Miquelet Percussion Pistol for ID and Comment

[Fernando K]

Hello

In the description of the "fashionable Madrid" miquetete there are several errors. The chock C is not half-cock, but is for full-cock, and conversely, the front chock is the one that acts in half-cock. In addition, the firing is not achieved by means of the spring appendix, but by means of a bar

Affectionately

[Fernando K]

Hi Jim

The miquelete is located in the Mediterranean area, it has had many variants, according to the country of construction, and all variants have been reciprocally influenced: the "agujeta" the Spanish miquelete, the Portuguese specimens, the Roman lock, the Arabian miquelete or "a la morlaca" and the "fashionable Madrid" lock and the "three fashion" lock.

Neal and Lavin have taken care of the Spanish miqueletes.

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by Fernando K

Hi Jim

The miquelete is located in the Mediterranean area, it has had many variants, according to the country of construction, and all variants have been reciprocally influenced: the "agujeta" the Spanish miquelete, the Portuguese specimens, the Roman lock, the Arabian miquelete or "a la morlaca" and the "fashionable Madrid" lock and the "three fashion" lock.

Neal and Lavin have taken care of the Spanish miqueletes.

Hi Fernando,
I have no doubt that the details shown do not cover all variants of a particular lock type. Just posted to show that there are many different types of lock in existence.
I have checked the third screw on the counter plate and can tell you it serves no purpose. I do agree though that there was probably a belt hook at some stage. I will have to see if I can find a suitable one to replace it.
Stu

[fernando]

With the invention of the percussion cap (Forsyth) in the first quarter XIX century, there has been an authentic race for flintlock to percussion conversion, both by military as by civilian, as the advantage was tremendous. The massive run must have been by the 1830's. A number of conversion methods were carried out, some ingenious and some clumsy, military being stronger and more perfect versions,
This to say that, when you see a Miquelete with a percussion system, you think twice before you assume whether it was born like that or was result of a conversion.
Here is one of mine which (to me) was born for percussion.

.

[David R]

Here is my flint to percussion conversion, on a gun posted here.

[Jim McDougall]

Guys thank you so much for these great insights into my question on the miguelet lock on guns! and Stu, especially for that comprehensive entry from a fantastic resource.
It will take me a bit to fathom all of the details here, as even most of the nomenclature is entirely foreign to me. However, I very much admire the command of all this you guys clearly have.
Fernando, thank you for the very pertinent notes toward the conversion phenomenon which became profoundly important in the 19th c.

Fernando K, thank you for the observations on the keen details in these locks, which really add a lot of dimension to understanding more on them and their distinctions!

Very much appreciated,

Jim (a sword guy trying to learn about guns)

[rickystl]

Hi Stu

Nice little pocket pistol find. I'll post here what I originally sent you in a private email:

That is a cute little pistol. Agreed, that was a fair price. It's in pretty decent condition. And you're right. It's what many collectors call a traveling/overcoat/pocket pistol. Likely from the 1840-1860 period. This size/style of pistol were very popular throughout Europe during the Mid-18th Century and were made by the thousands, before eventually falling out of favor for revolvers. The percussion miquelet lock appears to be a genuine non-converted lock. And the long iron backstrap on the grip is a typical Spanish feature from pistols of this period. The barrel looks to be a two-piece with a bolster type breech plug (like a percussion British Enfield) which was also very typical of barrels during this period. What you see as a powder chamber and ridge (like some Torador barrels) is probably a slight hollowing out of the breech plug face just giving that impression. I've seen this before on bolster type breech plugs. Never really understood the purpose. The two numbers 17 on the bottom would likely be assembly (or re-assembly) numbers so the breech plug face and threads would match and not get lost/mixed up with other barrels/breeches.
All and all, a nice Spanish percussion pistol, carried for personal protection, and styled very typical to this time period. Congratulations. Nice find. Will be interesting to see what others on the European Forum think. And if they agree with me.

Miquelet is often "loosely" used to describe a gun lock with the mainspring mounted on the outside of the lock plate versus inside as in more traditional flintlocks.

That third screw on the side plate likely was for a belt hook at some time. In fact, judging by original examples, there seem to have been more Spanish origin pistols made with belt hooks versus not. LOL Both civilian and military.

Again, nice find. Rick