A Fine Styrian Combined Wheel and Matchlock Musket, Dated 1583

Jim McDougall · 1st August 2024, 05:11 PM

That is remarkable Marcus, thank you! and again very nice to see the important work of our late friend Michael Troemner carrying forward.
The '1' and '5' (looking like the 'S' character) suggests this date numbering must have been a convention in the Graz armory in this time frame.

As noted the maker of the barrel is retained, and in the case of the matchlock shown in the original post, its barrel mark resembles the serpentine type character of Milanese heraldry of the 'biscioni'(a type of grass snake used allegorically). It seems that this symbol is used in variation by perhaps guilds though there has been suggestion of use by a maker there (unidentified).
Perhaps further search through other references might find more specific details.

1st August 2024, 05:11 PM	#3
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,938	That is remarkable Marcus, thank you! and again very nice to see the important work of our late friend Michael Troemner carrying forward. The '1' and '5' (looking like the 'S' character) suggests this date numbering must have been a convention in the Graz armory in this time frame. As noted the maker of the barrel is retained, and in the case of the matchlock shown in the original post, its barrel mark resembles the serpentine type character of Milanese heraldry of the 'biscioni'(a type of grass snake used allegorically). It seems that this symbol is used in variation by perhaps guilds though there has been suggestion of use by a maker there (unidentified). Perhaps further search through other references might find more specific details. Attached Images