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Originally Posted by fernando
... Daehnhardt, by the way, told me in his exuberant manner that, he was certain that the manual safety catch you talk about, was the best safety cock system he knew.
(Attached one of such lock examples in one of my finest blunderbusses ... ex-Daehnhardt, by the way)
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Nando, thanks for the pic of your additional example, it certainly is a fine one!
I've also believed that Daehhardt's enthusiasm for the "Portuguese brake" is rather exuberant, perhaps tinged with a lot of national pride. My tendency is to agree with our friend
Udo, who says in his post that it doesn't seem to be better than the dog catch used elsewhere in Europe. If an advantage can be assigned to both, it's that they secure the cock by a means that is totally independent of the sear linkage, and thus could not possibly be deactivated by the trigger in the case of a worn or defective mechanism.
From the standpoint of the shooter's convenience and ease of operation, the
half-cock detents of the Spanish-style
patilla and the French flintlock are superior in that they can be engaged no matter what angle the barrel is held at, and in a one-hand operation. Although both locks have entirely different sear systems, the heart of the half-cock position is
having a sear engage a notch so deep as to prevent disengagement by the leverage exerted via the trigger. (miquelets have two separate sear noses, true flintlocks and their successors only one). In both cases, half-cock is also overriden automatically when the gun is discharged from full cock. The fact that on a well-made lock in good condition, these systems are quite secure is evident in their continued use on locks into the percussion and even as late as the early breechloading periods as long as guns were detonated with an external flint or by a hammer striking a cap or primer or firing pin. From the first half of the 17th cent. until over 2 centuries later, this is a considerable span of time for a relatively simple concept to remain current.