A fine Nuremberg matchlock Landsknecht harquebus, dated 1539

[Matchlock]

At the Museum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck/The Tyrol.

The non-presence of a pan denotes that the barrel was originally stocked together with

- either a matchlock mechanism with integrally riveted pan

or

- a wheel-lock mechanism.

The present stock is a 19th century reconstruction; while its form seems quite correct the wood is not. It is pinewood whereas heavy pieces were originally stocked mostly in oak and sometimes in ash.

Michael