Do you really think this is a genuine object? I feel like we would need to see the breech and barrel tang section. The octagonal barrel with its smooth surface could also be reused from a heavy wheellock or matchlock musket of ca. 1600 and may have been cut down to its present shape.
Also, I do not trust the stock either; the belly butt indicates a style of ca. 1640-50 (not 1730) and additionally is of improper proportions. Moreover, the raised rim running around the lock plate that was characteristic to the stocks of all firearms after the mid-17th c. is missing here.
The mere fact that the gun is in a museum nowadays does not prevent it from being a fake. On the other hand, it might be the crude work of some poacher ...
Best,
Michael
|