Matchlock pistols?

[Bob Riegl]

According to what I found in Pegler's book Powder & Ball Small arms---there are a few pages dedicated to a big pistol with English lock.It effectively is an fairly standard flintlock with the lockplate being rounded similar to a wheelock. But the frizzen and the pan work as a standard flintlock would. The lock exterior looks very different from standard more modern locks. The Cock and flint are very beefy, the frizzen spring looks familiar though the book says that the pan and frizzen were a one piece forging??? but there are other gee-gaws on the lock that are a mystery to me. I should imagine Master Robin might be more knowledgeable on this matter---however I thought I could share something from this book. :hmm:

 

[JV Puleo]

An "english Lock" is definately not a matchlock. It is an early form of true flintlock in that the battery (frizzen is actually a modern term) and pan cover are combined. The interior of the lock is quite different in that the sear acts laterally. Its difficult to descibe but its a lock that was obsolete by the end of the English Civil War - say by 1650. They feature an external buffer on the lockplate to arrest the travel of the cock. There are slightly later dog locks which look more conventional but also have the lateral acting sear. I recently had one out as I have a friend who owns three of the famous Dunster Castle muskets, one of which still has its original fish-tail butt.
I am very sceptical of the existance of european matchlock pistols, excepting real oddities like the Henry VIII pistol shields (which are also breech loaders) As some others have correctly suggested, the matchlock as a pistol makes no sense at all in the context of european warfare in the 16th and 17th centuries.
JV Puleo

 

[ChrisPer]

This is interesting. The look of the commercial Argentinian pistol shown above, its overall feel is more a wheellock-flintlock transition period style.
The idea is out there, but it is well recognised that European ones were not common. EG here Scroll to the bottom of this page And check the footnote - the Caliver on that page is based on McRory's 'Making a Matchlock'!

Now go to TRS Prints and Drawings page where we see Bob McCrory's prints are offered; and one is for TRS 623 wheellock pistol that looks a bit like the Argentinian matchlock.

I wonder if the maker has used the McCrory stuff alright, and grafted on a matchlock design to cover a gap he saw in what was offered 'out there'. Our own site members too have seen the gap and filled it for themselves, and had a lot of fun doing it!

 

[rickystl]

JV is right. The English Lock (also known as the Jacobian Lock) were basically updated conversions from Wheellocks and Snaphaunce locks. You can view both styles in the Rifle Shop Catalog.