TownSteel MSE Series Storeroom/Closet Function - Heavy Duty Standard Escutcheon Mortise Lock, Single Cylinder

The TownSteel MSE Series storeroom/closet mortise lock keeps the outside lever locked at all times. A key retracts the latch for entry, and the inside lever always retracts the latch for free egress. There is no way to leave the outside lever unlocked, which is what you want on a supply room, electrical closet or janitor's closet where the door has to secure itself every time it shuts.

The MSE mortise lock uses a 2-3/4 inch backset with a 1-1/4 inch by 8 inch stainless steel faceplate, which is the standard commercial mortise pocket. The escutcheon plate measures 10-9/16 x 2-3/8 x 9/32 inches in brass, so the door stile has to carry that plate width in addition to the mortise pocket. Use the manufacturer's MSS template to lay out the prep.

Handing is required. You pick LH (left hand), RH (right hand), LHR (left hand reverse) or RHR (left hand reverse's opposite, right hand reverse). Stand outside the door: if the hinges are on your left it is left hand, and if the door swings toward you it is a reverse hand. Get this wrong and the lever and latch orientation will not match the opening.

Yes. Keying is a required selection: KD keyed different is the standard, KA keyed alike lets you run one key across multiple locks, and there is a key code option where you supply the specific code to match an existing system. Property managers standardizing a floor or a building of storerooms normally take KA or a key code so the maintenance key opens everything.

It can. The cylinder choice is either Standard or SFIC Prep, Less Core. SFIC prep ships without a core, so if you already run an SFIC system you order that version and drop in your own figure-eight core and control key. If you are not on an SFIC system, take the Standard cylinder.

The MSE is a mechanical lock with no electronics in it. TownSteel's MS motorized mortise platform is what integrates into access control, with optional status sensors for request-to-exit, privacy, door ajar and mechanical key override. If your opening needs to be controlled from a card reader or panel today, go electrified: the Command Access ML190 Series motorized mortise in storeroom function runs on 24VDC with field selectable fail safe or fail secure, and the BEST 45HW wired electromechanical mortise runs 12V or 24V.

The closest straight equivalents are the Accentra 8805FL, a Grade 1 storeroom mortise lock in the 8800 Series with an Arcadia lever, and the Cal-Royal NM8080, a heavy duty Grade 1 storeroom mortise lockset that offers an interchangeable core option. The TownSteel MSE is also a Grade 1 heavy duty storeroom mortise lock, keyed single cylinder, and it can be ordered with SFIC prep less core if you key to a small format interchangeable core system, which lines up with the NM8080's IC option. The NM8080 is listed for 1-3/4 inch doors, so confirm your door thickness before swapping.

The TownSteel MSE is a mechanical storeroom lock that can be integrated into access control with optional REX, privacy, door ajar and mechanical key override sensors, but the lever itself is not electrically released. If you need electric lock or unlock at the lever, the Command Access ML190 is a heavy duty motorized mortise lock in storeroom function with field selectable EL/EU operation on 24VDC, and the Schlage L9092EU with 03A lever is a heavy duty electric unlock outside lever mortise lock, keyed outside, with request to exit, on 12/24VDC for 1-3/4 inch doors.

They share the storeroom idea but not the dimensions. The Baldwin 6310 entry/storeroom mortise lock body is a 2-1/2 inch backset for doors 1-3/8 inch and over, knob by knob, with the 6310190RRLS being the right hand reverse lever by lever version. The TownSteel MSE uses a 2-3/4 inch backset with lever trim and escutcheon. A 2-1/2 inch backset will not drop into a door mortised for 2-3/4 inch without rework, so confirm the existing pocket before substituting either direction.

It is an ANSI Grade 1 heavy duty commercial mortise lock. Grade 1 is the top ANSI/BHMA tier and the one normally specified for schools, hospitals, and multi-family common areas, so it suits an opening cycled hard all day. It is a mechanical lock, not electronic.

Eight lever designs are offered: Artistic, Congr, Gala, Imperial, Quest, Regal, Sentinel and Tango. Levers are forged brass or cast zinc plated to match the finish. Finishes run 605 bright brass, 606 satin brass, 622 matte black, 625 bright chrome, 626 satin chrome, 629 bright stainless and 630 satin stainless. For matching existing commercial hardware, 626 satin chrome and 630 satin stainless are the two most common on the wall already.

Storeroom function on the MSE has no inside privacy control beyond the standard brass thumb turn on the trim. For a dedicated privacy opening, the Cal-Royal NM8440 is a heavy duty Grade 1 privacy mortise lockset with deadbolt for 1-3/4 inch doors, and the Hager 3840S is a 3800 Series Grade 1 privacy mortise lock on a 2-3/4 inch backset for doors 1-3/4 to 2 inches, the same backset the MSE uses.

