The skill required to make a good lock always amazes me, especially those from an earlier time before specialized machinery replaced much of the specialized skills. This is from my W.H. Wilson, London, about two hundred years ago. To think that only a forge, file, chisel and perhaps a simple bow drill were the only tools available! Oh, perhaps they also had a hand tumbler mill. And to make both locks spitting images of each other! I cannot imagine such a level of craftsmanship. And it is amazing the lock was fully developed by the beginning of the nineteenth century!
Most interesting is the extra width given to the sear and tumbler for strength and durability. I believe the gun was made by Alexander Wilson, late of John Manton, whose workshop was at the same premises as W.H. Wilson's store. Relationship between them is not known.
