doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com What is the little lever on this AYA?

Yep. Make certain gun is cocked before removing locks.

Gnomon is correct. Having had this gun in the past, once you have removed the lever screw....reinsert it till it hits the back of the opposite side plate....then push and the opposite side lock will come free. Then take the lever screw and insert it into the just opened side...till it hits the back of the remaining side lock , and push, it will then free. It the locks are tight in the wood they do not just fall out....you see chipped wood around locks from guys trying to remove them by gentle prying.. This lock is a copy of the Holland & Holland side lock lever srew.

I have a 1951 vintage Uggie and it threw me a bit the first time I had the locks off because the cocking rods have a spring which lifts them up (or pushes them down, I can't remember) into the way when replacing the sideplates. You need to press on the cocking levers at the front of the frame to get them into position for the locks to go back on. I don't know if any other sidelocks are similar?
CHAZ

A few of the George Granger sidelocks have a system where the trigger for the lock is pushed forward, and the lock is released, and pops up at the rear to be removed.
I saw a gun built on this system in the mid 1990s, when I was at the shop. There is nothing external and no way to see if it is a removable sidelock.
I have no idea when the company started using that system. I have also seen Grangers with the more typical small lever.

Best,
Ted

Cocking lever springs on Spanish side lock guns are less common now than was the case back in the 1950s and 1960s. Even back then it was a hit-or-miss kind of thing.