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FYI, I told them the day they posted it, that the description was wrong ... and they kinda dissed me ...
Oof, thats not great business. I never directly told them it was wrong, just put two and two together, when i saw the other gun. They confirmed the arquebus was unsprung, so i guess somewhere in the company there is miscommunication.
 
Hi Tob

I commissioned that horn. Was made by Larry Godkin in Arizona a few years ago. I think the pouch and horn look about right with guns from about the 2nd quarter of the 17th century. Or at least that was my goal. LOL

But I understand what you are saying. Maybe something from the first half of the 16th century ? See my next post. (To bad Michael is no longer with us - but is in spirit).

RickView attachment 177369
I just commissioned an interpretation of the horn in the Pavia painting from him. Here's hoping it turns out well lol.
 
Oh I so want to make one of these!
Must get some stuff cleared away first, and fix my stovepipe in my workshop.
Minus 40 C with wind chill so no place to work without some heat!

here's a bit newer style I made ages ago now.
the flattened horn is an original.
009.JPG
010.JPG
013.JPG
 
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John,
Did you send your prospective maker a photo to work off?
If so, which one?
I sent him the ones I reposted in this thread from your link.
16.2.2002. Frühestes bekanntes Pulverhorn, _1540-50.  0 kl.jpg

Bandeliere, Pulverhörner, 1525, Pavia.  1 Det.jpg


The main inspiration are the Pavia ones. Due to cost and practicality, we settled on a wood plug on the large end, with a copper nozzle off set to the large curve:
Copper stopper.jpg

Not a perfect replica, but the cost was decent and completion time should line up well with the matchlocks.
 
Oh I so want to make one of these!
Must get some stuff cleared away first, and fix my stovepipe in my workshop.
Minus 40 C with wind chill so no place to work without some heat!

here's a bit newer style I made ages ago now.
the flattened horn is an original.View attachment 179525View attachment 179527View attachment 179528
- 40C can get you in the mini ice age sprit of building matchlocks! Hopefully you do not have the corresponding famine and mass human tragedy.
 
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Thank you for the reply and photo John.
I was wondering if you would send him that top photo!
It's a Little later, but I do not think I ever saw a true Pavia style horn in any of Michael's posts. I do not think he actually owned one.
This will be an interesting project!
Re the Pavia horns, I was thinking a gravity shut -off. as in, press the slide up to open, and down to close, and gravity would help keep it closed.
I am not sure we will ever see a "live" Pavia horn! (Original that is!)
 
Thank you for the reply and photo John.
I was wondering if you would send him that top photo!
It's a Little later, but I do not think I ever saw a true Pavia style horn in any of Michael's posts. I do not think he actually owned one.
This will be an interesting project!
Re the Pavia horns, I was thinking a gravity shut -off. as in, press the slide up to open, and down to close, and gravity would help keep it closed.
I am not sure we will ever see a "live" Pavia horn! (Original that is!)
We are lucky a small handful of guns and paintings survive, but the accessories are certainly much harder. We went back and forth a bit trying to determine what the mechanism was even supposed to be. I believe the artist was actually at pavia*, but just like every modern reporter calls everything a Glock or AK, there is only so much trust you can have in the representation.

*I looked and cannot remember where I saw that.
 
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The top horn would have required an actual blacksmith and because im a newbie, I did not want to spend the several hundred dollars more and have the danger of an iron powder container while I figure out the match/tinder part.
 
- 40C can get you in the mini ice age sprit of building matchlocks! Hopefully you do not have the corresponding famine and mass human tragedy.
" When out of a night that was 40 below came dangerous Dan Magraw ! " A bit of Robert Service a sort of' frozen 'Kipling '.
Coldest I ever knew I shot a rifle was up at Mackenzie BC it was my Sunday off wasn't going to waste it , went out in a mates car to a gravel pit he kept the engine running shot my 451 8 times but by then I could barely grasp the stock it was 46 below F not counting wind chill factor. Still got the 451 & kept the Target .. A cap lock. Now if Ide been shooting Matchlock ide have some thing to warm me hands on ?,
Cheers Rudyard
 
" When out of a night that was 40 below came dangerous Dan Magraw ! " A bit of Robert Service a sort of' frozen 'Kipling '.
Coldest I ever knew I shot a rifle was up at Mackenzie BC it was my Sunday off wasn't going to waste it , went out in a mates car to a gravel pit he kept the engine running shot my 451 8 times but by then I could barely grasp the stock it was 46 below F not counting wind chill factor. Still got the 451 & kept the Target .. A cap lock. Now if Ide been shooting Matchlock ide have some thing to warm me hands on ?,
Cheers Rudyard
Having grown up somewhere without winter, it took me a while to appreciate why campaigns were not fought during winter.

That bone chilling bite I experienced the first time I lived somewhere else was certainly eye opening.
 
Sorry Granth, I have derailed your thread. I guess building is one way to get a matchlock though haha.
While looking for snapping matchlocks, I came across this one in the Hermitage:
View attachment 177934
Instead of having a lock plate, the sear and trigger spring is under the wood. Does anyone know how this works?

As a side note, it looks like a very promising candidate for an original matchlock with a black painted stock, which I was wondering about a couple of months ago.
This was actually a common alternative pushbutton tinderlock mechanism. The button trigger is activated with the left middle finger quite comfortably and without causing drift to the hold There is a flat spring behind the wood which extends back toward the breech from the button and releases the serpentine when pushed. By 1530 or so the mechanism was often attached to a narrow plate which was screwed tho the surface of the stock and eliminated the inlaying and woodwork. Have made and shot this type comfortably and effectively
Brian Anderson
 
This was actually a common alternative pushbutton tinderlock mechanism. The button trigger is activated with the left middle finger quite comfortably and without causing drift to the hold There is a flat spring behind the wood which extends back toward the breech from the button and releases the serpentine when pushed. By 1530 or so the mechanism was often attached to a narrow plate which was screwed tho the surface of the stock and eliminated the inlaying and woodwork. Have made and shot this type comfortably and effectively
Brian Anderson
Interesting that it is the middle finger that presses the button. Thanks for the info! All the ergonomic trial and error is one of the most fascinating parts of this era of firearms design.

I am planning a build of a gun with the lock-plate holding the button.
 
Interesting that it is the middle finger that presses the button. Thanks for the info! All the ergonomic trial and error is one of the most fascinating parts of this era of firearms design.

I am planning a build of a gun with the lock-plate holding the button.
Another one?The walnut Ive blanked out is really dense stuff , but comeing along the original I made has a stock pull leangth suiting a cheek or a shorter shoulder hold. I left it (the blank) 1&a half " longer it case you might want a longer pull what l' o' p. do you prefer ? can allways shorten it but for that matter could lengthen it . theres no butt plate.
Rudyard
 
Another one?The walnut Ive blanked out is really dense stuff , but comeing along the original I made has a stock pull leangth suiting a cheek or a shorter shoulder hold. I left it (the blank) 1&a half " longer it case you might want a longer pull what l' o' p. do you prefer ? can allways shorten it but for that matter could lengthen it . theres no butt plate.
Rudyard
I was already planning building one as a learning experience. Ill PM you about the rest of this.

My attempt at backyard gunsmithing will be light years behind the piece you are building haha.
 
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