A rather rustic blunderbuss

Matchlock · 22nd July 2012, 10:07 PM

Hi Norman,

I admit having to look up that cool saying:

"light the blue touch paper and retire immediately to a safe distance"

Best wishes,
Michael

M ELEY · 7th August 2012, 06:27 AM

Wow! Sorry I missed this great piece earlier, Fernando! I am NO expert on guns, but several things did jump out at me on this piece. The point, already discussed and pointed out, of the blacksmith quality of this piece (which, BTW, I find appealing rather than deterring) and the second is the wood used to make the stock. It appears to be wormy ash, if I'm correct? This type of wood was popular for pike shafts, particularly boarding pikes. I find it interesting that this piece was constructed so and leads me to suspect that it was perhaps made in one of the Portuguese colonies rather than the homeland? Why else would this blunderbuss on all accounts be as primitive as it is? Hard times and few materials meant rougher construction, as seen in the American colonies during the Revolution, Spanish colonial pieces, etc. Of course, I'd love to say that this could be a pirate piece (

) and it does strike me as colonial. Bluderbuss were popular sea weapons (used to discourage mutinies), although brass barrels were more typical.

spiral · 7th August 2012, 01:01 PM

Fascinating peace Fernando.

Wormy walnut rather than ash to my eye though.

Spiral

M ELEY · 7th August 2012, 01:24 PM

I do think you are right, Spiral. Walnut it is. Still, is this a common wood to use for stocks of this period?

Matchlock · 7th August 2012, 03:20 PM

Oh yes, 'Nando,

Walnut is the most commonly used wood for private guns throughout the late 17th to the 21st c., while military guns were mostly stocked in beechwood.

Best,
Michl

fernando · 7th August 2012, 06:32 PM

Thank you Mark, Jonathan and Michl; much obliged for your input.
Ironically the previous owner of this gun, despite being a man from the timber trade, didn't look at its stock with a keen eye. When i phoned him this morning, he didn't reject the ash probability but he favoured walnut.
He promised to have a professional look to it next time he comes around.
I appreciate your thoughts on this gun characteristics Mark. I see what you mean about its rusticity being of colonial provenance, but i would stand by a homeland work. Hard times also occurred over here during this period and blacksmiths in the interior of the country could admittedly used such simplicity methods, inherited from ancient traditions. Local blunderbuss production, by means of salvaged components, was a fashion in those days. I am rather surprised, and pleased, that this specific example appears to have all components consistent with eachother and typicaly Portuguese, instead of an 'international' clumsy cocktail, except for the lock, which is almost obliging.
Pity it doesn't seem to have belonged in a pirate gear, Mark

. But, who knows for sure ? A modest crew man wouldn't afford a luxury brass barreled piece, right

?

22nd July 2012, 10:07 PM	#1
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	Hi Norman, I admit having to look up that cool saying: "light the blue touch paper and retire immediately to a safe distance" Best wishes, Michael

7th August 2012, 06:27 AM	#2
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,141	Wow! Sorry I missed this great piece earlier, Fernando! I am NO expert on guns, but several things did jump out at me on this piece. The point, already discussed and pointed out, of the blacksmith quality of this piece (which, BTW, I find appealing rather than deterring) and the second is the wood used to make the stock. It appears to be wormy ash, if I'm correct? This type of wood was popular for pike shafts, particularly boarding pikes. I find it interesting that this piece was constructed so and leads me to suspect that it was perhaps made in one of the Portuguese colonies rather than the homeland? Why else would this blunderbuss on all accounts be as primitive as it is? Hard times and few materials meant rougher construction, as seen in the American colonies during the Revolution, Spanish colonial pieces, etc. Of course, I'd love to say that this could be a pirate piece ( ) and it does strike me as colonial. Bluderbuss were popular sea weapons (used to discourage mutinies), although brass barrels were more typical.

7th August 2012, 01:01 PM	#3
spiral Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,712	Fascinating peace Fernando. Wormy walnut rather than ash to my eye though. Spiral

7th August 2012, 01:24 PM	#4
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,141	I do think you are right, Spiral. Walnut it is. Still, is this a common wood to use for stocks of this period?

7th August 2012, 03:20 PM	#5
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	Oh yes, 'Nando, Walnut is the most commonly used wood for private guns throughout the late 17th to the 21st c., while military guns were mostly stocked in beechwood. Best, Michl

7th August 2012, 06:32 PM	#6
fernando (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,694	Thank you Mark, Jonathan and Michl; much obliged for your input. Ironically the previous owner of this gun, despite being a man from the timber trade, didn't look at its stock with a keen eye. When i phoned him this morning, he didn't reject the ash probability but he favoured walnut. He promised to have a professional look to it next time he comes around. I appreciate your thoughts on this gun characteristics Mark. I see what you mean about its rusticity being of colonial provenance, but i would stand by a homeland work. Hard times also occurred over here during this period and blacksmiths in the interior of the country could admittedly used such simplicity methods, inherited from ancient traditions. Local blunderbuss production, by means of salvaged components, was a fashion in those days. I am rather surprised, and pleased, that this specific example appears to have all components consistent with eachother and typicaly Portuguese, instead of an 'international' clumsy cocktail, except for the lock, which is almost obliging. Pity it doesn't seem to have belonged in a pirate gear, Mark . But, who knows for sure ? A modest crew man wouldn't afford a luxury brass barreled piece, right ?