A miquelet escopeta for comments

fernando · 15th July 2013, 01:59 PM

We all know that the term trabuco comes from the Provençal "trabuc" and was originaly attributed to stone throwing siege war machines.
I have for me that the later use of the term in Spain for firearms was applied to the same typology as the blunderbuss in english, the specific design of each variant being independent from the generic name.
Athough the term trabuco is familiar to the portuguese, we more often use "bacamarte", which also has its etymologic roots.
The flare of the muzzle depending either in artistic freedom, mechanical possibilities or arsenal design, often connotated with better projectile spread and or more impressive look towards the (human) target, serves basicaly the purpose of facilitating the loading, be it single ball or lots of varied junk.
While arsenal barrels may have a more elaborated design ... bell, trumpet, duck beak ... home made examples, those often made of salvaged musket barrels shortened for the purpose, are restrained to the simple swelling of the muzzle ending. I was once told that the (one) system used, is heating the barrel muzzle and expand it by hammering in a spinning top.

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dana_w · 13th September 2013, 08:58 PM

Wonderful find machinist! I too am intrigued by the belt hook and the overall length of your escopeta.

I wish we could see a photo of the other side of the Trabucos at the Madrid's Navy Museum. (thanks for the photo fernando).

15th July 2013, 01:59 PM	#1
fernando (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,694	We all know that the term trabuco comes from the Provençal "trabuc" and was originaly attributed to stone throwing siege war machines. I have for me that the later use of the term in Spain for firearms was applied to the same typology as the blunderbuss in english, the specific design of each variant being independent from the generic name. Athough the term trabuco is familiar to the portuguese, we more often use "bacamarte", which also has its etymologic roots. The flare of the muzzle depending either in artistic freedom, mechanical possibilities or arsenal design, often connotated with better projectile spread and or more impressive look towards the (human) target, serves basicaly the purpose of facilitating the loading, be it single ball or lots of varied junk. While arsenal barrels may have a more elaborated design ... bell, trumpet, duck beak ... home made examples, those often made of salvaged musket barrels shortened for the purpose, are restrained to the simple swelling of the muzzle ending. I was once told that the (one) system used, is heating the barrel muzzle and expand it by hammering in a spinning top. . Attached Images

13th September 2013, 08:58 PM	#2
dana_w Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Southeast Florida, USA Posts: 436	Wonderful find machinist! I too am intrigued by the belt hook and the overall length of your escopeta. I wish we could see a photo of the other side of the Trabucos at the Madrid's Navy Museum. (thanks for the photo fernando).