A short balkan musket

[David R]

Lots of reasons for flint and even matchlocks to continue in use. Ease of supply is one reason certainly, but problems with storage is another. Matchlocks continued in use in South America til quite recently because the humidity corroded cartridges into uselessness.
Political reasons also apply. Most Imperial governments preferred the locals to be denied modern weapons. A current example I have heard of is that native Tibetans are allowed Matchlocks but not modern guns by the Chinese government Matchlocks are adequate for hunting but are not considered a threat to the local government forces.

[Philip]

Here is an example of a matchlock dated 1844 with a Spanish inscription on the lockplate, from a remote area in one of the Spain's former colonies in the Americas. What is notable, besides the long-obsolete mechanical design, is the shape of the buttstock, characteristic of parts of southern Europe two centuries or more earlier, totally unaffected by subsequent stylistic developments. The barrel of iron with flaring brass muzzle, cal. .62 in., overall length 41.5 in.

(Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, inv. no. 1894.133)

[Philip]

Originally Posted by David R

A current example I have heard of is that native Tibetans are allowed Matchlocks but not modern guns by the Chinese government Matchlocks are adequate for hunting but are not considered a threat to the local government forces.

That might have been true a half-century ago, but in more recent media images I have noted show Tibetan nomads allowed to keep arms for hunting carrying bolt-action Mosin-Nagant M1891s and Mauser Mod. 1898s from the pre-World War II era, with native-made bipod barrel legs added to the forestocks in traditional fashion. The rifles are chambered for calibers formerly used by Nationalist and Communist forces in China for much of the last century so ammunition supply must not have been a problem, indeed it is possible that they were supplied by the authorities since besides hunting, there isn't much of a livelihood for these people besides herding yaks and other animals.

[rickystl]

These last photos show the lock plate was made for three screw mounting. Is there a photo of the left side of the stock ?

Rick

[Philip]

Originally Posted by rickystl

These last photos show the lock plate was made for three screw mounting. Is there a photo of the left side of the stock ?

Rick

Rick, the three-screw attachment is an archaic stylistic holdover from the 17th cent., retained on 19th - turn of the 20th cent. trade gun locks in the Portuguese style. These were widely made for export in the Portuguese town of Braga, and later in greater quantities at Liège in Belgium. You can also see, in the preceding posts that show the entire gun, that the buttstock is the fluted Portuguese derivation of the "Madrid" style.

Below are pics of a virtually similar lock, you sent me these some years back. The exterior is from an early type of internal-spring flintlock used in Portugal, which used a unique and somewhat complex sliding-rod sear system called an agulha. However, on these late trade locks, the "guts" have been simplified with an low-market version of the French flintlock system with a pivoting sear engaging a notch in the tumbler (full cock only, the older external pivoting manual safety is retained). As you can see, the tumbler / sear bridle has been designed away in the interests of economy.

These late locks with the archaic exterior styling are called fechos de três parafusos, (3-screw locks) to distinguish them from the earlier versions. In actuality, they are in essence French flintlocks with a hybrid external half-cock "brake", masquerading as an older type, for the purposes of marketing to conservative and tradition-bound consumers.

[eftihis]

The other side of the musket.

[Philip]

Originally Posted by eftihis

Again, a north African musket.

Thanks for the numerous photos accompanying your post. Of interest is the fluted buttstock and also a level of fit and finish that is above that of many north African guns (especially those from Morocco). Based on this I believe that the gun, in terms of origin, is European -- it looks like a lazarinha, a trade musket or fowling piece made for export in Portugal or Belgium in the century prior to the First World War. The majority of these went to the Portuguese and Belgian colonies of west equatorial Africa, not to the Maghreb. The use of dome-headed tacks as decoration is common among trade objects destined for this market, along with other objects produced in-culture.

Your gun is in very nice condition compared to most artifacts from the region and is a desirable ethnographic object reflecting its colonial history.

[eftihis]

Hi Phillip,
The barell of the gun speaks in favor of the name you mentioned! It is inscrbed "Lazarino"!!!

[Philip]

Originally Posted by eftihis

Hi Phillip,
The barell of the gun speaks in favor of the name you mentioned! It is inscrbed "Lazarino"!!!

I recognize these markings as being typical of a 19th century trade gun from Braga, Portugal.