TownSteel MSE Series Passage/Closet Function - Heavy Duty Standard Escutcheon Mortise Lock, Non-Keyed

Yes. The MSE Series mortise lock is built to a 2-3/4 inch backset, which is the standard commercial mortise backset, and it uses a 1-1/4 x 8 inch stainless steel faceplate. If the door is already prepped for a 2-3/4 inch backset mortise body with an 8 inch face, the pocket and face cutout line up. Baldwin's 6301 and 6310 mortise bodies, by contrast, are 2-1/2 inch backset, so those pockets are not a straight swap.

It ships with an ANSI strike in plated or stainless steel, and the latch bolt is a stainless steel split, anti-friction latch with 3/4 inch projection. A 3/4 inch throw into a standard ANSI 4-7/8 inch strike lip is a normal engagement, so an existing ANSI-prepped frame takes it without new frame cutting. The anti-friction latch matters on doors with a closer, it keeps the latch from dragging on the strike lip as the door swings shut.

Handing is required, not optional. You pick one of four: LH (left hand), RH (right hand), LHR (left hand reverse), or RHR (right hand reverse). Stand outside the opening, on the side you approach from: if the hinges are on your left it's left hand, and if the door swings toward you rather than away it's the reverse version. Getting this wrong on a mortise body means the latch bevel faces the wrong way. Note the difference from a field-reversible body like the BEST 45H or the Falcon MA101, which can be flipped on the job. Specify the MSE correctly up front.

Passage function means the lock never locks. Both levers always retract the latch, from either side, at all times. There is no cylinder and no key, it's a non-keyed lock body. Use it on corridor doors, closets, hall doors, and any opening you want latched shut but freely operable. If you need the door to secure, this is the wrong function. For a keyed opening in a mortise pocket, look at a storeroom function body like the Accentra 8805FL or the Cal-Royal NM8080, or a privacy function like the Cal-Royal NM8440 for a restroom or bedroom.

The escutcheon plate measures 10-9/16 x 2-3/8 x 9/32 inches and is brass, plated to the finish you order. That 2-3/8 inch dimension is the one that decides a narrow opening, the plate needs at least that much flat face on the stile plus clearance to the door edge and any glass stop. On an aluminum storefront stile or a door with a tight glass bead, measure the flat before ordering. If the flat is too narrow for a plate, a rose trim mortise lock is the way to go instead of an escutcheon.

The Falcon MA101 is the nearest match. It is a Grade 1 heavy duty mortise lock in the Passage/Hall/Closet function, the same grade, duty level and function the TownSteel MSE passage mortise carries. Both are non-keyed passage locks meant for hall and closet openings where the lever always retracts the latch. The difference to plan around is trim: the MSE passage lock uses escutcheon trim in low or regular height, while the MA101 is field reversible for handing. The MSE is ordered handed at purchase, so confirm the swing before you place it.

The Hager 3810S is a 3800 Series Grade 1 passage mortise lock with rose trim and a 2-3/4 inch backset. It covers doors 1-3/4 inch to 2-1/2 inch thick. The TownSteel MSE passage mortise is built around escutcheon trim, offered in low and regular heights, so if the opening calls for a small round rose rather than a long plate, the 3810S is the one to specify. Hager also builds the same 3800 Series passage function with escutcheon trim as the 3810E if you want to keep the plate look.

The TownSteel MSE passage mortise is non-keyed, so the lever always retracts the latch and there is no security on the opening. For a keyed storeroom opening in the same mortise prep, the Accentra 8805FL is a Grade 1 storeroom mortise lock from the 8800 Series, and the Cal-Royal NM8080 is a Grade 1 storeroom mortise lockset with an interchangeable core option for facilities already on an IC keyway. If the door only needs privacy rather than a key, the Cal-Royal NM8440 is a Grade 1 privacy mortise lockset with deadbolt.

Only if the door is prepped for it. The Schlage PC10 is a Grade 1 passage cylindrical lock, non-keyed with rose, for 1-3/4 inch doors, and it covers the same Passage/Hall/Closet function as the TownSteel MSE passage mortise. The difference is the door prep: a cylindrical lock goes into a bored 161 prep, while the MSE mortise lock needs a milled pocket in the door edge and takes a 1-1/4 inch by 8 inch faceplate with a 2-3/4 inch backset. On a new door either can be specified; on an existing door the prep already in it decides.

Dummy trim. The Schlage L0170 is a Grade 1 heavy duty half dummy trim in the L Series for 1-3/4 inch doors, and the Emtek 3102 Memphis and 3104 Hamilton are dummy mortise entrance locksets. Dummy trim is a fixed handle mounted to the door face with no latch behind it, typically for the inactive leaf of a pair. The TownSteel MSE passage mortise has a working 3/4 inch projection stainless steel latch bolt with an anti-friction split design and an ANSI strike, so it actually latches the door. If the opening needs to stay closed against a stop, order the passage lock, not the dummy.

The Falcon MA101 is a Grade 1 heavy duty mortise passage lock in the Passage/Hall/Closet function that carries a fire rating, so it is the one to put on a labeled opening where the passage function is required. The TownSteel MSE passage mortise is a Grade 1 heavy duty commercial mortise lock in the same function with an ANSI strike and a 2-3/4 inch backset. On any labeled door, confirm the full assembly against the door and frame label, since the rating applies to the opening as a whole.

No. The TownSteel MSE passage mortise is built on a 2-3/4 inch backset with a 1-1/4 inch by 8 inch faceplate, and it is a commercial lock. Residential and ornamental mortise bodies use a different prep - the Baldwin 6301 entry/apartment mortise lock body is a 2-1/2 inch backset for doors 1-3/4 inch and over, and the Baldwin 6310 entry/storeroom body is also 2-1/2 inch backset for doors 1-3/8 inch and over. Measure from the door edge to the center of the handle hole before ordering; a 2-1/2 inch pocket will not take a 2-3/4 inch body.

