A Very Rare Nuremberg Arquebus 'Bronze'/Brass Barrel, ca. 1500-10

[Matchlock]

Brass-barreled snap-tinderlock arquebuses, from an illustrated inventory of the 'Maximilian' armories, ca. 1502; BSB Munich, cod. icon. 222, fol. 114.

Two stocks are shown painted red, and the tinder serpentines are incorrectly depicted to be mounted on the barrels.

As the mechanical lock parts must have been nailed or clamped to the stock, they seem to have been triggered by a right-hand side lateral push button, most probably located in front of the serpentine and activated by a finger of the left hand.

Some of the wooden ramrods are depicted to have an iron finial, most probably threaded for a worm and scourer - just the way they were made for 'service' use until the early 18th c.


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