A matchlock chronology, ca. 1520 to 1720

Matchlock · 13th November 2008, 01:54 PM

Note the cute sea-horse shaped snap serpentine of the smallest mechanism, which belongs to a small Landsknecht type harquebus in my collection that was most probably made in Brescia, Val Trompia, Northern Italy, in about 1520. I will post that gun later.

The one in the middle is a snap matchlock of Nuremberg make, ca. 1540.

The one at the bottom is North Italian, ca. 1550, retaining its original finely wrought tiller trigger. It also highly unusual in having a safety catch: a wing nut can be turned to block the sear inside the lockplate!

Michael

Matchlock · 13th November 2008, 05:52 PM

Tho two bigger ones from wall guns. The two photos taken in the Militärmuseum (Army museum) Dresden show the complete guns.

Michael

Matchlock · 13th November 2008, 05:57 PM

It takes a long study to be able and state the differences in both form and the style of engraving.

Michael

Matchlock · 13th November 2008, 06:04 PM

The one with the leaf shaped lockplate ends bearing the crossed sabers marks together with the initials HH of Hans Herold (aka Hörl), Nuremberg, active around 1550-60.

Michael

Matchlock · 13th November 2008, 06:34 PM

Extremely rare to find! This is the way they looked like when handed out to the musketeers almost 400 years ago, who - of course, soon scrubbed off the blueing.

The image of three illustrates the comparison between the earliest known complete matchlock mechanism in existence, ca. 1510-15 (defined as all parts being mounted on a common plate - you may remember this from a previous post here), its snap serpentine released by the push button projecting out of the rear end of the plate (on top).

Most people would hardly notice any significant differences between this 500 year old ancestor and the two blued mechanisms below, the first Suhl, ca. 1640, the second Swedish, 1650's. 150 years of developmemt and yet they look almost all the same; even the size of the lockplate did not considerably change. Simple and reliable simultaneously, it was almost perfect from the start. That's why it used to dominate the battle fields for about 300 years, starting from its most primitive beginnings in the early 15th century (please cf. my post on the earliest known handgun in existence) till its most recent examples built in the 1720's.

It's a rarely plowed field ...

Michael

Pukka Bundook · 14th November 2008, 03:48 AM

Michael,

Thank you for the wonderful photos!
I see some locks have both snapping and lever mechanisms.
This is the first time I have seen both types on one lock plate.

was the snapping lock used more for target work?

Richard.

Matchlock · 14th November 2008, 11:52 AM

Richard,

All of these mechanisms are from military guns.

Actually, the snap matchlock, or snap tinderlock, was preferred for both hunting and target shooting guns but saw also extensive "service" in fighting.

The first matchlocks in the early 15th century were sear locks activated by pressing a long trigger bar upward which caused the serpentine to move towards the touch hole and return to its original position after the shot had rung out. From early to mid 16th century, the snap matchlock was peferred for military purposes, triggered by a horizontally working push button. In around 1530 we find the first snap tinderlocks activated by means of a "conventional" trigger. Sear locks, however, never came out of military use, and around the 1550's we often see both mechanisms combined, most probably in order to have another igniting system in reserve. E.g., if the match holder failed or the match had gone out, a piece of tinder in the snap cock (which was a real cock because it had to be cocked) could be lit. A complicated and intricate procedure, no doubt.

In fact, in some instances we find double matchlock mechanisms on wall guns up to the end of the 16th century. The tinder snaplock, though, had long since made its way as an additional or reserve mechanism on wheel-locks from the 1530's. This snap or sear matchlock-wheel-lock combinations were highly favorized from ca. 1550 to 1600, then seem to have diappeared from the battlefields for the period of the Thirty Years War, only to face a renaissance in the 1660's/70's. By then, the flintlock had begun taking over from the wheel-lock - and again we find wheel-lock-flintlock (extremely rare) and sear matchlock-flintlock combinations on the same lockplate for a couple of years.
It seems that the "new" ignition system respectively was not quite trusted to work reliably on its own in its early years.

The attachments show:

a snap tinderlock/sear matchlock combination, Nuremberg, ca. 1550

some snap tinderlock/wheel-lock combinations:

- Munich, dated 1532, the lock and barrel etched profusely

- dated 1544

- ca. 1580, from a wall piece

- a fine Suhl military musket in my collection, dated 1602, in my collection

- a Suhl wall piece, ca. 1610

- a Suhl military musket, 1660's, and

- a sear matchlock/flintlock combination, Suhl, ca. 1666 (the famous Montecuccoli system), both in my collection

plus:
a highly unusual dummy wheel-lock mechanism, ca. 1565, which really is a snap matchlock in that it never had a wheel and chain! (in my collection). At first sight, it has the appearance of a high tech wheel-lock but is really a simple snap matchlock.

Michael

Marcus den toom · 5th July 2024, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matchlock

Tho two bigger ones from wall guns. The two photos taken in the Militärmuseum (Army museum) Dresden show the complete guns.

