Lets see some Matchlocks!!!

[PGTMG]

Hello,

I am going to build a matchlock and would like to hear from people who have built or bought a matchlock. Stories about them or Pics would be great for inspiration.
thanks

 

[Leonredbeard]

P,
Search posts for my handle on the forum. You will find the thread of my matchlock. I would think the links to photobucket would still be current. Do know, however, that the lock is not totally correct.
volatpluvia

 

[Bubba45]

Ive built two from scratch , a 410 and a 12ga.. The 410 was a little feller with 25" barrel , myrtlewood stock from plank with rest of parts from scrap metal pile .

12 ga. was with a nice hunk of walnut and a 36" oct/rnd barrel with the rest coming from same scrap metal pile.

 

[PGTMG]

:bow: Wow they are beautiful. Do you target shot or hunt with either? What made you build on in 410?

Again wow

 

[Bubba45]

I built the 12 for a friend and the 410 for fun and digger squirrels sometimes when they get thick :grin:
410 was from a cast off Stevens centerfire barrel, total cost for parts was 15- 20 dollars.

 

[PGTMG]

Very nice I am pepared to give you 5 times what you have in it. :wink:

The are very nice. If mine turns out 1/5 as good I will be happy.

 

[PGTMG]

P,
Search posts for my handle on the forum. You will find the thread of my matchlock. I would think the links to photobucket would still be current. Do know, however, that the lock is not totally correct.
volatpluvia

It is very beautiful did you get it sighted in?

 

[Leonredbeard]

P,
Thanks! Yes, I basically got it sighted. That means I learned where it shot and held it accordingly. There is not much else one can do with no rear sight. It's fun to shoot. No one is shooting it right now. It is hanging on my daughter's wall in Pennsylvania while I am down here in Mexico.
volatpluvia

 

[PGTMG]

How did you give the lock the aged look?

Thanks
Paul

 

[PGTMG]

P,
Thanks! Yes, I basically got it sighted. That means I learned where it shot and held it accordingly. There is not much else one can do with no rear sight. It's fun to shoot. No one is shooting it right now. It is hanging on my daughter's wall in Pennsylvania while I am down here in Mexico.
volatpluvia

Thats a shame. I live in Silver Spring Maryland. Where are you about in Pennsylvania?

 

[Leonredbeard]

P,
I was in Leola, PA, Lancaster County. That's where our furniture is in storage.
volatpluvia

Oh, yeah, the matchlock is in Elizabethtown, PA.

 

[robinghewitt]

I have bits. The big one is a 1640 barrel restocked, possible as late as the 19th century, with a home made lock. The seperate brass lock is mid to late 15th century. The Japlock spent some years as percussion :thumbsup:

 

[PGTMG]

Did the japanese hip shoot thier matchlocks?

 

[robinghewitt]

Did the japanese hip shoot thier matchlocks?

Only in Samurai movies featuring John Wayne :wink:

 

[bioprof]

This is a copy of a German matchlock that I built a couple years ago:

It has a .75 caliber octagon to round barrel that I bought from Tennessee Valley Manufacturing. The only thing I wished that I had done different is to make the depression in the pan deeper. I tried to shoot it on a windy day and the priming kept blowing away before I could shoot it.

 

[PGTMG]

I would like to ask a few questions about your matchlock.

How long is the barrel?
Did you buy or make the lock (I am assuming made)
Did you shape the stock your self?

Thanks Paul

 

[bioprof]

Paul,

The barrel is 42" and I bought the wood from TVM. They inletted the barrel for me and drilled the ramrod hole, but I did the rest of the stock shaping myself. I also built the lock myself from scratch. Walnut or beech would probably be more PC, but I was going for cheap rather than PC. There are a few examples of matchlocks that were restocked in America in maple, but they probably weren't made that way originally. I guess I could have painted it. :hmm:

Here's a picture of the blank as received from TVM:

Here's a picture of the lock internals. It ain't pretty, but it works great.

I made the spring from a piece of window sash spring and the rest is mild steel. The spindle was made from a carriage bolt. I chucked the carriage bolt in my drill press and used a mill file to remove the threads. I then filed a couple of flats on the end of the bolt to hold the slotted lever arm (or whatever you call it). The rest was just cut out with a hack saw.

 

[bioprof]

Here's a picture of the pan:

With the flash guard, I don't even see the flash when I'm firing it.

 

[PGTMG]

Very Nice :bow: and the flash guard is a great idea. Do you shoot it much?

 

[bioprof]

Very Nice :bow: and the flash guard is a great idea. Do you shoot it much?

I've not shot it very often, but with a round ball and 60 grains of FFG, the recoil isn't even noticeable. It's a lot of fun to shoot. The only problem that I have had with it is one time when the wind was blowing really hard. It kept blowing the priming out of the pan. I need to get it out again to get it zeroed in on target.