17thC Scottish Snaphaunce Musket

Matchlock · 9th July 2012, 05:26 PM

Hi Norman,

Agreed: in the worst given case the item may be composite from three different main parts, and the brass-filled touch hole may conceal the fact that the barrel was converted to (and rebuilt from) percussion - in which case the lock cannot belong.
Also the crispness of the surfaces of barrel and stock differs greatly from that of the much better preserved lock, showing that the first two have seem much more use (and abrasion).

Telling from your lines, my intuitive initial premonitions seem justifiable.
From all I have learned in over 30 years of closest study is to be extremely careful as soon as an item does not look completely characteristic in all its single aspects; riveted screws or pins and crude alterations have become amber lights to me: the only explanation is that somebody intended to prohibit others from dismantling the gun for research - which is completely contradictory to the fact that all main parts of a gun must be easy to dismantle in case when cleaning or repair is needed.

On the other hand, you certainly did not overpay the piece, and some of the scans I attached show that trigger guards were used on both English and Scottish snaphaunce guns from the end of the 16th c.

Best,
m

9th July 2012, 05:26 PM	#10
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	Hi Norman, Agreed: in the worst given case the item may be composite from three different main parts, and the brass-filled touch hole may conceal the fact that the barrel was converted to (and rebuilt from) percussion - in which case the lock cannot belong. Also the crispness of the surfaces of barrel and stock differs greatly from that of the much better preserved lock, showing that the first two have seem much more use (and abrasion). Telling from your lines, my intuitive initial premonitions seem justifiable. From all I have learned in over 30 years of closest study is to be extremely careful as soon as an item does not look completely characteristic in all its single aspects; riveted screws or pins and crude alterations have become amber lights to me: the only explanation is that somebody intended to prohibit others from dismantling the gun for research - which is completely contradictory to the fact that all main parts of a gun must be easy to dismantle in case when cleaning or repair is needed. On the other hand, you certainly did not overpay the piece, and some of the scans I attached show that trigger guards were used on both English and Scottish snaphaunce guns from the end of the 16th c. Best, m