Sardinian Miquelet for comment and information

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by rickystl

Hi Stu

I notice the tube tapers with the comb of the butt stock. Does the hole run full length ? Or just a short distance ?

Rick

Hi Rick,
No, the hole goes approx 2" into the tube, and if you look at the top view pic above, you will see that there are 3 pins down thru the top of the tube holding it to the stock.
If the hollow tube is to hold some sort of sighting device (as suggested above) then 2" should be sufficient for this purpose.
Stu

[rickystl]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

Hi Rick,
No, the hole goes approx 2" into the tube, and if you look at the top view pic above, you will see that there are 3 pins down thru the top of the tube holding it to the stock.
If the hollow tube is to hold some sort of sighting device (as suggested above) then 2" should be sufficient for this purpose.
Stu

Hi Stu

OK. Yes, now I see the pins holding the tube to the stock. Since the hole only travels about 2 inches, this might be evidence towards Ian's theory of some type of rear sighting apparatus. Hmmmm. At the moment, I can't think of anything else. Hopefully, if true, one of these sight pieces will turn up one day.

It's my understanding that the seperate rear sight pieces for the Japanese matchlocks are quite rare and would have easily been lost. I've only seen pictures of them from collectors in Japan.

In any case, it's a real nice piece for your collection. Hope you decide to get the missing brass decoration replaced.

Rick

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by rickystl

Hi Stu

OK. Yes, now I see the pins holding the tube to the stock. Since the hole only travels about 2 inches, this might be evidence towards Ian's theory of some type of rear sighting apparatus. Hmmmm. At the moment, I can't think of anything else. Hopefully, if true, one of these sight pieces will turn up one day.

It's my understanding that the seperate rear sight pieces for the Japanese matchlocks are quite rare and would have easily been lost. I've only seen pictures of them from collectors in Japan.

In any case, it's a real nice piece for your collection. Hope you decide to get the missing brass decoration replaced.

Rick

If, has been suggested the tube is for holding a "sighting piece", would one recognise the sight if one found one? Not knowing what it looks like would make correct identification nigh impossible. I have not seen anything attached in pics in any books I have, though there are pics of the guns.
As an aside, these would obviously have been used with a powder flask of some sort. Does anyone have an idea of what these flasks might have looked like?
Stu

[rickystl]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

If, has been suggested the tube is for holding a "sighting piece", would one recognise the sight if one found one? Not knowing what it looks like would make correct identification nigh impossible. I have not seen anything attached in pics in any books I have, though there are pics of the guns.
As an aside, these would obviously have been used with a powder flask of some sort. Does anyone have an idea of what these flasks might have looked like?
Stu

Hi Stu

Probably no one would reconize what it was for. LOL The tubes are obviously intentially made with that hole. And all the guns seem to have them. So there has to be some specific purpose. The tube does travel quite a ways up the comb and wrist area of the gun. With the hole ending a similar distance as a peep sight. So there may have been one or more seperate pieces utilized as a rudimentry rear sight for longer range shooting, similar to the seperate pieces on the mentioned Japanese matchlocks. Would easily be lost. Of course this is just conjecture on my part. But I believe Ian's thought is the best guess at the moment. Hope we find out one day.

Flasks: That's a good question. I don't recall ever seeing a flask that was directly attributale to the Island. Hmmm. Maybe Artzi has seen one ? Might be worth asking.

Rick