An early English dog lock musket

[rickystl]

OK. Here's another "transition" type of lock copied from an original in a private collection. This is called a Snaplock, from a Dutch/Swedish gun from about the first-second quarter of the 17th Century. Again, with the large proportions, this lock would have been fitted/refitted to a stock similar to a matchlock of the period.
Even with it's arcane look it functions quite well. It is a very simple design. You have to manually move the pan cover to expose the priming powder before firing, just like a matchlock. There is only a full cock position, with the only safety feature being to leave the frizzen in the forward postion until the anticipated need. While very simplistic, this lock would have been much preferred over a lit match from a matchlock. Just another variation of of the experimentation during the first half of the 17th Century.

By the way, I am currently having a gun made using this lock. Should be fun.

Rick