This new bar lock is patterned after one by Alexander Henry, a famous London maker of Sporting rifles for English gentlemen. The sear rides on a pin axle. Features include an elegant three screw bridle, stirrup linked mainspring, and fly detent for set triggers such as our fancy LePage single set trigger.
Notice the extra “bar” shown above the plate. The Alex Henry lock bar is undercut inside, to exactly fit the corner of an octagon barrel. This style lock requires the use of an English style hooked breech with “square” bolster. While it may look difficult to install, it is much easier to accurately fit straight edges than curves. Use this lock with any of our English style breeches. We now offer 13/16”, 15/16”, 1”, 1-1/8”, and 1-1/4” square hooked plugs. Or round the plate to accept a snail breech.
After fitting the plug to the barrel, test fit the lock to the plug. An extra wide plate lug behind the hammer allows fitting of the plate to any square breech. Trim the flashing from the bar, press it firmly against the plugs’s face, and soft solder it to the barrel.
Many of America’s best 1830-1860 era gunmakers copied English designs, especially Hawken and his competitors. We’ve examined bar locks and square breeches on original Plains rifles by H. E. Dimick of St. Louis, and Wurfflein of Philadelphia. We believe that they were used by Henry Derringer, Edward K. Tryon and John Krider, all of Philadelphia. Henry Leman of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and his competitor J. Henry probably used such locks on their better rifles, although they are better known for producing sturdy cheap rifles for the Westward bound trade.
Sometimes the drip bar is omitted, and wood fills the area in front of the plug. With constant use, this thin wood can become burned from cap flash, or cracked while removing the barrel for cleaning.
Often the inside corner of the plate was rounded to accept a round snail Hawken style plug. The bar was cut to fit the curved face of the plug. Or the front corner of the plate was rounded if the bar was omitted and the plate surrounded by wood.
This is an ideal lock to use with our English Sporting rifle parts. We offer full scale plans for creating this rifle from our parts. Call today, and order our plans. Study them, and you will see how clever London’s sophisticated gunmakers were! When you are ready, we can supply parts for your Sporting rifle, H. E. Dimick, or Plains rifle using this lock.
This lock is shown at exact-full-size, in Track's new catalog for gunmakers and gunsmiths.
