Thank you for sharing your example with us. Beautiful! Am I correct in interpreting the photos as showing GILDED brass?

Thanks, Raf for your assessment. Your last sentence probably says it all as to why the classic "French" flintlock stayed around so long and moreover, became the standard system for military arms in virtually all Western countries. Not to mention the same sear system carried over into later percussion locks, and on the transitional breechloaders using side-hammer firing systems as well.

Speaking of simple, cheap, and (almost) idiot-proof, what is your opinion of the sear arrangement of the Spanish patilla miquelet lock (upward-bearing mainspring, half- and full-cock sears engaging foot of cock) that was also widely produced in Portugal, Brescia, Naples, occasionally imitated in the German lands, and almost universal in the Ottoman Empire and Iran?

Aha, a nagging question. Since the Middle Ages, Italian armorers often used only initials to identify themselves on their works. The same with the makers of gun locks and barrels. In some cases, the letters arranged and embellished in idiosyncratic style can be identified when compared with other corroborating evidence. Such as C.L.P. on some central Italian barrels, "Cristoforo Leoni in Pistoia", second half 17th cent. However, other instances are a mystery as of now, absent any other data and references. There is bound to be confusion when there are more than one artisan who had the initials working in the same region, city, and era.

I am faced with this conundrum at present with a piece in my collection, a hunting rifle built on an Austrian damascus barrel signed by Johann Schifter, 1690s, with typical Italian stock and everything else fitted to it. The Roman-style lock is marked only with D P on the inside of the plate. The trouble is that the only possibilities I have seen are two gunsmiths who had workshops in Rome, ca 1700, Domenico Principi and Domenico Politti. No facsimile of their "signatures" is contained in the only reference book that I have on them, and it seems that for many makers, the complier got information from documents such as municipal tax records that just mention names and occupations, not showing the actual markings on the objects themselves.

yes you are right!