I can agree that the performance of the locks could be improved with some polishing. I think like most people myself included a Dremel tool is the fastest way to totally screw up anything I touch with it. You also have to remember that many of those rifles are using a patent breech designed for a percussion rifle which is not an ideal set up for a flintlock.
There's much more than a similar profile that makes a gun historically correct. Design, components , and architecture all come into play in order to create an arm that has the detail, handling, and performance of an original gun. It all comes down to what floats your boat.
This is absolutely true. However think about a bench copy of a Bess, vs a perdisoli. Ones as near to perfect as you can get, ones is modeled after
Market forces.
We have the locks made by Manton and Twigg and others. These great locks were made from forged parts and then properly hardened and tempered to throw lots of sparks. That level of quality requires a lot of hands on labor. L&R makes a reasonable reproduction of the Manton lock. Chambers, Caywood, Kibler and Zornes make excellent locks. Bob Roller did. The Rifle Shoppe has castings of the appropriate locks that require considerable work to harden an finish a lock. Miroku, made a good lock for their Brown Besses and Charlevilles.
A good example would be Siler locks. The finished locks that Bud Siler sold and the ones Jim Chambers sell today are excellent locks. The problems come from the as cast lock kits they sell. I have put a few of them together and it takes some time to assemble and tune one to make a good lock. I have known guys who used only Siler lock kits but they had all the tools and equipment to turn out a lock comparable to the finished locks in a reasonable time. The problem comes from people who are taking shortcuts, They drill oversized holes for the tumbler instead of turning the tumbler down to size. They just file the casting gates down and don't polish the parts etc. The end result is a lock that is barely functional. Most of the complaints on Siler locks can be traced back to these individuals. I got burned once on a small Siler that I bought from a guy at Friendship as a finished lock. It needed some sanding but when I went to use it in a rifle I found out none of the parts had been hardened.
Curious ... what comes after the Chambers?
Poppycock
I am in total agreement. Kibler’s colonial lock is the finest lock I have ever owned or seen. I don’t think any other production lock has a posted bridle that fits into holes in the lock plate. This keeps the tumbler truly centered and does not count on screws to retain perfect alignment.
My first was also a CVC Mountain Rifle kit about 45 years ago. Next was a pre carve then a blank with the barrel channel and ramrod done. The kits offered today didn't exist back then. Yes the Chambers and Dunlap kits require more work but they also offer more options. they offer more styles and the option of making a percussion rifle, not every one wants a flintlock. Both offer a rifle for lefties. They offer an option of leaving off the inlet for the butt plate if you need a longer length of pull, the one size fits all just doesn't work for everyone. Dunlap will even leave out the lock inlet if you want to use a different lock. If you want to learn something of building a rifle instead of just snaping parts together then Chambers or Dunlap are a good choice then move on to a pre carve to learn more.
Chambered/patent breeches have been around in one form or another for a long time. The original patent was from Henry Nock back in the mid 1700s from memory.
