doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com How many true American sidelocks?

Just when I think I've got something figured out, new information comes along and forces me to reconsider things. I am just starting into something of a project gun here (1891 LC Smith transitional Quality 1 gun, 2nd year production at Fulton, NY.) when I leaned that another American sidelock used the camed/torsion bar system to cock their guns as well. Thanks to an old (2020) Dr. Drew post on Trapshooters.com I've "discovered" that the Meriden/A. J. Awbrey hammerless guns (another sidelock) also used a cocking rod system very much like the Syracuse and Fulton guns. Not sure why but I'm a little bit gobsmacked by all that. Just how many American sidelocks were made in this country and what other design oddities am I unaware of?

Meriden, Crescent, Tobin, Baker, Lefever and others made sidelocks here. Were they all farmer-grade conventional or did they too have variations on the theme? Another presumption I've operated on was that the Smith guns were likely the best of the American offerings. Is that fallacious as well?

Edit to add that I do know Lefever sidelocks were very well-made as well, but are they really "sidelocks" or more of the gas/electric version, a hybrid design? They're also never seen anymore ( or very seldom). I haven't seen one being hunted or even shot in probably 15-20 years now.

Depends on how broadly you define side lock.

If you mean “Hammerless” and all lock parts on a removable lock plate, well then,

The list is quite short.

Ok, I'll bite....how short?

Lloyd,
This, is an actual side lock:



There was never anything like it produced here in the new world.

Never.

Anything else built here was a simplification of the concept, that retained none of the advantages of the pictured lock (excellent trigger pull weights, intercepting sears, maximum amount of wood left in the head for strength) and brought a few disadvantages unique to North American production guns that claimed to be sidelocks, the criminally weak stock head of the ‘Smith being an example, and the weak frame of the Tobin being another. The only part on the side lock of a Tobin, is the sear and sear spring, everything else is carried in the frame.

What makes it a side lock?

They are, to a one, simple, cheap, designs, built to be afforded by new worlders who frequented hardware stores, not Abercrombie and Fitch. To me, any run of the mill English box lock is superior for regular use to any so called side lock gun built in the US during the golden age of doubles claiming to be a side lock.

Good luck with your project gun. You might need it.

Best,
Ted

Damn, Ted....that's mildly blunt. Don't hold anything back now, tell us how you really feel. Who's lock is that btw, it's gorgeous.

Crescent
Baker
L c Smith
Meriden
Aubrey

Might be a Union firearms, but have never seen one in the flesh.

The Tobin and Lefever guns are not sidelocks. They have just some parts like the sear and sear spring on their sideplates.



My favorite American sidelock doubles came from the little shop at 214 W. Pratt St. in Baltimore --



These may be the finest sidelocks built in the U.S., but only a handful have been made --





https://www.gunsinternational.com/g...steners-round-body-.cfm?gun_id=102423112

Well, you specifically said “true”.

I believe that is a photo of a Purdey lock, pulled from Hallowell’s website, under the definition of side lock.

He didn’t use a photo of an American gun. Not an accident, I’m guessing.

Best,
Ted

good thread...

brings us back to where we should be...

Those American makers named above produced machine made, hand assembled shotguns, farmers’ guns for the most part purchased from the hardware store or Sears and Roebuck. If you want a real sidelock you need to buy one from Britland. Those project guns seem like a good thing but end up otherwise.