Michael

Very similar lock, sadly no provenance or current location (Cf post 3 in this thread)

13th November 2008, 01:54 PM	#1
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	First half 16th century Note the cute sea-horse shaped snap serpentine of the smallest mechanism, which belongs to a small Landsknecht type harquebus in my collection that was most probably made in Brescia, Val Trompia, Northern Italy, in about 1520. I will post that gun later. The one in the middle is a snap matchlock of Nuremberg make, ca. 1540. The one at the bottom is North Italian, ca. 1550, retaining its original finely wrought tiller trigger. It also highly unusual in having a safety catch: a wing nut can be turned to block the sear inside the lockplate! Michael Attached Images

13th November 2008, 05:52 PM	#2
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	Combined snap and sear matchlocks, ca. 1550-60 Tho two bigger ones from wall guns. The two photos taken in the Militärmuseum (Army museum) Dresden show the complete guns. Michael Attached Images

13th November 2008, 05:57 PM	#3
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	Serpentines, Nuremberg, ca. 1580, to Suhl, ca. 1620 It takes a long study to be able and state the differences in both form and the style of engraving. Michael Attached Images

13th November 2008, 06:04 PM	#4
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	Nuremberg matchlock mechanisms, ca. 1550-60 The one with the leaf shaped lockplate ends bearing the crossed sabers marks together with the initials HH of Hans Herold (aka Hörl), Nuremberg, active around 1550-60. Michael Attached Images

13th November 2008, 06:34 PM	#5
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	Mid 17th century matchlock mechanisms retaining all of their orignal blueing!!! Extremely rare to find! This is the way they looked like when handed out to the musketeers almost 400 years ago, who - of course, soon scrubbed off the blueing. The image of three illustrates the comparison between the earliest known complete matchlock mechanism in existence, ca. 1510-15 (defined as all parts being mounted on a common plate - you may remember this from a previous post here), its snap serpentine released by the push button projecting out of the rear end of the plate (on top). Most people would hardly notice any significant differences between this 500 year old ancestor and the two blued mechanisms below, the first Suhl, ca. 1640, the second Swedish, 1650's. 150 years of developmemt and yet they look almost all the same; even the size of the lockplate did not considerably change. Simple and reliable simultaneously, it was almost perfect from the start. That's why it used to dominate the battle fields for about 300 years, starting from its most primitive beginnings in the early 15th century (please cf. my post on the earliest known handgun in existence) till its most recent examples built in the 1720's. It's a rarely plowed field ... Michael Attached Images

14th November 2008, 03:48 AM	#6
Pukka Bundook Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 803	Michael, Thank you for the wonderful photos! I see some locks have both snapping and lever mechanisms. This is the first time I have seen both types on one lock plate. was the snapping lock used more for target work? Richard.

14th November 2008, 11:52 AM	#7
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	Richard, All of these mechanisms are from military guns. Actually, the snap matchlock, or snap tinderlock, was preferred for both hunting and target shooting guns but saw also extensive "service" in fighting. The first matchlocks in the early 15th century were sear locks activated by pressing a long trigger bar upward which caused the serpentine to move towards the touch hole and return to its original position after the shot had rung out. From early to mid 16th century, the snap matchlock was peferred for military purposes, triggered by a horizontally working push button. In around 1530 we find the first snap tinderlocks activated by means of a "conventional" trigger. Sear locks, however, never came out of military use, and around the 1550's we often see both mechanisms combined, most probably in order to have another igniting system in reserve. E.g., if the match holder failed or the match had gone out, a piece of tinder in the snap cock (which was a real cock because it had to be cocked) could be lit. A complicated and intricate procedure, no doubt. In fact, in some instances we find double matchlock mechanisms on wall guns up to the end of the 16th century. The tinder snaplock, though, had long since made its way as an additional or reserve mechanism on wheel-locks from the 1530's. This snap or sear matchlock-wheel-lock combinations were highly favorized from ca. 1550 to 1600, then seem to have diappeared from the battlefields for the period of the Thirty Years War, only to face a renaissance in the 1660's/70's. By then, the flintlock had begun taking over from the wheel-lock - and again we find wheel-lock-flintlock (extremely rare) and sear matchlock-flintlock combinations on the same lockplate for a couple of years. It seems that the "new" ignition system respectively was not quite trusted to work reliably on its own in its early years. The attachments show: a snap tinderlock/sear matchlock combination, Nuremberg, ca. 1550 some snap tinderlock/wheel-lock combinations: - Munich, dated 1532, the lock and barrel etched profusely - dated 1544 - ca. 1580, from a wall piece - a fine Suhl military musket in my collection, dated 1602, in my collection - a Suhl wall piece, ca. 1610 - a Suhl military musket, 1660's, and - a sear matchlock/flintlock combination, Suhl, ca. 1666 (the famous Montecuccoli system), both in my collection plus: a highly unusual dummy wheel-lock mechanism, ca. 1565, which really is a snap matchlock in that it never had a wheel and chain! (in my collection). At first sight, it has the appearance of a high tech wheel-lock but is really a simple snap matchlock. Michael Attached Images