MacRob46
45 Cal.
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2007
- Messages
- 643
- Reaction score
- 36
I am going out on a limb here, but not too far, by saying that I do not think that is a 17th c. Scottish gun. As you may know, only 27 reliably dated 17th c. Scottish National long guns are known to exist and this particular gun does not resemble any of those other than it is a snaphaunce with a ball trigger. Without getting into a lot of laborious detail, these are the reasons I feel this way. 1. The butt stock does not resemble the style of most known Scottish National guns. Most of these guns, like the one which Carp shows in his post, have a graceful paddle butt stock, usually with carved flutes. That is not universal among the 27 surviving guns but all of them do have a grace that is lacking in this piece. 2. It looks like there were barrel bands on the stock at one time and one remains at the muzzle. Barrel bands, while not completely unknown in the 17th c., were not found on Scottish National pieces. Most long guns in that century were secured with pins or keys. Even the Breadalbane gun, with its 67 inch barrel, has pins rather than bands 3. The decorations on the stock are crude and have no counterpart on Scottish long guns. Ditto for the stamping on the barrel. 4. The lock is in very good condition compared to the condition of the gun over all. The inletting for the lock is crude as are the lock nails. The lock has no maker's name, initials or date or engraving which virtually excludes it as a product of one of the makers of Scottish National style long guns. The battery looks cast rather than forged then filed to shape. The lock plate, while really not too long for a Scottish piece, does not have the usual quality of filed decorative finial on the tail. 5. The steel ramrod, which has already been mentioned, is an aberration in a 17th c. gun. They were still using wood in those days. 6. The ball trigger appears to be one piece (possbily cast). Ball triggers on Scottish long guns and pistols were made with a theaded shaft onto which the ball was screwed.
Now, I suppose you could opine that this gun was a military musket rather than made for the civilian market. However, the decoration of the stock and barrel, crude as it is, would not support that theory.
IMHO this is probably a N. African or Middle Eastern gun made long after the 17th c. It could also be from the Balkans area. I believe, given the extreme rarity of Scottish National guns, that if this were a 17th Scottish long gun it would be in a museum right now. There are far too few of these guns around to have escaped the notice of serious collectors or museum staff. Some sort of provenance for the piece would answer a lot of questions.
Now, I suppose you could opine that this gun was a military musket rather than made for the civilian market. However, the decoration of the stock and barrel, crude as it is, would not support that theory.
IMHO this is probably a N. African or Middle Eastern gun made long after the 17th c. It could also be from the Balkans area. I believe, given the extreme rarity of Scottish National guns, that if this were a 17th Scottish long gun it would be in a museum right now. There are far too few of these guns around to have escaped the notice of serious collectors or museum staff. Some sort of provenance for the piece would answer a lot of questions.