A blunderbuss with an early lock

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by iskender

...a dubbelbarreld shotgun is a "Doppelflinte", a long gun with 2 rifled barrels is a "Doppelbüchse" ,a combination can be things like "Bockbüchsflinte" ,"Doppelbockbüchse"..

timeout: bier time, or a nice taylors. ruby red port.

i had a loosiana cajun buddy in texas on a construction project we were supervising, his name was tom hebert (pronounced A-Bear) he told me a story about his grandpere beudreaux (boo-drow) hebert. on day he was returning from a duck hunt and tom saw beudreaux had 40 mallards in his pirogue (dugout canoe).

tom said 'hi granpaw, that's a lotta ducks, how many shells did it take? you musta bin shootin all day!

ol' beudreaux said, jes two. , is all i needed.my two-hole shootsgun jus hols two shell. twenny beebee each shell. bin gone jes a haff hour.

tom said 'grandad, i don't believe you, yer tellin me a tall tale.

ol' beudreaux sez, you yung whippersnapper, you get up at 5 a.m. termorra and comes a shootin wif me & i'll show you. betcha a whole dollar i get a dock wif evry beebee.

now that was a whole days wage back then.

next day they goes ahuntin' in the pirogue agin. flock of mllard docks flies by overhead. beaudreax lets fly with the left barrel. 20 duckies fall into the pirogue. he lets fly with the right barrel. 19 ducks fall into the boat. tom says excitedly 'i win! you only got 19!' just then a mallard comes flyin by, a duckin' and a divin' and loop de loopin', followed by that last tenacious beebee, beudreax sez 'son, jus wait a minute...'.

i know this is a true story, tom showed me that two hole shootsgun. or mebbe it was a Doppelflinte. in any case, it had two external hammers. the story is easier to believe if you tell it in a french accent tho. tom even showed me the dollar was missin from his wallet.

p.s. - beudreaux was also a frugal ol' sod, he dug them beebee outta them docks and reused them. they got smarter every time he did. thats why tom had the shootsgun, beu didn't need it enny more. whenever he wants a dock dinner he just throws a few o' them beebees out the winder an they fetch him a passle of docks.

we now return you to your regularly scheduled dissertation.

[fernando]

Thank you so much for your input, Philip.
Meanwhile i have browsing on this thing ...
Norman pretends that this system is probably of Spanish or Moorish origin, then used by Brits during the second half XVII century, as you well mention.
Lavin mentions and shows a sketch of a Sinhalese (agujeta) lock as being introduced there by the Portuguese (prior to 1658), familiar with this system, with a calço atras (back wedge).
If you notice in Espingarda Perfeita by R. Daehnhardt, one example in the last row (1620-1680) is such Sinhales type again.
... or am i mixing the whole thing ... .

[Philip]

Fernando,
Or I should say, not all dogs are created equal.
1. Norman could not be correct on this. The north European dog-lock, of which you have an example, is not developmentally connected to any of the dog-locks of the Mediterranean or Oriental worlds (the agujeta, the Sinhalese snap lock, etc) for the simple reason that the former has an internal mainspring, and all of the latter have external springs.

2. Furthermore, the sear (the assembly that releases the cock upon pull of trigger) is entirely internal on the northern dog-lock. It is a one-piece L shaped arm under spring tension, with studs that engage a tumbler or nut on the cock's axis bolt. The sear system on the agujeta (either the Hispanic or Algerian types) is a 2-piece assemblage with a stud or nose that engages the cock directly through an aperture in the lockplate; on this type of lock there is no tumbler. See Blackmore, pp 112-15 for text and diagrams.

3. I'm not sure whether the Sinhalese snaplock is a direct descendant of the agujeta. A comparison of the sear systems is in order, and I can't find this aspect illustrated in any of my reference books. Lavin's article "Spanish Agujeta-lock Firearms" in ART, ARMS AND ARMOUR (ed. Robert Held, 1979) emphasizes that the Iberian version typically has a wheellock-derived lockplate profile -- trapezoidal with an obtuse point at the bottom, AND is equipped with two bridles or support bridges for the cock and frizzen pivot screws. The Sinhalese lock has a different plate and lacks a frizzen bridle. Daehnhardt, in ESPINGARDA FEITICEIRA, contends that the Sinhalese lock originates with the Italian miquelet "alla romana" which may well be the case. Again, a comparison of the sear design will help resolve this.

Note that the trapzoidal lockplate is absent on the Algerian version of the agujeta although functionally it remains the same, and even inherits the big alligator jaws and the wing-top screw on the cock of the later Spanish versions. From this we can expect some stylistic changes when the Sinhalese developed their snaplock, whether it be from prototypes originating in Spain, Italy, or even Portugal.

Sorry if this sounds so convoluted and geeky, if you need any clarification please let me know.

[fernando]

O.K. Philip, i get it; not the scholar technicalities but that, my sheep has nothing to do with the goats, meaning the dog lock is a system per se.
So i retire to my corner and thank you for your input .



.

[Fernando K]

Hello

Corrado, it would be interesting to know if besides the safety hook (dog-lock), the nut has also tooth half-cock. You could upload photographs inside the lock? Thank you

affectionately. Fernando K

[corrado26]

You could upload photographs inside the lock?

As all of the shown firearms are sold meanwhile I only can post fotos existing in my archive. But what I can say is that all these dog locks have a half-cock tooth at the tumbler.
corrado26

[Fernando K]

Hello

Thank you, Corrado. The photographs do not let you see the tooth in half-cock nut, but I trust in your word. Then the dog-lock would be an additional safety means.

Affectionately. Fernando K