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