Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Matchlock · 15th March 2011, 01:03 AM

Here is a full view and a close-up of the South Tyrolian fresco Alexander posted above.

It is, as I wrote in an earlier thread, preserved on the wall of a 15th c. guardroom of the fortress Schloss Issogne, Aosta Valley, and can be dated closely to ca. 1495.

Please note the hooked iron ramrod seen in front of the ramrod channel of the lower Landsknecht arquebus, which I had hitherto overlooked - my old eyes begin to lose their light ...

However, also note the cylindrical tubular iron finial (Setzerkopf) of the - most certainly - wooden ramrod shoved into the stock of the uppper arquebus - obviously the more modern loading tool!

We can but speculate why the wooden ramrod prevailed with both 'military' and sporting guns until the first half of the eighteenth century ...

Best,
Michael

15th March 2011, 01:03 AM	#6
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	Here is a full view and a close-up of the South Tyrolian fresco Alexander posted above. It is, as I wrote in an earlier thread, preserved on the wall of a 15th c. guardroom of the fortress Schloss Issogne, Aosta Valley, and can be dated closely to ca. 1495. Please note the hooked iron ramrod seen in front of the ramrod channel of the lower Landsknecht arquebus, which I had hitherto overlooked - my old eyes begin to lose their light ... However, also note the cylindrical tubular iron finial (Setzerkopf) of the - most certainly - wooden ramrod shoved into the stock of the uppper arquebus - obviously the more modern loading tool! We can but speculate why the wooden ramrod prevailed with both 'military' and sporting guns until the first half of the eighteenth century ... Best, Michael Attached Images Last edited by Matchlock; 15th March 2011 at 02:24 AM.