Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - interesting breech-loading petronel-looking for additional info

Matchlock · 14th April 2014, 01:08 PM

Hi Ahtagot,

Humbly guessing that I am that certain person Marcus alluded to, I will do my best.

All the b/w photos of 1967 you posted show guns that are preserved in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg (GNM), inv.no. W 412. The inventory states that its provenace was the armory at Veste (fortress) of Coburg in Northern Bavaria.
The photo at the bottom also depicts the same GNM petronel, not a sample from the Historisches Museum Dresden.

The first attachments accompanying this post are photos of that very same gun, W 412; I took them in 1987.

The gun you are inquiring about is a 'military' breechloading matchlock petronel indeed.

Please see my thread
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...breech-loading

It can be dated to ca. 1590-1600 and was made in Suhl/Thuringia, Germany. The shape of the lock plate and, especially, of the serpentine (match holder), with its head engraved as a stylized smiling sea monster, both are characteristic of the Suhl style of manufacture.
The locksmith's mark, the initials VR above a hammer and two stars, is identified as 'Old' Stockel, Haandskydevaabens Bedømmelse, #4714.
A former small iron reinforcing mount is missing from the forestock below the muzzle; otherwise the blackened full stock had, due to his early date, no iron mounts. I cannot make out the kind of wood as no grain is visible but walnut would be typical of the second half of the 16th century, while beechwood was normally used by ca. 1600.
The term petronel traces back to the French poitrine, meaning that the buttstock was downcurved heavily and intended to be held before the arquebusier's breast when fired.
The long and slender tiller trigger, curved to follow the shape of the buttstock, is missing from the GNM petronel but is preserved on another, amost identical specimen that still is in the collections of the Veste of Coburg - see last two attachments.
As we know of two petronels we may assume that originally a small series of these breechloading matchlock muskets was oviously ordered in Suhl by the Coburg armory to equip a small number of 'elite' arquebusiers/musketeers.
And here is what the loading procedure was like:
The rear sight on the barrel was spring loaded and, when pushed backwards, allowed the breech section of the barrel to snap open (the long single-armed leaf spring is now incomplete). A paper cartridge was taken from a patron:

please see my thread
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=patron

The arquebusier/musketeer opened the cartridge with his teeth, took the lead ball and shoved it into the barrel; then the powder was poured from the cartridge into the open breech, with a small portion filling the igniting pan, and the breech was shut and bolted. Maybe the paper was crumbled and put in the barrel first, before the ball, just to prevent the latter from rolling out when the gun was lowered.
Of course, and technically speaking, the ramrod of breech-loading guns actually was a cleaning rod.

This principle of breechloading was kept almost unalteredly through four centuries of the black powder era but was inherently bound to cause considerable gas loss. This problem was the main reason why opening the breech never made it to the 'maturity phase' and was limited to very few pieces, no matter what principle of ignition it was used with respectively.

Author's photos.

Best,
Michael

14th April 2014, 01:08 PM	#5
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	Hi Ahtagot, Humbly guessing that I am that certain person Marcus alluded to, I will do my best. All the b/w photos of 1967 you posted show guns that are preserved in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg (GNM), inv.no. W 412. The inventory states that its provenace was the armory at Veste (fortress) of Coburg in Northern Bavaria. The photo at the bottom also depicts the same GNM petronel, not a sample from the Historisches Museum Dresden. The first attachments accompanying this post are photos of that very same gun, W 412; I took them in 1987. The gun you are inquiring about is a 'military' breechloading matchlock petronel indeed. Please see my thread http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...breech-loading It can be dated to ca. 1590-1600 and was made in Suhl/Thuringia, Germany. The shape of the lock plate and, especially, of the serpentine (match holder), with its head engraved as a stylized smiling sea monster, both are characteristic of the Suhl style of manufacture. The locksmith's mark, the initials VR above a hammer and two stars, is identified as 'Old' Stockel, Haandskydevaabens Bedømmelse, #4714. A former small iron reinforcing mount is missing from the forestock below the muzzle; otherwise the blackened full stock had, due to his early date, no iron mounts. I cannot make out the kind of wood as no grain is visible but walnut would be typical of the second half of the 16th century, while beechwood was normally used by ca. 1600. The term petronel traces back to the French poitrine, meaning that the buttstock was downcurved heavily and intended to be held before the arquebusier's breast when fired. The long and slender tiller trigger, curved to follow the shape of the buttstock, is missing from the GNM petronel but is preserved on another, amost identical specimen that still is in the collections of the Veste of Coburg - see last two attachments. As we know of two petronels we may assume that originally a small series of these breechloading matchlock muskets was oviously ordered in Suhl by the Coburg armory to equip a small number of 'elite' arquebusiers/musketeers. And here is what the loading procedure was like: The rear sight on the barrel was spring loaded and, when pushed backwards, allowed the breech section of the barrel to snap open (the long single-armed leaf spring is now incomplete). A paper cartridge was taken from a patron: please see my thread http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=patron The arquebusier/musketeer opened the cartridge with his teeth, took the lead ball and shoved it into the barrel; then the powder was poured from the cartridge into the open breech, with a small portion filling the igniting pan, and the breech was shut and bolted. Maybe the paper was crumbled and put in the barrel first, before the ball, just to prevent the latter from rolling out when the gun was lowered. Of course, and technically speaking, the ramrod of breech-loading guns actually was a cleaning rod. This principle of breechloading was kept almost unalteredly through four centuries of the black powder era but was inherently bound to cause considerable gas loss. This problem was the main reason why opening the breech never made it to the 'maturity phase' and was limited to very few pieces, no matter what principle of ignition it was used with respectively. Author's photos. Best, Michael Attached Images Last edited by Matchlock; 14th April 2014 at 07:56 PM.