Gun Lock for I.D.

[Matchlock]

Originally Posted by fernando

OTOH, i (humbly) find it hard that the word AUSTRIA in the lock plate would have been engraved in Austria ... specially considering that it is written in spanish (or portuguese, btw)

Hi 'Nando,

Thanks a lot for your additions and for confirming my opinion that there must have been close relations between Spain and Austria.

I am afraid though I could not put my last sentence the way to leave no doubt about what I meant to say. What I meant to say indeed is that the lock was certainly made in Córdova/Córdoba, Spain, but not signed by the maker intentionally because he made it for export to Austria and therefore just left a discrete hint to his place of origin in a rather hidden place, the frizzen. Instead, he put AVSTRIA visibly in the middle of the lock plate, as a reference to the country of destination. The Austrian gunsmith who stocked the gun would then have most probably signed the barrel.

Best,
Michl