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Old 16th August 2020, 05:30 AM   #7
Philip
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Location: California
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Quote:
Originally Posted by corrado26
Maybe this is a rare variation of the Norwegian "Goenge-snaplocks" made around 1650, at least the lock is very similar except its strange release mechanism. The rest of the gun was certainly made in later times.
Udo, you raise an interesting point. Let me first show this pic of two Scandinavian snaphaunces, both out of Howard L Blackmore's Guns and Rifles of the World (1965), figs 136, 137.

The one above is Norwegian (Norsk Folkemuseum, Oslo, no. 34-29), described as late 17th cent. It is a true snaphaunce, the frizzen and pan cover are separate; the latter is manually opened as on a matchlock, a very primitive form for something supposedly made in the late 1600s. The one below is Swedish, mid-17th cent., (Livrustkammaren, Stockholm, no. 1795), it is identified as a Göinge-bössa and note that it is more like a true flintlock in that the frizzen and pan cover are combined in one L shaped unit.

What is interesting to note is that the locks on both these guns feature mainsprings that press UPWARD on an arm extending to the REAR of the bottom of the cock. (Like the Spanish or Ottoman "patilla" miquelets). The lock on the gun in this thread has a mainspring that is supposed to press DOWNWARD on the FRONT of the cock's foot (the end of the spring on this exemplar seems to be dislodged from its position and possibly the lock is non-functional at this time). The way the mainspring is arranged on this type of lock is analogous to the Italian alla romana or Algerian "toe lock" miquelets.

In the next post I will show a Russian snap lock for comparison.
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