Elegant all steel Miqulet Jezail for comment

Philip · 29th March 2020, 07:16 AM

Here is an early miquelet-lock gun, ca 1630, fitted-up in Brescia (in Lombardy, northern Italy) in local style of the era, using an imported Ottoman barrel. The bulge on the bottom of the stock ahead of the angular trigger guard is a holdover from wheellock guns, here superfluous considering the shape of a miquelet lock.

Seen here on the left side are a pair of ring swivels for the sling. The buttstock profile is similar to that seen on a type of Balkan gun, common during the 18th-19th centuries, called a dzeferdar.

Note also that the barrel is affixed to the forestock by pins running through tenons dovetailed on the underside of the barrel, in a manner common to most European long guns of the era. This, as opposed to the use of capucines or barrel-bands characteristic of later Oriental weapons.

Philip · 29th March 2020, 07:41 AM

The lock on the gun posted previously. Ca. 1630, it is a very early Italian interpretation of an already-mature Spanish design. The peculiar outline of the bottom of the lock plate, with a bulging profile, is a stylistic nod to the shape of the wheellock plate which has to widen to accommodate the wheel and its internal fixtures -- the firearms industry in Brescia was still heavily involved in producing wheellocks for both the military and civilian markets at the time. So this particular lock may be regarded as transitional, in addition to being an antecedent to characteristic styles produced in Eastern countries.

Points of commonality with later Balkan versions of the miquelet lock are:
1. The shape of the cock neck and top jaw, especially the posterior slope of the latter.
2. The horizontal stabilizing bridge or bridle connecting the priming-pan with the cock pivot screw. This feature became a characteristic of virtually all miquelets produced in the Balkans, Levant, and the Ottoman and Persian empires down to the advent of percussion systems in the 1800s.. This bridge is a rarity on European-made miquelets whether Spanish, Italian, or German copies of same. It was probably necessitated on early locks by the excessively stiff mainspring; the refinements to the mechanism that soon developed in Europe resulted in a more robust vertical cock bridle (connecting to the bottom edge of the lock plate) and increased efficiency using a lighter spring.

29th March 2020, 07:16 AM	#1
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	European antecedent: ring swivels Here is an early miquelet-lock gun, ca 1630, fitted-up in Brescia (in Lombardy, northern Italy) in local style of the era, using an imported Ottoman barrel. The bulge on the bottom of the stock ahead of the angular trigger guard is a holdover from wheellock guns, here superfluous considering the shape of a miquelet lock. Seen here on the left side are a pair of ring swivels for the sling. The buttstock profile is similar to that seen on a type of Balkan gun, common during the 18th-19th centuries, called a dzeferdar. Note also that the barrel is affixed to the forestock by pins running through tenons dovetailed on the underside of the barrel, in a manner common to most European long guns of the era. This, as opposed to the use of capucines or barrel-bands characteristic of later Oriental weapons. Attached Images

29th March 2020, 07:41 AM	#2
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	European antecedent -- miquelet lock The lock on the gun posted previously. Ca. 1630, it is a very early Italian interpretation of an already-mature Spanish design. The peculiar outline of the bottom of the lock plate, with a bulging profile, is a stylistic nod to the shape of the wheellock plate which has to widen to accommodate the wheel and its internal fixtures -- the firearms industry in Brescia was still heavily involved in producing wheellocks for both the military and civilian markets at the time. So this particular lock may be regarded as transitional, in addition to being an antecedent to characteristic styles produced in Eastern countries. Points of commonality with later Balkan versions of the miquelet lock are: 1. The shape of the cock neck and top jaw, especially the posterior slope of the latter. 2. The horizontal stabilizing bridge or bridle connecting the priming-pan with the cock pivot screw. This feature became a characteristic of virtually all miquelets produced in the Balkans, Levant, and the Ottoman and Persian empires down to the advent of percussion systems in the 1800s.. This bridge is a rarity on European-made miquelets whether Spanish, Italian, or German copies of same. It was probably necessitated on early locks by the excessively stiff mainspring; the refinements to the mechanism that soon developed in Europe resulted in a more robust vertical cock bridle (connecting to the bottom edge of the lock plate) and increased efficiency using a lighter spring. Attached Images