[marco]

Hi Frank,

Unlock the turret as follows:

Turn the handle 90 degrees in a clockwise direction.
(You will feel a light resistance from a spring inside the lock.)

Then pull the handle back towards you as far as it will go and rotate it back to the original position.
It should now stay in the outward position leaving the turret unlocked.

About the difficulty in turning the traverse mechanism:

The traverse mech has a selector lever shown in the photo above as item No 1.
If you want to turn the turret manually please check that this lever is pulled downwards.
Leaving it in another position makes the mechanism difficult to turn by hand.
It should turn very easy.

If that doesn't help, the turret bearing will most likely have collected some debri after standing in the open for so many years.
The only solution for this is to take it apart and clean it.

Best regards and succes with your project,

Marco