doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Gun breakups and quick-detachable locks?

How about James Southerland, Major Gordon Anderson and then latter Elmer Keith and Jack O'conner. All owned droplocks with single triggers. But what does that prove?
If your asking is a droplock absolutely necessary? The answer is no.
It is however hard to deny that the droplock was innovative even to the point of genius.
Four rifles in a howdah? Gets crowded quick when there is a tiger on the head of your elephant!

Rifles as guns, not rifles as (metonymically) people who use them

I'm just trying to settle the issue of real vs perceived need.

Any more instances of guns breaking down in the midst of Edwardian shooting, colonies or on the island?

HD,

I reread your original questions and you are probably making a good assumption. The Droplock is a nice marketing ploy. Unless one can get access to the WR records, we'll never know how many guns were ordered with a second pair of locks and how many were sent back for repair. However, there are quite a few features on guns that aren't a must have for a person going afield. The Droplock is one of those features some people like to own.

What references do you on the people not liking the WR single trigger?

Thanks
Ken

KDGJ re: single trigger dislikes:

I have to apologize. I seemed to remember that Alfred Neumann's (author of "Elephant Hunting in East Equatorial Africa ") .577 Express which broke down was a Westley Richards ST. On checking up with the book, I find that there's not a single reference of WR in it, and the Express mentioned was actually by Gibbs. I have to add that nowhere in the book does Neumann write about 'disliking' the weapon, on the contrary, he said he was completely satisfied with it and always points out that the breakdown was 'due to an accident'.

Hemingway's dislike seemed to be about the trigger pull, which he felt inferior to magazine rifles, and wasn't targeted specifically at WR of all double guns.

Going abroad for several years? Take a spae pair of locks that you can simply drop into the gun if you have a failure. Not a bad option.

For security, the guns can be packed without locks making them less attractive to a thief and less likely to be used against you.

You can drop the locks out, clean the internals of the action body, clean and re-oil the locks and re-isert. Quite handy in dusty and wet or damp climates.

Yes, those are the advantages of drop locks in a nutshell. Well put.

How about anecdotes about guns breaking down on Edwardian shooters, on safari or driven shoots at home?

KDGJ, agree with Small bore on the drop locks or hand detachable side locks esp. ref wet weather. Happened to me in the Selous 4 years ago with a Holland, torrential rain for 4 hours walking, lock wouldn�t fire. Back in camp, took it out, oiled it, released it, cocked it on a wooden bench, replaced, hey presto, ready to go. All I can say about a Westley Richards single trigger (and I would apply this to all single trigger makers excluding the italians) is what every UK gun maker has told me off the record, 99% of the time no problem but when they they go wrong only the maker should be trusted to fix them. best, Mike

Evident from the above posts is that the locks are thought as the part most likely to go wrong. But how about those other bits like safeties, triggers, firing pins, spindles and so on.

A bolted stock is the fastest and easiest way to gain access to all those other bits. Through the grip screws can be managed in the field and far off places, but are neither easy, nor safe to tackle without a vise and turnscrews.

So, if field serviceability is an issue the stock bolted stock seems to rank above the detachable lock.

Everything else is easy to get off. Just drop out the trigger plate, hand pin and breech pin an you can access everything. Getting to the locks on an A&D action requires more than a tree stump and a couple of turns crews. Problems with the parts you mention are very uncommon, unless agin is neglected for years.

Disc set strikers, with the tool to remove them, and a spare set of strikers, would eliminate the most problematic link in the above named chain of trouble.
My experience with English single triggers mirrors exactly my experience with Lucas electrics installed in older English cars and motorcycles.

Best,
Ted