An antique SLE gun by Henry Atkin I have been working on for some time exhibits a unique, possibly prototype, addition to the fairly mainstream interceptor sear.
I did not notice it at first but only when I tried to test the interceptor sear did I discover its purpose.
The 1st picture shows the locks fired and unfired, the 2nd shows a detail of the unusual feature.
The two legs operate to block the main sear from moving at all until the interceptor sear has been lifted out of the way.
The interceptor sear is normal in every other way and functions in the same way as the ubiquitous H&H interceptor sear.
This 'belt and braces' approach was obviously considered to be unnecessary as neither I nor any of my gunsmith friends have ever seen anything like it.
The gun is not particularly early, about 1890, and it has been suggested that it was a prototype that having served its experimental function was built up into a normal SLE and sold.
There is certainly no mention of it in the ledger entry.
The other interesting feature of these locks is that almost every pin hole in the plate has been bushed and re-drilled in a different place. Again I didn't notice this at first, taking the strange shapes on the inside of the plate to be witness marks of various limbs, bridle etc but under magnification you can see how each has been painstakingly filled and re-drilled.
Furthermore a careful examination of the lockmaker's mark, JOSEPH BRAZIER ASHES, shows that it has been stamped over John Stanton & Son.
This was obviously a lock plate bought in from Stanton, perhaps obsolete or excess stock and reused.
Evidence of a very different time!
