Matchlock for comments - apparently from Emden armory
 

Greetings all,

Today I received a matchlock I won at a recent auction. I've been hunting for something similar for awhile, but these guns are rather uncommon on this west side of the Atlantic and tend to go for 5 figures in US dollars, or close to it.

This one is by no means the nicest I've seen - the stock in particular has seen much better days! - but it came to me for about 50-75% of the cost of some of the others I've bid on (and lost) at auction.

The overall length is 61 inches / 155 cm, with a barrel length of 45-1/2 inches / 155.5 cm from muzzle to touch-hole. The weight is about 15.2 lbs / 6.89 kg, although that is obtained by me standing on a scale with and without the gun (not necessarily the most accurate weight).

The barrel has the stylized "E" associated with the Emden armory matchlocks; the barrel also bears a "CL" mark that I found in Neue Stoeckel. A mark on the tang is less certain - it might be a dagger/saber from such places as Essen, Zella, or Suhl, but there are other possibilities and I cannot say I think I have made a definite identification. The lockplate bears initials surmounted by a crown; I believe it is either "CH" or "GH" but I have not found a match in Neue Stoeckel despite combing through the H, K, and M listings. Any ideas or opinions would be most helpful!

The stock has a lot of wood filler, unfortunately, but does have some original surface left and shows either "18" or "13" branded/stamped above the lockplate (other examples I have seen include "E14" and "20"). A sheet metal buttplate is nailed to the stock, and extends over the top of the buttstock.

I believe this gun would originally have had a tubular rear sight, as the flash shield has a semi-circular cut-out and the possible remnants of where the sight would have sat on the top of the barrel.

Based on the dimensions, weight, and the full-length octagonal barrel I am inclined to believe this is a rather early example from the 17th century, certainly before the 1624 reductions in size mandated by Gustavus Adolphus referenced by Matchlock in an earlier thread here: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=18199 (note post #11).

Attached below in several posts are photos - let me know if there are other details of interest which I have not shown.

Photos continued.

Photos concluded. Forgot to mention, the bore is .70 caliber / 17.8mm.