Hunting rifle from Finland

[Philip]

Originally Posted by daggpil

Pictures are taken before a gentle cleanup and rust removal.

Condition is untouched and thankfully not "restored" a real sleeper so to say.

Best Regards/Ulrik Sjöberg, Sweden

Truly remarkable that it got to your hands in "untouched" condition. If you do some more conservation work and light cleaning, please share pics of the result. Am especially interested in seeing what the inside of the lock looks like, how the trigger activates the sear.

I am researching the development of early snap flintlocks in Europe, and from what I see on the outside reflects a chain of technology extending from the Baltic to the Mediterranean (and ultimately to South Asia), linked to trade patterns and immigration. An interior view of your lock, which is clearly derived from flint antecedents, will be quite useful.

[daggpil]

Hello again,

I am on a business trip (believe it or not during this times) but I will provide pictures on inside of the lock and the trigger assembly as soon as gets home.

Meanwhile here are some pictures from a book by Bengt Lerviks from Finland. The depicted rifle hera are made by Johan Tarvonen and if I translate from Swedish "He was know for his ancient design of stock and lock"

My actual rifle is made by Leander Grönfors and he was trained in gunsmithing by Johan Tarvonen so they are almost identical.

I made contact with the author and bought all three books on this topic that he has published. I bought them directly from him for 60 euros.

The books are about hunting/seal hunting, life in general and of course the rifles and their makers. They are written in Swedish even though the author is from Finland.

For those of you that did not knew, Sweden and Finland were once one country for a span of 700 years, but we lost it to the russians in 1808. Therefor a quite big amount of Finns still speak Swedish especially in the coastal regions.

[daggpil]

Hello,

See some more pictures from inside of the lock and the trigger mechanism. Very simple yet effective.

Took new measurements on the barrel and it near 8 mm in the bore.

Best regards/Ulrik S

[Will M]

I've never seen one of these, interesting way of holding it and not the usual shoulder hold. About 31 calibre sufficient for deer at close range, I've killed deer with buckshot of smaller diameter with only one hitting a vital spot.
The lock too is quite interesting in its simplicity.

[Pukka Bundook]

Ulrik,

Thank you for showing this rifle!

I am very interested in this type, and find so very little in the way of photos or writings about them! (Finnish sealing and hunting guns/rifles)

That sear arrangement is incredibly Simple, but it is a Brilliant idea!

Could I ask to see a photo of the inside of the butt trap? and the inside of the lid?
Thank you again.
Must try and make one of these!

[Philip]

Originally Posted by Will M

I've never seen one of these, interesting way of holding it and not the usual shoulder hold. About 31 calibre sufficient for deer at close range, I've killed deer with buckshot of smaller diameter with only one hitting a vital spot.
The lock too is quite interesting in its simplicity.

The stock designed to rest against the cheek, not shoulder. Just like on German wheellocks, and most Far Eastern / Malay matchlocks.

The polygonal rifling is useful in a smaller bore like this. Considering the tendency for black powder combustion to foul a bore, cleaning should be a bit easier than with land-and-groove rifling which on early muzzle-loaders tends to be fairly deep and feature anywhere from 5 to 7 grooves.

[Pukka Bundook]

Philip,

Although this lock has the same horizontal sear as the locks you mention, I have never (in my sheltered life!) seen one so simply constructed!
Even on the earliest locks, like snapping tinderlocks, the sear has always been mounted using a pivot pin.
This one is really New to me.

[Philip]

Originally Posted by Pukka Bundook

Philip,


Even on the earliest locks, like snapping tinderlocks, the sear has always been mounted using a pivot pin.
This one is really New to me.

Here is an example of a very early (for a Spanish patilla-style miquelet), ca 1630, made in Brescia, Italy. It has both half- and full-cock sears but getting back to your comment, note that it is designed to work without needing a pivot pin. A stabilizing bracket on the lockplate is still necessary, though -- this is eliminated in the Finnish design.

[Raf]

Originally Posted by Pukka Bundook

Philip,

Although this lock has the same horizontal sear as the locks you mention, I have never (in my sheltered life!) seen one so simply constructed!
Even on the earliest locks, like snapping tinderlocks, the sear has always been mounted using a pivot pin.
This one is really New to me.

Just for the record here is another percussion lock with the same archaic sear mechanism.

[Philip]

Originally Posted by daggpil

Hello,

See some more pictures from inside of the lock and the trigger mechanism. Very simple yet effective.



Best regards/Ulrik S

Thanks, Ulrik. The essentials of this mechanism, i.e the action of an external spring on the hammer and the means of release from cocked position, can be traced to Central Europe, possibly south Germany or Bohemia of the second half of the 15th cent. First the primitive snap matchlock later refined by the Portuguese in India and carried to the Far East and Indochina / Malay Archipelago (where used until the 19th cent.) Then adapted to the first flint snaplocks such as used in Scandinavia and Russia, later the various "miquelet" locks of the Mediterranean countries whose design was introduced to places like Algeria and Ceylon.

From what I see there does not appear to be a safety (half-cock) position on the sear (the device that releases the hammer during firing). The sear and its long leaf spring on your lock are identical to the arrangement of the full-cock (primary) sear on the Spanish miquelet lock. But this Finnish one stands out as being even more elegant in its simplicity - just two parts, no need for a pivot pin, or a mounting bracket affixed to the lockplate as is the case with the Mediterranean counterpart. Very ingenious!