question?
- Thread starter mpjustin
- Start date
A side lock has the sear and hammer attached to it and the side lock is easily removed from the action/stock. Some shotguns have side plates that appear to be side locks but when removed the is no mechanism attached.... it is just a side plate for looks...
Side locks evolved from the earliest firearms designs. There are numerous variants (and even "fake" sidelocks that are just side plates used to immitate true side locks). Using a side lock design, the lock works are attached to a side plate. This plate is free and independant of the rest of the receiver. The early versions had all except the hammer itself on the inside of the plate and the hammer on the outside. Later, with the advent of "hammerless" guns, the hammer was moved inside the receiver on the same side as the rest of the lockworks.
One of the biggest advantages of side locks is that they can be removed and serviced without dis-assembly of the rest of the receiver. Some side locks are even designed to be hand-removable (no need for any tools).
Sidelock designs involve inletting of the stock so that the plates with the locks attached are accommodated. The remaining wood usually extends between the two locks and is closely fitted to the contours of the upper and lower tangs, the locks, and the receiver frame.
Box locks are a newer (in relative terms) design. The major difference is that the lockworks are secured to and housed within the receiver in a rectangular "box". In order to service the locks, the receiver must be dis-assembled. Box lock designs have the advantage of being more solidly built by virtue of the fact that not as much of the wood in the wrist of the stock is usually cut away. Instead, where the stock butts up against the receiver, it's pretty much flat with little wood removed except to allow for the tangs and the trigger/sear assembly.
For more info, see:
http://www.hallowellco.com/boxlock.htm
and
www.clayshootingusa.com/readers/archive/jan_feb05/Sidelocks, Boxlocks etc.pdf
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