German hackbut barrel

Matchlock · 25th December 2013, 06:00 PM

Although the snap tinderlock and swiveling pan cover are missing, the finely preserved lime wood or pear wood full stock will convey a good impression of what such pieces would look like when complete.
The second, the blackened fir wood (!) stock heavily wormed, dry rotten and probably not to be saved, the lock mechanism also missing, I photographed in the famous Oberhausmuseum Passau, Lower Bavaria, a bit over 100 km east of where I live.
Regarding the stock, I must add that I offered them to consolidate and conserve it right at my first visit there some 35 years ago. They did not show the least interest though I warned them that it would dissolve before their very eyes. When I got there again a few years later, they had soaked it in crude linseed oil thru and thru, resulting in severe wood losses. That was a final treatment, nothing can be done about it any more. All it is now is a sticky, almost amorphous mass. I would have given that stock hundreds of injections of a hot watery solution of bone glue for days and weeks, and the surface would have been unharmed and unchanged. Museums ...

Anyway, you remember I hold some fine Nuremberg hagbut/haquebut/hackbut barrels coming from that museum during WW II in my collection.

Also attached find a snap tinderlock, Nuremberg, ca. 1540, made by Hans Koler (the hourglass mark should be attributed to him), of exactly the type missing from the Stockholm and Passau pieces. The wing nut is missing from the serpentine. That lock is preserved in the Bavarian Army Museum Ingolstadt, 30 km from my home; it belongs to an arquebus of ca. 1540, the barrel marked by Hans Mörl, who shared a workshop with Hans Koler in 1537. The museum staff do not realize (or even believe) that the mechanism belongs to the gun ...

Best,
Michael

Matchlock · 25th December 2013, 06:04 PM

The snap tinderlock mechanism.

Marcus den toom · 27th December 2013, 02:15 PM

Thanks Michael,

Do you also have a picture of the inside of this mechanism?

I imagine a spring on top holding the sear in place rather than underneath the sear like those in other matchlocks?

edit:
O wait, i already see the spring attachement inside the lockplate on one of your pictures. The spring was situated underneath the sear, only at the other side of the pivoting point (i think?)

Matchlock · 27th December 2013, 02:29 PM

No, Marcus,

If I had one I had posted it, it is in a class case that the BAM will open for nobody. But from what I can see the spring must be located under the sear, just like on a wheellock mechanism. Your editing thought was pefectly right!

I attach images of the similarly construed lock of my Tusco-Emilian (Brescia) snap-tinderlock arquebus of ca. 1525-30, the serpentine shaped as a seahorse.

m

Matchlock · 31st December 2013, 05:37 PM

The Musée de l'Armée in Paris holds this perfectly preserved specimen of a Nuremberg hackbut of ca. 1535-40, complete in all its original parts; it was never fitted with a ramrod.

You can see how close I got to the original by choosing the Ingolstadt lock mechanism as an adequate association.

Interestingly, the tinderholder on the Paris piece is a movable clamp, instead of a wing nut.

m

Matchlock · 1st January 2014, 02:25 PM

An early hackbut with unusually finely preserved three-stage wrought-iron octagonal barrel, ca. 1460-70, at the museum of Granson castle, Switzerland. It retains its original stock but never had a lock mechanism.

m

Matchlock · 2nd January 2014, 11:14 AM

Most barrels from this series are dated, the earliest year being 1554; one of the most common dates, i.e. when especially many pieces were bought from the gunmakers, was 1557, but years of the 1560's until as late as 1587 are also to be found.
The highly figured, blackened full stocks are of pearwood (!), which is highly unusual for large and heavy pieces, and fitted mostly with snapping tinderlock mechanisms, their main springs mounted on the outside of the lock plate, and fitted with a provision against cocking the tinderholder too far.
Many of the tinderholders are fitted with a wing nut but mostly just a movable clamp is employed.

In my collection there is a good, detached barrel dated 1557 from that Graz series, preserved in all its virtually 'untouched' patina.

