[Philip]

Fernando,
Congratulations on a rare find, I am so envious!

Rainer Daehnhardt, in the photoplates (figs 21,22) following the original text and his translation of ESPINGARDA PERFEYTA [the perfect gun] by Cesar Fiosconi and Jordam Guserio (Lisboa Occidental, 1718, tr. publ. by Sotheby Parke Bernet Publ., 1974), shows a variation of this lock which he calls "half portuguese, half french" .

Characteristics are (referring to the example in the book):
1. Cock shaped like that on a normal "fecho de patilha", but activated by an interior mainspring in the French style.
2. The mainspring pushes on a tumbler which is engaged by a vertically-moving sear under the tension of a V-shaped sear spring, all in the French style.
3. Lockplate in the French style.
4, Frizzen (steel) with squared top in Hispano-Portuguese fashion as seen on patilha locks.

Daehnhardt's example is dated to approximately 1680. The archaic style of the frizzen spring and the lack of a supporting "bridge" for the frizzen pivot screw are primitive features appropriate for this era. Fernando, I think that your example is later, it has the "bridge" which became more or less universal on average-to-better quality European flintlocks after the early 18th cent. ("bridgeless" frizzen pivots remained in use longer in Germany since their interpretation of the French lock was more conservative up to the 1750s or so). It also has a purely French-style V-shaped frizzen spring. However, it could well be that your lock could still be 18th as opposed to 19th cent.

What I find intriguing about yours is that the sear (cock release and trigger linkage) system differs from Daehnhardt's in one respect: his has a purely French-style sear and tumbler, as mentioned above. Yours has a sear that acts horizontally through a hole in the lockplate to engage the toe of the cock. This feature is borrowed from the patilha locks, and is an important feature of another, purely Portuguese early flintlock, the "pescola de cavalo" (horse neck), early 17th cent. Without complicating the explanation, it's important also to add that the horse neck lock also has an internal mainspring.

The number of different mechanical variations on the flint-and-steel gun mechanism used in Portugal is quite amazing. There are distinct types of flintlock that are not found in either Spain, France, or Italy. At least one version was made for export to the African colonies until World War I. The designs show considerable ingenuity, as is displayed in this example. It's a shame that Portuguese gunmaking is so little-known -- as is the case with other aspects of culture, Spain seems to get all the attention and credit. An even greater cause of regret is that relatively few of these very interesting guns have survived to our time.