Rebounding serpentine?
OK, I went back through the archives - no luck. I remember reading about the concept, I think here in this forum, and then saw a photo of a lock that looked like it would do it, but I don't think the photo was here.
Just an interesting idea. My main interests are a ways away from matchlocks.
Since I can't find a photo, I'll try to describe it. Picture a serpentine with the mainspring on the outside of the lockplate bearing directly on the bottom end of the serpentine.
For the sake of discussion, the serp is facing forward - the match moves away from the shooter when the tricker is pulled.
The serp, past the pivot, has a foot angling back such that it is horizontal when the serp is down to where the end is just above the pan, and the end of the mainspring lays flat against the foot.
The foot extends forward of the pivot a bit, so if the serp continues down into the pan, the mainspring acts on this forward extension to lift the serp back up until the foot is laying flat on the spring.
One would adjust the position of the match to be just above the powder with the serp at rest.
Cock it, pull the tricker, and the momentum of the serp will carry the match right down into the powder, but the spring will lift it back to the rest position, with the end of the match not being snuffed out against the bottom of the pan.
Seemed reasonable to me at the time, but since I can't find any evidence, maybe I made the whole thing up.
OK, I went back through the archives - no luck. I remember reading about the concept, I think here in this forum, and then saw a photo of a lock that looked like it would do it, but I don't think the photo was here.
Just an interesting idea. My main interests are a ways away from matchlocks.
Since I can't find a photo, I'll try to describe it. Picture a serpentine with the mainspring on the outside of the lockplate bearing directly on the bottom end of the serpentine.
For the sake of discussion, the serp is facing forward - the match moves away from the shooter when the tricker is pulled.
The serp, past the pivot, has a foot angling back such that it is horizontal when the serp is down to where the end is just above the pan, and the end of the mainspring lays flat against the foot.
The foot extends forward of the pivot a bit, so if the serp continues down into the pan, the mainspring acts on this forward extension to lift the serp back up until the foot is laying flat on the spring.
One would adjust the position of the match to be just above the powder with the serp at rest.
Cock it, pull the tricker, and the momentum of the serp will carry the match right down into the powder, but the spring will lift it back to the rest position, with the end of the match not being snuffed out against the bottom of the pan.
Seemed reasonable to me at the time, but since I can't find any evidence, maybe I made the whole thing up.