Best,
m

25th December 2013, 06:00 PM	#1
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	A Good Nuremberg Hackbut, ca. 1540, in the Army Museum Stockholm Although the snap tinderlock and swiveling pan cover are missing, the finely preserved lime wood or pear wood full stock will convey a good impression of what such pieces would look like when complete. The second, the blackened fir wood (!) stock heavily wormed, dry rotten and probably not to be saved, the lock mechanism also missing, I photographed in the famous Oberhausmuseum Passau, Lower Bavaria, a bit over 100 km east of where I live. Regarding the stock, I must add that I offered them to consolidate and conserve it right at my first visit there some 35 years ago. They did not show the least interest though I warned them that it would dissolve before their very eyes. When I got there again a few years later, they had soaked it in crude linseed oil thru and thru, resulting in severe wood losses. That was a final treatment, nothing can be done about it any more. All it is now is a sticky, almost amorphous mass. I would have given that stock hundreds of injections of a hot watery solution of bone glue for days and weeks, and the surface would have been unharmed and unchanged. Museums ... Anyway, you remember I hold some fine Nuremberg hagbut/haquebut/hackbut barrels coming from that museum during WW II in my collection. Also attached find a snap tinderlock, Nuremberg, ca. 1540, made by Hans Koler (the hourglass mark should be attributed to him), of exactly the type missing from the Stockholm and Passau pieces. The wing nut is missing from the serpentine. That lock is preserved in the Bavarian Army Museum Ingolstadt, 30 km from my home; it belongs to an arquebus of ca. 1540, the barrel marked by Hans Mörl, who shared a workshop with Hans Koler in 1537. The museum staff do not realize (or even believe) that the mechanism belongs to the gun ... Best, Michael Attached Images Last edited by Matchlock; 26th December 2013 at 02:57 PM.

25th December 2013, 06:04 PM	#2
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	The snap tinderlock mechanism. Attached Images

27th December 2013, 02:29 PM	#4
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	No, Marcus, If I had one I had posted it, it is in a class case that the BAM will open for nobody. But from what I can see the spring must be located under the sear, just like on a wheellock mechanism. Your editing thought was pefectly right! I attach images of the similarly construed lock of my Tusco-Emilian (Brescia) snap-tinderlock arquebus of ca. 1525-30, the serpentine shaped as a seahorse. m Attached Images

31st December 2013, 05:37 PM	#5
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	The Musée de l'Armée in Paris holds this perfectly preserved specimen of a Nuremberg hackbut of ca. 1535-40, complete in all its original parts; it was never fitted with a ramrod. You can see how close I got to the original by choosing the Ingolstadt lock mechanism as an adequate association. Interestingly, the tinderholder on the Paris piece is a movable clamp, instead of a wing nut. m Attached Images Last edited by Matchlock; 31st December 2013 at 06:17 PM.

1st January 2014, 02:25 PM	#6
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	An early hackbut with unusually finely preserved three-stage wrought-iron octagonal barrel, ca. 1460-70, at the museum of Granson castle, Switzerland. It retains its original stock but never had a lock mechanism. m Attached Images

27th December 2013, 02:15 PM	#3
Marcus den toom Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Netherlands Posts: 535	Thanks Michael, Do you also have a picture of the inside of this mechanism? I imagine a spring on top holding the sear in place rather than underneath the sear like those in other matchlocks? edit: O wait, i already see the spring attachement inside the lockplate on one of your pictures. The spring was situated underneath the sear, only at the other side of the pivoting point (i think?)

2nd January 2014, 11:14 AM	#7
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	Completely Preserved Tinderlock Hackbuts of the 1550's in the Landszeughaus Graz Most barrels from this series are dated, the earliest year being 1554; one of the most common dates, i.e. when especially many pieces were bought from the gunmakers, was 1557, but years of the 1560's until as late as 1587 are also to be found. The highly figured, blackened full stocks are of pearwood (!), which is highly unusual for large and heavy pieces, and fitted mostly with snapping tinderlock mechanisms, their main springs mounted on the outside of the lock plate, and fitted with a provision against cocking the tinderholder too far. Many of the tinderholders are fitted with a wing nut but mostly just a movable clamp is employed. In my collection there is a good, detached barrel dated 1557 from that Graz series, preserved in all its virtually 'untouched' patina. Best, m Attached Images