Storeroom function on the MSE means the outside lever stays locked at all times and is retracted only by the key, with no way to leave it unlocked. An office or entrance function lets staff set the outside lever unlocked for business hours. For that behavior, the Cal-Royal NM8050 is a heavy duty Grade 1 office/entrance mortise lockset with auxiliary deadlatch for 1-3/4 inch doors, and the Hager 3850E is a 3800 Series Grade 1 office mortise lock with lever and escutcheon on a 2-3/4 inch backset, non-keyed, for doors 1-3/4 to 2-1/2 inches. The MSE also uses a 2-3/4 inch backset, so the 3850E matches on that dimension.

Yes. The MSE storeroom is a keyed single cylinder lock, so if the closet does not need a key, use a passage lock instead. The Falcon MA101 is a Grade 1 heavy duty mortise passage lock in the MA Series with field reversible operation and a fire rating. The Hager 3810E is a 3800 Series Grade 1 passage mortise lock with escutcheon and a 2-3/4 inch backset for doors 1-3/4 to 2-1/2 inches, which matches the escutcheon trim style and 2-3/4 inch backset of the MSE. The Hager 3810S is the same passage function with rose trim rather than escutcheon.

The MSE is a mechanical lock that is built for stand-alone openings but is ready for access control integration, with optional REX, privacy, door ajar and mechanical key override status sensors. If you want the credential reader in the lock itself, the Accentra nexTouch NTM623-NR is a Grade 1 mortise lock with a capacitive touchscreen keypad and cylinder override, the BEST 45HZ EZ Series is an electronic keypad mortise lock with key override, and the Schlage ENGAGE LEMD-GRW is a Grade 1 wireless mortise lock with a 125 kHz proximity reader and a 3 hour fire rating. Those change the door prep and add a power or battery requirement the mechanical MSE does not have.

Not directly. The BEST 45HCAC is a heavy duty mortise lock body in public entrance function with field reversible operation, and the 45HCAINL is a heavy duty 45HCA lock body with intruder function. Those are lock bodies with different functions, while the TownSteel MSE is a complete storeroom lockset supplied with escutcheon trim, lever, 2-3/4 inch backset body, 3/4 inch stainless steel anti-friction latch, guard bolt, 1-1/4 by 8 inch stainless faceplate and ANSI strike. If you only need to replace the case behind existing trim, a lock body is the right category; if you need the whole opening dressed, the MSE is the complete assembly.

The Sargent 7925 is a Grade 1 heavy duty 7900 Series dormitory exit function mortise lock with rose trim and a single cylinder deadbolt, which suits corridor and dormitory openings where the occupant needs to throw a deadbolt from inside. The TownSteel MSE is storeroom function, single cylinder keyed, with escutcheon trim rather than rose, so the two differ in both function and trim style.

If the opening already has a latch and you only need a separate bolt, a deadbolt is the simpler part: the Sargent 4874 is a double cylinder mortise deadbolt on a 2-3/4 inch backset, the same backset as the MSE, and the Kaba Ilco 185 Series mortise lock is a deadbolt function with no handing. The TownSteel MSE is a latching storeroom lockset with lever trim, a 3/4 inch anti-friction latch bolt and guard bolt, and it must be ordered handed as LH, RH, LHR or RHR.

No. The Emtek 3019 Brisbane, 3102 Memphis, 3104 Hamilton and 3106 Manhattan mortise entrance locksets are dummy function, meaning they have no working latch and are used on inactive leaves or pull-only doors. The TownSteel MSE is a Grade 1 heavy duty commercial storeroom lock that is keyed and latching. If you need a dummy to match an active MSE opening, that is a different part entirely, such as the Schlage L0170 half dummy trim, a Grade 1 heavy duty non-keyed mortise lever for 1-3/4 inch doors.

The TownSteel MSE is supplied with lever trim in Artistic, Congr, Gala, Imperial, Quest, Regal, Sentinel and Tango styles. Where a behavioral health or high-risk opening rules out levers, the Marks USA 5PDN is a Grade 1 hospital passage mortise push/pull paddleset in the 195 Series, described as ligature resistant and ADA compliant in satin stainless steel. Note that it is passage function, so it does not key like the MSE storeroom.

Both are escutcheon (plate) trim rather than round roses, and the choice is the plate profile: MSE Low or MSE Regular. Pick to match the plate height already on your adjacent doors, since escutcheon trim covers a tall area of the stile and a mismatched profile shows immediately on a corridor of doors.