parts for old door lock

Sacwarrior

I live in a house built in 1940. There are a number of outside doors that have an integrated knob activated latch and a key operated deadbolt in the same metal box in the door. On the box are the letters RHC (or AHC, hard to read) and no other manufacturer’s marking that I can find. The key component of the door most used is broken. I want to find out whether I can replace it. It screws into the metal box in the door. I live in rural Vermont. No knowledgeable locksmiths in easy driving distance.

If anyone can point me toward the actual manufacturer of the lock and/or somewhere I can find the replacement part, I’d be grateful.
Barry Mayer
Shaftsbury, VT

oldbiscuit

Barry, I’m not for sure but I googled RCH and came up with “Richelieu Hardware Co”. Go to their web site or email them, they have all kinds of door hardware. It might be what you have, but I’ve never heard of them. Good luck in your quest, Mark

Billy B Edwards Jr. CML

From the description it sounds like the metal box in the door is a mortise lockset. The key component that screws into the metal box would be the mortise cylinder and yes, they certainly are a replacable item. The biggest problem with replacing a mortise cylinder is the actuating cam on the back. It must have exactly the same cam sweep as the old cylinder during operation. That may or may not mean that the old cam can be moved to the new cylinder since different brands have different mountings for that cam. Hope that helps,
BBE.