Yesterday daughter Liz drove me to London, in order that I might view Sotheby's forthcoming Arms and Armour Sale, and Bonham's Arms and Armour sale. It wasn't really Sotheby's viewing day, but Ann 'phoned Thomas Delmar and arranged a 'private viewing' for me; he is a good chap! Grandson Matthew joined me there to help (which he did, bless him), and after being offered, accepted, and imbibed a cup of tea, sat down to serious viewing. Must ask Tom what the tea was. It was delicious. Matt thought it was a red bush tea, but I drink that regularly, and I never had it so good as that! Eventually left a telephone bid on one lot - a rare Spanish 'fulminate lock' pistol, dated 1821. Hope we get it, but shan't be heartbroken if we don't - v. spensive. Had lunch at a nearby pub, then took a taxi over to Knight'sbridge, and viewed Bonham's Arms and Armour sale - massive - three major collections being broken up. Eventually left six (fairly optimistic) telephone bids. Hope to get one or two of them. Then back to Lizzie's old house (now occupied by two of her daughters and her grandaughter), where we had tea and a sandwich. At six thirty p.m. Lizzy drove us back to Suffolk. Rained all the way, but we made reasonable time, getting home at nine p.m. Found the viewing rather more tiring than of yore, but managed reasonably well to survive it! Very satisfying day. Slept well.
13 comments:
Is that a lock operated by the rapid compression of mercuric fulminate as used in percussion caps, Mike? I hope you get it, I'd love to see a photo of it if'n'ye do.
http://www.historicalfirearms.info/post/143132541702/forsyths-percussion-system-while-the-reverend/embed
See photos at above link. Forsyth’s Percussion System
While the Reverend Alexander John Forsyth was the first to successfully use fulminates as an ignition system he was not the first to experiment with chemical compounds for detonation. Earlier experimenters looked at fulminates as a replacement for black powder rather than as an ignition system. In April 1807, Forsyth patented his ignition system using fulminate in a lock system of his own design. Forsyth, a keen hunter, had read about earlier experiments with explosive chemicals by Edward Howard. In 1805, he began his own amateur experiments in order to shorten the time lag between the explosion of black powder in the pan and the ignition of the main charge in his fowling piece. By 1806, he was ready to demonstrate his new system to scientists including Sir Joseph Banks and Lord Moia, the Master General of Ordnance. Forsyth’s design used a refillable ‘scent bottle’ shaped magazine to prime the firearms lock with fulminate which then struck by a striker which was depressed by the weapon’s hammer. This removed the flash from the pan and decreased the ignition time of the firearm significantly. The magazine could hold enough fulminate for 25 shots With the British army locked in conflict with Napoleon on the continent the Master General of Ordnance was enthusiastic about the system which could decrease the army’s huge expenditure of black powder and retained Forsyth’sservices. Some £600 at least were invested in developing the system for military purposes and a scent bottle lock was developed and fitted to a Baker Rifle and another lock was developed for the three-pounder naval carronade. Tests with the early locks proved a failure and the Board of Ordnance did not continue the development. Forsyth, however, had taken the precaution of filling a patent to protect his lock designs - but not a specific recipe for the fulminate powder. He formed his own company Forsyth & Co. and began producing sporting guns with his lock design in 1808. Forsyth’s system, while delicate, proved to be practical for hunting and sports use. While the complexity and the corrosiveness of the fulminates undermined it in military applications where a simpler, more hardy design was needed. Following the forming of his company in 1808, the next decade saw Forsyth fight a series of court battles to defend his patent first against Joshua Shaw’s copper fulminate cap in 1816 and subsequently Joseph Manton’s tube-lock in 1818. This prevented the proliferation of percussion locks until 1821 when Forsyth’s patent expired. With the expiration of the patent progress could finally be made towards a more reliable percussion cap system in Britain while similar efforts were being made in Europe. It would not be until the late 1830s that military powers began to seriously consider the percussion system viable. With Austria adopting a fulminate tube lock system in 1838, the US officially adopted the percussion lock in 1841, the French in 1840, Prussians in 1839 and the British began the transition in 1836 with the Brunswick Rifle becoming Britain’s first percussion musket in 1837. Brunswick Rifles were first issued to riflemen in 1840 and in 1851 the Pattern 1851 Rifle Musket was adopted for all troops. Forsyth died in June 1843, aged 74.
Sources: 1. Percussion Guns & Rifles, D.W. Bailey (1972) 2. British Military Firearms 1650-1850, H.L. Blackmore (1969) 3. Handguns of the World, E.C. Ezell (1981)
Crowbard. Yes, but the lock also had a small magazine for the fulminate. Half cocking the weapon activated the magazine which deposited a small amount of fulminate in a pan below the hammer and covered the fulminate deposited. The weapon would then be cocked, the trigger pulled and the weapon fired. Sounds complicated but is in fact simple and reasonably safe. A similar detached Spanish lock is illustrated in H.J. Jackson's book - European Hand Firearms published in 1923.
P.s. If I get the lot, of course I'll let you have a photo, but high prices were being realised today at Bonham's, so it'll be a long shot as to whether I get the gun (please excuse obvious, and bad, pun.
You were pretty nifty at long shots in our younger days Mike; good luck to you! I seem to recall something about delivering a .303 bullet on target at nigh on 3 miles.... (probably from altitude with a following wind).
Crowbard - the old joke about 'hitting a house' would apply at that sort of distance, but yes it should be perfectly possible, given the Lee Enfield's sighting system, and especially so since (in the school O.T.C./ Army Cadet Corps) I'd manage to arm meself with a WW1 sniper's rifle which had very good sights andd a 'windage adjuster'.
P.s. See next entry - Friday.
P.s. Should have said (although you've probably spotted the fact)that the cocking and release action action of the pistol is based on the typically Spanish miquelet lock, with an external mainspring.
Very Impressive Mike, the Spanish gunsmiths had style. (As did the WOG Army Cadet Corps.) Was Dizzy a cadet?
Yes; but he had problems at annual cadet camp one year, which I had to help him out of. Won't put the story down here; it reflects very little credit on anyone concerned, and not really fit for general consumption. Will tell you all when next we meet, if I remember (or if I can remember it then)..
He always struck me as a most likeable chap, can't imagine anyone insensitive enough to create problems for him ~ but then, Wisbech had its seedier side in those days....
Wasn't in Wisbech. It was in a fairground near Felixstowe at the Annual Cadet camp. That should read high above a fairground............
Scary, Mike; you always were my hero....
Post a Comment