I am smitten by the Hill and Smith lock. Studying the pic more carefully I discenr geometry similar to a sidelock. The simplicity is refreshing, using the one spring for powering both the tumbler and the sear. It has only two axles and a pin. And on further peering there seems to be a bite and an overhang at the extremities, making me guess that perhaps it was a detachable trigger plate lock.
It obviously predates the "detachable" generation by several decades. More interesting is why such s simple concept was not copied by any of the overseas makers who turned out mediocre boxlocks and sidelocks by the barrel load. This lock would have been so much simpler to make. Perhaps it is due to the same mental inertia that caused Bland to build the gun with flat panels on the receiver and the stock, as if it were a stillborn sidelock.
Small Bore, do you ever wonder what the result might have been if a maker lavished as much attention and finishing on a simple lock like the Baker as on a Holland type lock? The examples I have come across (Midland Dreanought, Army and Navy) seem to have downgraded the internal finish.
Last edited by Shotgunlover; 07/27/13 04:47 PM.
