With reference to yesterday's 'Mystery Object', here is a photograph showing a small ivory plate behind the breech end of the barrel tang. It is engraved (En suite with the other ivory mounts on the gun) with the initials U. M., presumably the maker of the weapon, or (just possibly) the owner's initials, and the date 1662, again presumably the date of the weapon's manufacture. The weapon appears to have been made in what is now Austria (or Germany); and, although the date is perhaps a little later than might have been expected, the people of that area tend to be rather conservative in their working practices. Any further questions, please ask, and I will give the answers (if I know them).
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P.s. I should add that, given this is a smooth bored long gun, of small bore, it was almost certainly made, as has already been guessed, as a 'birding piece'. I think the many engravings of birds on the ivory mounts of the gun confirm its purpose.
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