Two escutcheon options are offered, MSE Low and MSE Regular. This is a trim appearance and layout choice, not a change to the mortise pocket, the 2-3/4 inch backset and 1-1/4 x 8 inch faceplate are the same either way. If you're matching escutcheons already installed on other openings in the building, order the same one you have on the doors, since the two are not visually interchangeable side by side on the same corridor.

Seven finishes: 605 bright brass, 606 satin brass, 622 matte black, 625 bright chrome, 626 satin chrome, 629 bright stainless steel, and 630 satin stainless steel. Eight lever designs: Artistic, Congr, Gala, Imperial, Quest, Regal, Sentinel, and Tango. The levers are forged brass or cast zinc plated to match the finish symbol, so the lever and escutcheon come as a matched set. 626 satin chrome and 630 satin stainless are the two that most commercial buildings standardize on, so those are usually the safe match on an existing corridor.

It's an ANSI Grade 1 heavy duty lock body rated for commercial use. Grade 1 is the top of the three BHMA grades and is what gets specified for schools, hospitals, offices, and multi-family corridors, the kind of traffic that chews through residential grade hardware. The latch bolt, guard bolt, faceplate, strike, and stop works are all stainless steel, and the stop works are a rocker type. That's the right build for a door being pushed a few hundred times a day.

You can, and that's the usual way it's done. The MSE passage lock covers the openings that only need to latch, and it shares the 2-3/4 inch backset and 1-1/4 x 8 inch faceplate prep with the rest of the MSE Series, so every door on the floor gets the same mortise pocket regardless of function. Order the same escutcheon option, lever design, and finish across the floor and the openings match visually even where the function differs. Handing is still specified per door.

A mortise body goes into a rectangular pocket routed into the door edge, a cylindrical goes through a round bore. If the door is already mortise prepped, stay mortise, converting to cylindrical means filling a pocket. Mortise is the heavier build and what's typically specified on institutional openings. If the door is bored rather than mortised, a Grade 1 cylindrical passage lock like the Schlage PC10 is the direct answer instead. For a mortise passage in a rose trim rather than an escutcheon plate, the Schlage PM010 and the Hager 3810S are both rose trim mortise passage locks.

It comes as a complete lockset. The ANSI strike in plated or stainless steel is included, along with the escutcheon trim, the levers plated to match your finish, the stainless steel stop works, and the stainless guard bolt. There is no cylinder to order and no keying to specify, it's a non-keyed body. What you do have to decide at order time is handing, escutcheon style low or regular, lever design, and finish.

It is a mechanical, non-electronic lock, so it does not read a credential itself. If the opening needs to be controlled electrically, the Command Access ML190 is a heavy duty motorized mortise lock with field selectable EL/EU operation on 24VDC in a storeroom function, and the BEST 45HW is a heavy duty wired electromechanical mortise lock with 12V/24V operation. For a standalone keypad instead of wiring, the BEST 45HZ EZ Series is an electronic keypad mortise lock with key override. The MSE passage lock is the right choice on the openings in the same building that only need free passage.

They serve the same function but are not the same part. The Schlage PM010 is a Grade 1 non-keyed passage latch mortise lock for 1-3/4 inch doors. The TownSteel MSE passage mortise is also Grade 1 and non-keyed in the Passage/Hall/Closet function, but it is a complete escutcheon lockset with lever trim in eight lever styles and seven finishes. The PM010 is the latch-function mortise unit for 1-3/4 inch doors only, so match the door thickness and confirm which trim you are getting before treating one as a drop-in for the other.

One is a complete lockset, the other is a lock body only. The BEST 45HCAC is a heavy duty mortise lock body in the 45H Series with public entrance function and field reversible operation, and the 45HCAINL is a heavy duty mortise lockbody with intruder function - both are the chassis that goes in the door pocket, with trim ordered separately. The TownSteel MSE passage mortise ships as a heavy duty Grade 1 passage assembly with brass escutcheon trim measuring 10-9/16 inch by 2-3/8 inch by 9/32 inch, a lever, and an ANSI strike. Also note the function difference: public entrance and intruder are keyed security functions, while the MSE passage lock is non-keyed.

The TownSteel MSE passage mortise covers Passage/Hall/Closet openings - corridors, storage closets, doors that never need to be secured. For the classroom doors themselves, the Cal-Royal NM8070 is a Grade 1 classroom mortise lockset with auxiliary deadlatch for 1-3/4 inch doors, the Corbin Russwin ML2003 is a Grade 1 ML2000 Series classroom mortise lockset for 1-3/4 inch doors, and the Marks USA LA318GJ is a Grade 1 classroom security indicator mortise lockset with an ANSI strike and a steel escutcheon measuring 8-1/2 inch by 2-3/4 inch by 7/16 inch. The Marks unit adds a visual status indicator, which some districts now require. All three keep the mortise prep consistent across the building.

The Hager 3810E is a 3800 Series Grade 1 passage mortise lock with escutcheon trim and a 2-3/4 inch backset, rated for doors 1-3/4 inch to 2-1/2 inch thick, so it reaches into the thicker range while keeping escutcheon trim like the TownSteel MSE passage mortise. Both are Grade 1 passage function mortise locks on a 2-3/4 inch backset. If the leaf is in that 2 inch to 2-1/2 inch band, specify the 3810E and confirm the spindle and screw pack cover the actual measured thickness.