Monday, October 20, 2014
Snaphance Locks
The first, made by a Mongolian blacksmith, is younger than I am. No date on the ornate Italian one, from a Twitter photo recycled by David Zincavage. But remember, the invention of the flintlock , in this form, dates back to almost 1600, and Cherkassov who published the drawing, called them "Primitive" in 1865...
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3 comments:
Primitive. Yes, well...
"Priceless as an artifact
But leaves you just as dead..."
Corb Lund —"Priceless Antique Pistol Shoots Startled Owner."
Jim Cornelius
www.frontierpartisans.com
The mechanisms on the Mongolian piece and the Cherkassov drawing are very interesting. Any idea why they use the strange trigger-tether mechanism instead of a normal sear? It does seem to simplify the design a bit and eliminate the need for a sear spring, which might help the cost of production for a country blacksmith using simple tools and techniques. The smith doesn't seem to have had much trouble making a pretty elegant-looking mainspring, though, and it seems like the drawbacks of the tether mechanism in terms of firing ergonomics would be significant, which makes me wonder whether the design might be the result of a lack of decent wood. I know that mortising a stock out for the sear mechanism on a rifle is considered to be a very ticklish job for gunsmiths, because it entails weakening the stock at a critical point, and that's when you're using maple. It occurs to me that whatever wood is available to provincial smiths in Mongolia may not hold up under the kind of wear a hunter would demand if you chopped a big mortise to hold whatever sear mechanism the smith could make.
Jim, I know that song (;-))
Proclus: food for thought. Remind me of yr email-- I have more photos for you to examine.
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