warning: The cubes will always be about 20% smaller than advertised.

I get 12-18mm cubes and cut them into slabs with a diamond saw. My method is to cut an open top cardboard box (~18' square) so it fits over my bench vise, sticking up a couple of inches above the top of the vise. Then I clamp the pyrite in the vise *gently* and use my 4" angle grinder with a diamond blade in it. The cut slab always wings off, but the box catches it. Wear a dust mask.

 

[Canute Rex]

A couple of pyrite offerings.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NATURAL-SP...863709?hash=item48c501a15d:g:LlkAAOSw9ClcmUW~
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-4lb-Beau...749480?hash=item33e904f9a8:g:Sr4AAOSwFBtdGVDS

 

[rickystl]

Have either of you guys tried these fire-stix ? They make them square now. Cut to 1" or so length. They just so happen to be the right size. They are harder than pyrite (and don't crumble) - but still much softer than the wheel.

Rick

 

[Rudyard]

Pyrites is a bogey with Wheel lock shooting There must be a historical source that supplied shooters back in their time I found the facetted gold looking stuff is too friable . I glue small bits into wooden holders so you should get one shot away but getting a second if 's not blown away requires altering to afresh face as a hunting rifle its fine mostly but shooting a 13 shot match is a battle . Bolec seems to use a square block like pyrite ? g'os regularly did get some grey square stuff not tried it as yet . I have to agree re the relatively few of us who are into such things pre flintlock but we are ' a precious few' I like to think & definatly a' Band of Brothers ' Regards Rudyard

 

[fourbore]

Have either of you guys tried these fire-stix ? They make them square now. Cut to 1" or so length. They just so happen to be the right size. They are harder than pyrite (and don't crumble) - but still much softer than the wheel.

RickView attachment 34789

Where are those? I can only find the round ones.
To confirm I am looking for magnesium square rods?

 

[rickystl]

Hi Fourbore

Here is the Link. They sure make things easier. They fit right in the jaws without alteration. Just cut to desired length.
A couple sticks would last a long time.

https://firesteel.com/square-firesteels/
Rick

 

[Rudyard]

Great News! should solve many of our difficulties with pesky pyrites ! . I had even made a new lock to interchange with the Wheellock made it early flint so I could shoot target without the pyrites woe's the barrel is a 45 Dougless . I've shot very little at target mostly it was used hunting till it looks antigue it is about 35 years old If you look up' hunting pics' youl'e see it under the head less bod which is me after 10 days in the bush . Great info you have shewn us Rick .
Regards Rudyard

 

[Canute Rex]

I've tried the ferrocerrium sticks. They make a big spark that fails to ignite the priming powder. No idea why.

The rough cubes I get on eBay (see links I listed above) work fine for me. I've got a cut slab of pyrite in the lock right now that has about 20 shots on it.

 

[toot]

how do you cut them and what with?

 

[Canute Rex]

how do you cut them and what with?

I use a 4" angle grinder with a thin diamond disc. I cut a hole in the bottom of a roughly 18" square, maybe 6-8" deep cardboard box so it fits over my bench vise. This is to catch the cut piece of pyrite as it wings off in a random direction. The rim of the cardboard box should be an inch or two higher than the top of the vise. Then I *gently* clamp a cube of pyrite in the vise and slice 1/8' to 1/4' off the top. Then I rotate the remnant 90 degrees and do it again, producing a narrower slab. It only has to be as wide as your wheel.

Wear a dust mask.

 

[toot]

Canute Rex, thank you for getting back to me with the explanation on how to do it.