Thank you Mark,
I usualy become extremely sad (read mad) for not being able to identify a specimen, and this is no exception
.
If this were a military weapon, it could be that the marks onthe lock plate were erased, at the time it became a private gun.
But you are right in that it must have been a private piece since the very beginning, reason why it only bears the lock maker name in the interior.
One of these days i will try and disassemble the barrel, to check whether there are some signs there.
Oh well, who was the owner; a stagecoach guard, a merchantman or a privateer ... the excitement is increasing
.
Fernando