Av S. Kirk, a tool and die maker
Perris, Ota, periment wh
various percussion locks until he de-
vised one which retained traditional
appearance but had a simplified mecha-
nism. This lock can be made almost en
tirely with hand tools, and is propor-
tioned to look well on'a Kentucky rifle
fr single-shot percussion pistol, Shape
of the lockplate can be adapted to ft
an old stock.
Uses coil springs
To ease production and simplify the
‘mechanism, coil springs are used. A
compression spring of about the diame-
ter of a small screen-door spring is used
for the mainspring. The sear spring is
Ya" diameter, and adapted from the
valve core spring of an automobile tire.
Kirk has made a number of locks
using aluminum bronze castings for the
hammer, lockplate, bridle, and trigger.
‘The sear, tumbler, push-rod, and springs
in. these locks are steel. Aluminum
bronze, which is the color of brass,
looks particularly handsome when the
firoarm has brass fittings. This is an
Lock disassembled
‘ame (cp ew) ad le (Seto sie)
ote cack
I
An Improved Percussion Lock
By MARY E. GOOD
easy metal to work, will tarnish some
but not rust, and cleans up well.
‘The lockplate is 14" thick, standard
for the old lockplates, and inletting the
stock for it is easy, The lockplate, ham-
mer, bridle, and sear are cut out with
a hacksaw’ and filed to shape. Tho
tumbler hole in the hammer is made
with a 14" drill and then filed square.
Distance from center of percussion
cavity in hammer to center of tumbler
hole is 198" to 194",
Cold-rolled steel is used 10 make the
tumbler, and it is turned on a lathe. It
is %" diameter and 3/16" thick. Half-
cock and full-cock notches are made by
filing carefully.
‘The mainspring applies pressure 10
the tumbler by means of a push-rod
which extends through a guide attached
to the lockplate. The hole in the guide
fs countersunk on both sides, Three 4:
screws are used in assembling the parts
‘This lock also has trigger mechanism
improvements. The single trigger used
‘on many early pereussion and flint fre
arms was pivoted to the stock instead
‘of the lock. This frequently resulted in
a trigger pull that was not crisp, In thi
Tock the upper part of the trigger is
triangular, and has holes for the sear
screw and sear arm, Play is taken out
of the trigger pull by the sear spring
Casehardening parts
The tumbler and sear are case-
hardened by using one of several chemi-
cal compounds. These parts are heated
ed hot, dipped into the casehardening
powder until it adheres to them, re:
heated red hot, and then quenched in
cold water. The finished lockplate car
be polished smooth, engraved, ot
jeweled,
‘The hammer is designed to fre paper
caps as well as the more expensive per-
cussion caps. A roll of 1000 eaps gen-
erally costs 10¢. They are cut to size
with a 14” punch, In order for the ham-
‘mer to hold them, the percussion cavity
is drilled with a 4 drill instead of
being made oversize, which was the
custom of the old Tockmakers,
Using a heavier lockplate and 1°
tumbler, the principle of this lock can
also be adapted to flintlock arms, Ml
$ Lees indicate bow lock prs ropoher
Inner side of assembled lock