Antique Miniature wheellock pistol ?

[wheellock95]

I recently acquired what is purported to be an original 1/3 scale wheellock pistol made by the German maker Hans Bauer ? ( UK 10p for scale) But I cannot see any evidence for a maker. As regarding age I am told late 16th century/ early 17th century however of course I am dubious at this claim but that doesn’t take away from the extremely high quality of the craftsman ship that went into the pistol and is of extremely high quality. Sadly at some point someone has taken a wire brush to the surface And removed the original patina, but it still does show some age when examined closely and has sight pitting across the surface. Also I know the wrench is a modern and quite recently made addition. I would like to see what some of the highly knowledgeable members of this forum think and see what conclusion they come to. Look forward to a discussion.

[fernando]

Perfect thing .

[wheellock95]

Thank you Fernando. What do you think regarding its age ?

[fernando]

I wish i could be of help, sorry ; others will certainly have a word on that !

[wheellock95]

No problem Fernando, thanks for looking

[Tordenskiold1721]

16th century and early 17th century pistols/muskets and rifles should have rounded screw tops holding parts together. Three of your screws have flat tops while all other looks 16th century.

The three screw tops could have been placed there as part of a restoration. I had a wheellock rifle dated 1604 restored, and it came back with a few flat screw tops as the gunsmith did not know that they should be round. I have yet to have this detail corrected.

All wheellocks in my collection has rounded screw tops. Except the few restored ones as aforementioned.

If anyone can find a photo of an original 16th century or early 17th century wheellock with flat screw tops, you will have proven me wrong

By doing a quick Google and Pinterest search, this little detail can be seen.

[wheellock95]

Originally Posted by Tordenskiold1721

16th century and early 17th century pistols/muskets and rifles should have rounded screw tops holding parts together.

All wheellocks in my collection has rounded screw tops.

If anyone can find a photo of an original 16th century or early 17th century wheellock with flat screw tops, you will have proven me wrong

By doing a quick Google and Pinterest search, this little detail can be seen.

Yes, most of the screws on the piece are round topped. Only a few of the screws are flat topped which could be replacements. I’ve included a better angle showing the round screws

[wheellock95]

Here’s the better angle

[corrado26]

Here I have fotos of the same type of wheellock miniature pistol of an US-collection and fotos of an allsteel-wheellock pistol of my collection with a Nuremberg barrel of 1596. There is the mark with crossed kees of the city of Regensburg at its lockplate. Both pistols have screws with rounded heads.

[wheellock95]

Originally Posted by corrado26

Here I have fotos of the same type of wheellock miniature pistol of an US-collection and fotos of an allsteel-wheellock pistol of my collection with a Nuremberg barrel of 1596. There is the mark with crossed kees of the city of Regensburg at its lockplate. Both pistols have screws with rounded heads.

Thanks for the images. My pistol is indeed the same one from the US collection as that is who I purchased it from

[Battara]

That's stinkin' impressive!

[Raf]

Originally Posted by wheellock95

Thanks for the images. My pistol is indeed the same one from the US collection as that is who I purchased it from

These images from a vendors website suggest this is a copy of fairly recent manufacture.

[wheellock95]

Yes raf this has come to my attention and is being dealt with

[corrado26]

Originally Posted by Raf

These images from a vendors website suggest this is a copy of fairly recent manufacture.

In wheellock times there certainly has not been a serial production of wheellock miniatures, all the today known miniatures of the 16th and 17th century are different from each other. But as there are with your example at least two equal miniatures with only very minor differences I think that both pistols are made during the time of historism or even later.