European antecedent -- miquelet lock
The lock on the gun posted previously. Ca. 1630, it is a very early Italian interpretation of an already-mature Spanish design. The peculiar outline of the bottom of the lock plate, with a bulging profile, is a stylistic nod to the shape of the wheellock plate which has to widen to accommodate the wheel and its internal fixtures -- the firearms industry in Brescia was still heavily involved in producing wheellocks for both the military and civilian markets at the time. So this particular lock may be regarded as transitional, in addition to being an antecedent to characteristic styles produced in Eastern countries.
Points of commonality with later Balkan versions of the miquelet lock are:
1. The shape of the cock neck and top jaw, especially the posterior slope of the latter.
2. The horizontal stabilizing bridge or bridle connecting the priming-pan with the cock pivot screw. This feature became a characteristic of virtually all miquelets produced in the Balkans, Levant, and the Ottoman and Persian empires down to the advent of percussion systems in the 1800s.. This bridge is a rarity on European-made miquelets whether Spanish, Italian, or German copies of same. It was probably necessitated on early locks by the excessively stiff mainspring; the refinements to the mechanism that soon developed in Europe resulted in a more robust vertical cock bridle (connecting to the bottom edge of the lock plate) and increased efficiency using a lighter spring.
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