The photo of the above two pistols have something in common (and in other ways are very different. This is a sort of Mystery item entry. Ideas please ?
Dear Mags. Yes, well spotted. That is the point. They are both snaphaunce pistols. Their action is identical. But they are different in that the longer one is much the earlier, and it is of Anglo Dutch origin. The smaller one is of mid eighteenth century Italian origin, where the snaphaunce system was used until a much later date than in most of Europe.
Dear Mags. Yes, well spotted. That is the point. They are both snaphaunce pistols. Their action is identical. But they are different in that the longer one is much the earlier, and it is of Anglo Dutch origin. The smaller one is of mid eighteenth century Italian origin, where the snaphaunce system was used until a much later date than in most of Europe.
Well done Maggles, I hadn't got around to embigening the pictures yet; not sure I would have known this one. I vaguely recall the snaphaunce as being a development from the wheel-lock but the details escape me for the moment....
Hello Crowbard. The snaphaunce lock (arguably- but generally accepted) followed the wheel lock, as a spark producing lock. The weellock used a prewound spinning wheel with iron pyrates screwed into the doghead as a spark producer, in much the same way as a modern cigarette lighter still does. The snaphaunce used a spring powered doghead; it was rather like the true flintlock, but a bit more complicated in that the steel (or frizzen) was separate from the sliding pan cover, which slid forward, simultaneously with the fall of the cock, pushed by an internal rod. It's an odd thing, but whenever a new item is invented, we tend to first use a very complicated method which is then simplified over time, rather than using a simple, straightforward device which then becomes more complicated as it is refined and developed. Not sure that this will help, but it's the best I can do!
P.s. To Crowbard :- The Mags who got the correct answer is not sister Margaret, but the wife of an arms and militaria dealer, who I've known longer than either of us would like to specify, but you'll get the idea when I tell you that he used to come over to Welney to buy from me about fifty years ago.
10 comments:
The upper pistol is labeled by the trigger-guard, the lower by the cock-screw.
So both are labeled but in different locations.
Crowbard - I'm sorry to have to say this -but- NO Marks.
Are they Snaphaunce?
Dear Mags. Yes, well spotted. That is the point. They are both snaphaunce pistols. Their action is identical. But they are different in that the longer one is much the earlier, and it is of Anglo Dutch origin. The smaller one is of mid eighteenth century Italian origin, where the snaphaunce system was used until a much later date than in most of Europe.
Dear Mags. Yes, well spotted. That is the point. They are both snaphaunce pistols. Their action is identical. But they are different in that the longer one is much the earlier, and it is of Anglo Dutch origin. The smaller one is of mid eighteenth century Italian origin, where the snaphaunce system was used until a much later date than in most of Europe.
That's brilliant Mike, How on Earth do you manage to remain anonymous on your own blog????
Well done Maggles, I hadn't got around to embigening the pictures yet; not sure I would have known this one. I vaguely recall the snaphaunce as being a development from the wheel-lock but the details escape me for the moment....
Hello Crowbard. The snaphaunce lock (arguably- but generally accepted) followed the wheel lock, as a spark producing lock. The weellock used a prewound spinning wheel with iron pyrates screwed into the doghead as a spark producer, in much the same way as a modern cigarette lighter still does. The snaphaunce used a spring powered doghead; it was rather like the true flintlock, but a bit more complicated in that the steel (or frizzen) was separate from the sliding pan cover, which slid forward, simultaneously with the fall of the cock, pushed by an internal rod. It's an odd thing, but whenever a new item is invented, we tend to first use a very complicated method which is then simplified over time, rather than using a simple, straightforward device which then becomes more complicated as it is refined and developed. Not sure that this will help, but it's the best I can do!
P.s. To Crowbard :- The Mags who got the correct answer is not sister Margaret, but the wife of an arms and militaria dealer, who I've known longer than either of us would like to specify, but you'll get the idea when I tell you that he used to come over to Welney to buy from me about fifty years ago.
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