Interesting Tumbler on First Model Merrill

[Jim Wimbish, 10395]

I just picked up a First Model Merrill carbine the other day and as I was checking it out, I noticed that it would not hold on half cock. After pulling the lock, I saw that someone had deliberately redone the half cock notch so that it would not hold. I'm not sure why this was done as I have not seen a similar alteration on a period tumbler. Has anyone run across this before?

[John Holland]

It was not uncommon historically, when a lock began to malfunction by catching on half-cock to correct the problem by removing the half-cock function.

[Carolina Reb]

That's interesting. Merrill locks are very well designed and generally won't catch on the half cock. Several years ago I encounterd a Merrill carbine that had the tumbler replaced with one that looked like it was from a period shotgun, and that one would catch, badly. Jim, could your tumber be a replacement that has been "fixed"?

[Jim Wimbish, 10395]

I pulled the lock and inspected all of the parts. I even removed the bridle, sear spring, mainspring, and sear to inspect the tumbler more closely. The bridle had an 'H' inspection mark which was apparently used by the inspector who did the final inspection on the finished lock. This same 'H' is also found on the back of the hammer facing the lockplate, and on the lockplate itself. There was apparently another inspector who inspected parts before assembly and that inspector also marked the inside of the lockplate, the sear, and the inside of the hammer. I did not see inspection marks on the other parts of the lock including the tumbler. The tumbler looks period correct, but I can't say for certainty that it couldn't be a replacement. It does appear that someone filed down the half cock notch on a tumbler that fits perfectly with the other lock parts. I would include a photo but it's too much trouble with the data size restrictions on this site. You lose all of the detail and too much time trying to make it fit under 100 KB.