[Hawk]

Can anybody steer me to a source for a manual, disassembly guide, schematic or the like for a Fulton boxlock?

Also, I gather the difference between the "Fulton Special" boxlock and the "Hunter Special" boxlock is the incorporation of the L.C. Smith rotary locking bolt in the latter. What's a rotary locking bolt in the context of a SxS double? TIA

[Jim K]

There is a disassembly guide for the L.C. Smith in the NRA Disassembly Handbook, which is available from the NRA, and a lot of information at www.lcsmith.org, the LC Smith collectors' organization site. The disassembly is too complicated to describe here. The L.C. Smith guns are sidelocks, with the hammer, sear and mainspring carried in the sideplate, not in the action. Generally, removal of the sideplates will be enough for cleaning, but note that a spring vise is a necessity for disassembly of the lock.

I really don't recommend further disassembly of any double gun unless necessary to replace broken or worn parts. More guns have been damaged by unwise disassembly than from any other cause.

The rotary lock is literally that. It was originally a Baker design, and was used by Fox and Ithaca as well as by L.C. Smith.

First, there is a top rib extension between the barrels that has a square hole through it from side to side.

Now things get tricky to describe. Imagine a cylinder, open on one end, with the open end away from you. Now imagine a slot running from the open end part way back along a straight side, then turning at a right angle to the right. If the cylinder is rotated on its axis, the tongue left by the slot is rotated and can insert itself into a corresponding hole. If the hole is in that extension, and the cylinder is the rotary bolt, the shotgun will be locked quite firmly.

The bolt is rotated by turning the top lever, which turns a link called the coupler, which has an arm that fits into the bottom of the bolt. When the lever is turned to the right to open the gun, the coupling moves the bottom of the lock to the left, which rotates the lock, moving the locking part to the right and disengaging it from the extension.

It is a strong system, and L.C. Smith guns had a reputation for being long lasting and solid. The company name, by the way, was the Hunter Arms Co., which was later bought by Marlin. The Fulton guns were a utility grade and did not employ the expensive rotary lock; the Hunter Special was a lower grade L.C. Smith, though it was not marked as such.

L.C. Smith himself sold the company to John Hunter in 1888 and founded the L.C. Smith typewriter company. That company merged with Corona in 1926. Smith-Corona got back in the gun business in WWII, making the Model 1903A3 rifle.

Jim

[Hawk]

Good stuff. Thanks, Jim.

I had ordered an L.C. Smith disassembly guide from Brownell's and you're right - just looking at the thing convinced me I had no business taking that thing on. To make matters worse, the Brownell's guide was, IMHO, rather poor. I'll get the NRA one as well.

Anyhow, I was hoping the Hunter Arms boxlock would be easier to take apart then the Elsie I had and when a boxlock came up at auction I went after it. However, it seems like it's harder to find info on that then the L.C. Smith sidelock.

The Hunter I have on its way to me is a boxlock, although there looks to be a strong family resemblence to the Elsie.

It's my understanding that Hunter had 3 economy boxlocks in concurrent production with the Elsie sidelock:

Fulton: plain wood and receiver
Fulton Special: checkered wood, lightly decorated receiver.
Hunter Special: same as Fulton special but with Elsie rotary locking bolt.

Mine is one of the latter two. Hopefully, I'll figure out which from your description of the lock. I thought they were all the poor cousins of the Elsie although apparantly made in the same plant.

lcsmith.org was helpful in dating my sidelock, but I thought the Cody musuem was where I had to go to date the boxlocks (I'll find out after Brown Truck shows up on Friday - don't have the serial number yet).

I'm suspecting the Elsie guides won't be of much help with the boxlock. Brownell's tech advised me a takedown manual didn't exist on the boxlock but that doesn't seem right.

[Jim K]

"just looking at the thing convinced me I had no business taking that thing on"

Hold that thought, it is a good motto. Another is, "If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it."

(As a rule, I would say boxlocks are harder to work on than sidelocks, simply because everything is crammed into a smaller space.)

Jim