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Spanish Miquelet Lock - New Addition

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For you miquelet lock buffs here is another addition to my lock collection I thought you all might like to see. I won this from the same auction as the Scandinavian lock previously posted. Nice, big miquelet lock for a Spanish fowler. Here is the original auction description:

"The lockplate engraved along the edges with floral decoration, a gold-inlaid crowned maker's mark "ANTONIO NAVARRO", and marked "EN MADRID" under the cock spring. The cock moderately decorated, the rear of the frizzen with repeated signature and marked "1779". A well maintained lock with intact mechanics. Length of lock plate 12.2 cm. Provenance: Christie's London, The W. Keith Neal Collection."

A visual inspection shows the auction description to be accurate. The lock is very well made and functions flawlessly, and shows very little usage. The decoration is done well but not over-done. Very happy with this one. Picture heavy to give you an idea of the quality from the old masters.

Rick
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Wow! Absolutely wonderful lock and pictures! I didn't know the Spanish used a 'b' for a 'v'; the Irish I understand use a B with a V sound. Does the crown indicate Senor Navarro was a maker to their majesties? It's unfortunate no one makes a decent miquelet lock for us less talented to build a working man's escopeta at a reasonable price. Nevertheless, I might have to use my smooth bored Springfield barrel to build one. Some of my family geneology on my mother's side goes back to Phillip ll, so I need to make one to celebrate my Spanish ancestors. Thank you, Rick, for sharing your find. Of course my wife will want to know why I'm stuck in the workshop again, and spending money on say WHAT? LOL!
 
Hi Treestalker

Here is a response from a collector friend that I consider an expert with Spanish locks. Might answer your first two questions:

"Provenance: W Keith Neal is the author of Spanish Guns and Pistols (1955), a pioneering reference on the subject in English and unsurpassed until James D Lavin's A History of Spanish Firearms a decade later.

The maker: Antonio Navarro (Nabarro in the spelling of the era) flourished in the 1790s and started out as a student of court gunsmith Miguel de Zegarra. On barrels, his countermark is a sailing ship, below the punzón seen on the plate of your lock

The lock: very good design and craftsmanship, worthy of Navarro's status on the short list of esteemed Madrid gunsmiths compiled by Isidro Soler, who along with Nicolás Bis who had quasi-legendary status in the trade."

About the only way you can get an escopeda is to order a kit from TRS, and have the lock assembled by someone familiar with miquelet locks. Not easy to find.
The one big problem working on these miquelet locks is that none of the current mainspring vises for flintlocks work with these locks. The original vises are extremely rare and are completely different. Actually made in different sizes depending on the size of the mainspring. But there is a guy who currently makes a flintlock vise that only lives an hour away from me that I think I've convinced to make me one, or more. That way we can try the prototype with the different locks in my collection.

Rick
 
Though my experience with Miguelets has been mostly with Islamic ones I have been happy with the pieces that I've made up in their style . If one being probably Algerian and not the fine quality of best Spanish . I mated it with an old 16 bore barrel in Border guard escopeta fashion mostly to put into context an original well worn baldrick hook and stocked it in the Catalonian style. Interesting post .
Regards Rudyard
 
Ok. I’m going to try to make a mainspring vise for my 2 miquelets. Dug out some scrap steel. Stay tuned.....
 
Hi Sam

I can help you a bunch here I think. I hope this PDF will reproduce here. If not, please PM me with your direct email address and I will send same to you. This is the only printed information I've ever been able to locate on these rare vises. It is from an article in the August 1966 American Rifleman Magazine. It was graciously mailed to me by a fellow Forum member. (Thank you Bill!!!).

Rick
 

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Here is a photo of a plain vise that was sold at auction a couple years ago (I was too late to notice it). I recall it sold for $400.00. But it's the same basic design as shown in the above article.

Rick
 

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Hi Sam

Glad you could get the information. Let us know how it turns out. I notice the vises in Lavin's article have more of a T shaped handle. This seems to me to make more sense than a thumb piece in view that the mainsprings on miquelet locks tend to be stronger - and especially Ottoman styles which are much stronger. But even in the last photos you will notice how large that thumb piece is.

Rick
 
Mine will be not as fancy as the ones in the pictures. With a bolt to screw the clamp down with a socket or wrench
 
A picture I hope...
 

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I made it to hook on the back of the mainspring, as forward of it would not let the cock down far enough to let the spring tension off of it. It’s just a rough prototype for now. I’ll make a fancy one later.
 

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