Need Help Identifying an antique firearm

aptheo · 12th July 2013, 07:52 PM

Thanks for the info guys! I am wondering, what exactly tipped you off that this is SE Asian? I am interning with a museum in Southern California, and they asked me to photograph the object for our records. When I saw the details, I began to question them. Aside from what's in my first post, apparently the donor told us that the object was found in Trabuco Canyon. Trabuco Canyon is so named because apparently a friar that was travelling with the Spanish Explorer Gaspar de Portola lost his trabuco while passing through. This would have happened around 1769-70. Since the gun is definitely not a flintlock, I was almost positive that this was not the trabuco of Trabuco Canyon (as was implied by the records) and thought it might be older, since it seemed to be some kind of matchlock. As I looked at older weapons, however, nothing really seemed to match. My guess was that it was some kind of home-brewed thing, or some kind of serpentine matchlock, but I had no way of dating it. If you could recommend books or sources that I could cite for research, I would be extremely grateful. The attached picture is from a Wikipedia article. It's a matchlock from Germany that I thought seemed a possible match. But since you both seem to agree this is SEA, should I re-post this in another section of the forum? Sorry my posts are so lengthy, this project has plagued me for months and I'm excited to finally get some answers.

12th July 2013, 07:52 PM	#4
aptheo Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Southern California Posts: 8	Thanks for the info guys! I am wondering, what exactly tipped you off that this is SE Asian? I am interning with a museum in Southern California, and they asked me to photograph the object for our records. When I saw the details, I began to question them. Aside from what's in my first post, apparently the donor told us that the object was found in Trabuco Canyon. Trabuco Canyon is so named because apparently a friar that was travelling with the Spanish Explorer Gaspar de Portola lost his trabuco while passing through. This would have happened around 1769-70. Since the gun is definitely not a flintlock, I was almost positive that this was not the trabuco of Trabuco Canyon (as was implied by the records) and thought it might be older, since it seemed to be some kind of matchlock. As I looked at older weapons, however, nothing really seemed to match. My guess was that it was some kind of home-brewed thing, or some kind of serpentine matchlock, but I had no way of dating it. If you could recommend books or sources that I could cite for research, I would be extremely grateful. The attached picture is from a Wikipedia article. It's a matchlock from Germany that I thought seemed a possible match. But since you both seem to agree this is SEA, should I re-post this in another section of the forum? Sorry my posts are so lengthy, this project has plagued me for months and I'm excited to finally get some answers. Attached Images