Escopeta, anyone?

[Gustavo Hoefs]

Hi, Thank you for the reply I have Spanish ancestry too! I see you are in Spain I would like to ask/assume are there some examples of Spanish guns in museums near you? Thank you for the book titles I will see if there are copies at the library here. I am guessing the book titles you provided have information about gun makers from the former spanish colonies in South America, Carribean and Phillipines ?

 

[Loyalist Dave]

The 1757 Spanish Musket was probably one of the finest firearms of the 18th century military. Incorporating several features that increased durability, as well as reducing cost of production.

Similar to the French musket, the Spanish 1757 used barrel bands, but the Spaniards used brass bands. Easier and cheaper to produce, while at the same time allowing for a more thorough upkeep away from an armory setting. In fact all of the exterior hardware was brass, reducing cost and easing production compared to the French muskets in steel and the British Dublin Castle LLP musket.

The Spanish lock had a cock with a very wide jaw, providing better hold on the flint, AND had a wide ring atop the jaw screw, simplifying tightening and untightening the flint. The Spanish frizzen was grooved lengthwise, which ensured over time due to wear that portions of fresh steel were being impacted by the flint, and the grooves reduced friction which then gave the flint (or chert, or even a piece of quartz) more velocity against the steel at the end of the impact increasing odds of a good spark. While not absolute, such a design does have a good chance of increasing flint life..., a good feature for an infantry private in combat or posted at a remote place around the globe.

The caliber was .69, which like the French gave excellent muzzle velocity while reducing the lead requirement (compared to British, Dutch, and Germanic muskets of the period).

Alas, Pedersoli doesn't produce the Spanish musket these day, and theirs had some flaws. Middlesex Village Trading Company does offer them from time to time, but I don't know if they have the important grooved frizzen feature. Parts are also available from the The Rifle Shoppe, Inc.

LD

 

[Grandpa Ron]

I saw one at the Western Nationals in AZ.

Quite a unique lock.

The reason you do not see too many is the parts are not readily available and there is not a lot of Spanish reenactment out side of the South West.

 

[BillinOregon]

Here is a miquelet lock hand made by our own Wulf, of this forum.



Hermanoshawken, glad to see a comment by a Spaniard on the wonderful Spanish firearm legacy.
Dave, I wonder what it would take to get Pedersoli to consider correcting and reintroducing the 1757. They have been willing to make changes in other arms to achieve more authenticity.

 

[rickystl]

Yes, there doesn't seem to be the interest in the Spanish guns as compared to their British and French counterparts. (Even the German guns get less than these two). Maybe it's just due to historical preferences (?).
Anyway, here is a pic of the 1757 Spanish Infantry Musket - an exact copy made in Spain.
Also, an original Spanish Carbine/Escopeda in shooting condition. I've generally thought Escopeda was refering to a short carbine.
Rick. :hatsoff:

 

[Black Jack]

Ricky -- Those are mighty attractive pieces. Who, pray tell, was the Spanish maker?

 

[Grandpa Ron]

Yes that is similar to what I saw at the western.

What does a lock like that cost?

They are certainly unique.

 

[George]

Hermanoshawken, I have a Portuguese book, Espingarda Perfeyta, which has discussions and pictures of several styles of Portuguese locks from the mid-17th to the mid-18th centuries. Are the Portuguese locks from that period similar to the Spanish locks?

Spence

 

[wulf]

It doesn't cost anything if you make it yourself.
I use the the catalog to see what a lock looks
like and saw it out....Don't have to wait a year
Wulf

 

[Canute Rex]

I saw the gunmaker Brian Anderson at a shoot last week and he was using an Escopeta he had made using a Rifle Shoppe lock parts kit. He said that the parts were so poorly cast that he almost gave up on the project but then decided to do it as "a dare." He did it well and it seemed to work for him.

A couple things about that lock that Brian explained to me:

The flint/frizzen geometry has the flint striking at a 90 degree angle instead of the down slope on a later flintlock. That meant less effectiveness so the makers compensated by grooving the frizzen.

The sear is a sort of horizontal shelf that sticks out through the lock plate and holds the hammer up. The trigger pull has a long slide as the shelf retracts before the break. It takes some getting used to.

Nice looking gun all around, but then it's a Brian Anderson piece.

 

[wulf]

I don't have any of the problems you mentioned.
Trigger pull is short and easy and sparks very
well, with flints lasting forever [almost] The
groves in the frizzen I think they believed would
direct the sparks straight down, which mine do with
out fail...very dependable.
Wulf

 

[rickystl]

Black Jack: See below.....for the 1757

It is a replica of the Spanish musket Model 1757, manufactured in Eibar in 1983. The gauge is the original, (0.716), equivalent to 12 bore. Greater than the French muskets of the time (0.69), and lower that the British Brown Bess (0.75). The weapon was manufactured by MENDI and is of good quality. It is a highly sought in Spain for reenactment "Independence War" (1808-1812) against Napoleón Bonaparte.

 

[rickystl]

Hi Spence.
The Portugese locks generally look similar except the mainsprings are mounted internally. And often with a dog style safety mounted in FRONT of the hammer.
Rick. :hatsoff:

 

[rickystl]

Hi Wulf.
If I tried making a lock like that I'd just end up with a big glob of metal. LOL!! :haha:
Rick

 

[wulf]

Hi Ricky.....your doing just fine as you are.....
Wulf

 

[spudnut]

I remember Dixie gun works selling that type of lock for ten bucks back in the eighties. Muzzleloader mags Pesckunk Larrabee had a short one built and did a story about it .I believe Kit Ravinshear built it for him.very cool little smoothie

 

[Rokon]

Probably the best book on antique Spanish firearms
in English is W. Keith Neals's "Spanish Guns and Pistols"

For a long period Spanish barrels were in great demand throughout Europe because they didn't "burst". Also the Miquelet lock, because the working parts were exposed was more easily maintained and repaired in the field than the flintlock as we know it.

The Miquelet lock soldiered on into the 20th Century in the Middle East and parts of Asia.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Actually they found that the grooved frizzens are a good idea for a very reliable spark from cheap steel that is hardened. As the face wears there is always "fresh" amounts of steel available for impact, plus the friction is reduced to produce more sparks...or sparks from a questionable flint. Grooved frizzens were also found on some European box-lock concealed pistols. Perhaps because if one had to use it, it had to go off?

LD

 

[Artificer]

Weren't there also some grooved frizzens on Austrian, German and other "Dutch" muskets as well?

Gus

 

[Rokon]

The question then becomes "if grooved frizzens offer some advantages", why didn't they carry over to the mechanical design of the "French" flintlock?