A flintlock pistol ... with a Portuguese lock.

[Philip]

Originally Posted by rickystl

Hi Fernando.

Well, it's still a good looking pistol. Especially that wonderful lock !!
Had I seen this pistol, even if I had known the correct analysis above, if the price was reasonable, I would have bought it anyway just to get the lock for my lock collection. LOL The brass hardware I would keep for a later unforseen project. LOL But that's just me. Again, very cool lock.



Rick

I'd love to have that thing myself, Rick! Look at the chiseling; it has suffered from wear and exposure, but imagine what it looked like when new! Especially appealing, for something made in the second half of the 18th cent., are design elements harking back a century before. Note especially the cock, with its baluster-form stem and jaws that sit at an obtuse angle. Both it and the lockplate profile are so classically Iberian, unaffected by the Frenchification that crept into miquelet lock design in the 18th cent., especially in production for royal patronage.

[fernando]

Obrigado pelas suas palavras, Filipe .
I have just disassemble the barrel; a long story it tells.
Evidence that, as per professor Daehnhardt's appreciation, its ignition orifice has been drilled to lodge a percussioon 'rubber' and later welded back into a flintlock touch hole.
Visible also the faded assembly marks and smiths poinçon; and the traces of having had a seconf fixation to a prior stock.


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[rickystl]

Originally Posted by fernando

Obrigado pelas suas palavras, Filipe .
I have just disassemble the barrel; a long story it tells.
Evidence that, as per professor Daehnhardt's appreciation, its ignition orifice has been drilled to lodge a percussioon 'rubber' and later welded back into a flintlock touch hole.
Visible also the faded assembly marks and smiths poinçon; and the traces of having had a seconf fixation to a prior stock.

Hi Fernando.
OK, yes, you can see where the barrel had a percussion bolster at some point in it's life, then removed. The captive ramrod was probably add when the barrel was converted to percussion.
I'm going to speculate that the barrel and lock were originally from two different guns. And at some point back in the period a new stock was made to accomodate both the barrel and lock. It appears the stock has less wear than the lock and barrel.
For sure, this gun - or at least the lock and barrel - have seen a lot of action. It seems the gun was assembled from various loose parts that were available at the moment. What a story this gun could tell.

Rick

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[fernando]

Originally Posted by rickystl

...I'm going to speculate that the barrel and lock were originally from two different guns...

As already stated, the lock and trigger guard once belonged to shoulder (musket) guns.

[rickystl]

Originally Posted by Philip

I'd love to have that thing myself, Rick! Look at the chiseling; it has suffered from wear and exposure, but imagine what it looked like when new! Especially appealing, for something made in the second half of the 18th cent., are design elements harking back a century before. Note especially the cock, with its baluster-form stem and jaws that sit at an obtuse angle. Both it and the lockplate profile are so classically Iberian, unaffected by the Frenchification that crept into miquelet lock design in the 18th cent., especially in production for royal patronage.

Hi Philip.
Much agree. Even with the wear, it is still well marked and has a wonderful profile. Maybe Fernando can take a couple more pics of the lock as long as it's disassembled ? Would like to see the internals of the lock.
Rick

[Philip]

Originally Posted by rickystl

Hi Philip.
Much agree. Even with the wear, it is still well marked and has a wonderful profile.
Rick

There's something else I just noticed about the profile of the lockplate. It's the "wasp-waisted" shape that originated and which predominated throughout the 17th cent. in Spain and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies before the more streamlined French type plate virtually replaced it in 18th-19th cent. Madrid. However, note how the tail, with its rounded terminus, tilts downward at an angle.

This downward tail appears to be a Portuguese variant. There are at least seven examples on Portuguese patilha locks on guns in the exhibit catalog ESPINGARDARIA PORTUGUESA / ARMURERIE LIEGEOISE (Daehnhardt & Gaier, 1975), including a gorgeous chiseled example by Malaquias José da Costa. The da Costa lock, despite its late date (1820) and its English-style anti-friction rollers and Frenchified decorative motifs, is otherwise true to its Iberian roots, even to the long cock jaws at an obtuse angle, baluster stem, and otherwise very conservative proportions.

Looking over the published examples of Spanish locks with Ripoll and "provincial" style plates, I find that the tails tend to just stick out straight, with either rounded or triangular termini. (I'm becoming convinced that the square ends may be trans-Alpine, since you see just about all of these on Austrian or south German-made miquelets, but that's a topic for another thread).

Yes, Fernando, some pics of your lock detached from the gun will be welcomed!

[kronckew]

it looks like the new touch hole was fitted to the barrel and brazed into place with a high copper alloy, which is less destructive to the surrounding steel. obviously strong enough to survive this long. plug may have been loosely threaded & needed sealing in. as they say, necessity is the mother of invention.

[Fernando K]

Hello everyone

I think that the barrel was originally flint, and then a knapsack or pump was used to screw the chimney or nipple. In the second transformation, what was done was filing the masacote or bombeta, and the ear was left with a very large measure, the original perforation of the percussion. Look at the perfect limits of the filing, and as follows the original form of the masacote or bombeta.

Affectionately. Fernando k

[fernando]

Are we all speaking about the same thing using different terms ?


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[fernando]

Alright Gentlemen,
Attending to your request, here goes a new set of pictures; lock (both sides), stock mortise and battery.


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[Fernando K]

Dear namesake

The drum method requires a cylindrical piece, the smaller and more threaded front, which twists in the ear, enlarged to these effects. It ends with a square part, to be able to take it with a key and screw it, which is then eliminated. It DOES NOT REQUIRE WELDING, only a piece that is screwed.

The other method requires a soldering mass on the face of the barrel, coinciding with the primitive ear REQUIRES WELDING

In your barrel there are remains of the weld, outside the mass and this is just a welded sheet.

A hug. Fernando K

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Philip

There's something else I just noticed about the profile of the lockplate. It's the "wasp-waisted" shape ...However, note how the tail, with its rounded terminus, tilts downward at an angle... This downward tail appears to be a Portuguese variant ...

Do you mean like this other one made by XAVIER DOS REIS in 1758 ...

(From "Prestige de l'armurerie Portugaise")


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[Philip]

Originally Posted by fernando

Do you mean like this other one made by XAVIER DOD RES in 1758 ...

(From "Prestige de l'armurerie Portugaise")


.

Yes, exactly.

Your pistol has proved to be a very interesting thing on a number of counts! What a life it has led...

[rickystl]

Much agree. Great thread trying to unravel the mystery.

Rick