I took this photo on Wednesday, January 22nd, 2020. This is at the Los Angeles Gun Club, a great shooting range in downtown/Arts District LA.
This is a particularly weird one, so let’s get right to it.
Look at all that! Let’s start with the barrel bolt lock itself. Most barrel bolts have knobs sticking out of them at a perpendicular angle, and that’s what you use to handle them. But this one makes the bolt itself twist around into becoming the knob. I’ve never seen one quite like this before, and it’s really spectacular. Blew me right away.
But zoom in, and note that the housing plate sticks out on the bottom in two places, to perfectly fit within the bend of the bolt. So when the bolt bend falls against the door, it further locks the bolt into that position. And it can be locked into the lock or open position since there are those protrusions in both places. These also help make sure it will never fall out or go loose.
Honestly, folks, we’re probably not going to see another barrel bolt lock like this ever. Savor this one, really.
Let’s not forget the keeper, either, which sticks out plenty far and has a lot of space so there’s room for error. I even like the hole in the front.
The rust and wear around this lock adds a lot too. That orange-red really brings out the metallic blue. And the screws are those nice flathead/Phillips combos, and you can tell it’s screwed in tight, too!
Now then… the door handle.
Why is this door handle so limp? It’s almost like the trigger of a gun. The lockset on the handle is redundant and useless. I can’t figure out why they’d make it like this; I can only assume that it’s broken!
Either way though, I like it. It sticks out past the barrel bolt and adds a further dimensionality to the piece. As if the bolt wasn’t interesting enough on its own!
Also a fan of the mismatched screws on the lightswitch, plus the graffiti on the door-slower mechanism.
This is a spectacular restroom lock. I’m so glad we got to experience this together.