Snaphaunce Musket Build

[Erzulis boat]

Here are some photos of the Snaphaunce Musket that I built from a TRS set of castings years ago. I posted the fresh build on this forum back then, but at that time it was an unfired arm.

I have since shot it, and it definitely does work! Very smooth trigger pull, with a positive but virtually silent cock fall. Sparking capacity is no less than any of my other reliable Flintlocks.

It no longer is "armory bright" and has an honest patina. No artificial aging here.

I will post some more pics of the entire thing soon.

 

[Erzulis boat]

I used Claro walnut, it's very easy to work, and has great figure. Making the lock was extremely fun, and getting the springs to become springs wasn't bad at all. I did mess up the safety catch spring, but made another in short order.

Due to metallurgical constraints of the time, everything was "oversized" by todays standards. The mainspring is a beast, but due to the mass of everything else, it does the job without any undue force.

If I am smart, I will order some more lock castings of various arms from TRS, and wait patiently.

ETA- I built this arm in 2011.......................time flies!

 

[Baxter]

Wow! That is gorgeous! Thanks for posting the photos, and would you be willing to post more - a top-down view of the lock in particular? TIA.

 

[Erzulis boat]

In the last picture, you can see the anchor point for the frizzen pivot. I did "cheat" a little, and installed a hidden bushing that positively stops the screw from over tightening, or loosening. This made the frizzen action very nice and predictable. It took some work to get it to kick over perfectly, but this was just a matter of getting the 2 lobes to work in conjunction with the frizzen spring.

 

[Erzulis boat]

I tried my best to not over do things by excessive polishing and the like.

As you can see, it's really easy on flints. Getting the frizzen angle and hardness wasn't too hard. I heat treated nice and deep, this isn't a case hardened frizzen. A testament to how good this design was in antiquity.

 

[Baxter]

Thank you for the additional photos; I've never seen a snaphaunce lock up-close, so this is a real treat for me. You've done some marvelous work, the entire musket is beautiful, and fascinating as well.
Will you explain how the trigger is "hung", please?

 

[Carbon 6]

That is a beautiful gun.

 

[Erzulis boat]

Thank you for the additional photos; I've never seen a snaphaunce lock up-close, so this is a real treat for me. You've done some marvelous work, the entire musket is beautiful, and fascinating as well.
Will you explain how the trigger is "hung", please?

Thanks. There is a vertical bar that pivots very high in the stock (this is the trigger). You can see the end of the pin above the rear of the lock. The sear runs sideways, and has a hardened protrusion that goes into the side of the cock. It was a little unsettling at first, as it really depends on that protrusion to do it's job. It is not as forgiving as the more "modern" sear/tumbler setup that proceeded it.

 

[dd832]

Excellent photos Erzulis boat and a great build also!

I found a photo in my files of the trigger installation. The photo is from a wheelock build, but the snaphaunce lock uses the same trigger setup as the wheelock -

To Baxters question the space in the stock behind the trigger pivot is where the horizontal sear is located and the back of the trigger pushes directly against the horizontal sear when the trigger is pulled. In the first photo that Erzulis posted you can see his trigger pivot pin above the rear section of his lock.
Mike

 

[Baxter]

Thank you Erzulis boat and dd832. I am impressed with the planning and labor involved in getting the trigger placed properly.

 

[rickystl]

That is a great looking early English Fishtail musket. Outstanding job of building also. Congrats.
I just happen to have the same TRS Snaphaunce lock (only) in finished form. Has not been mounted to a gun yet. It has an interesting safety feature on the tail of the lock plate. That horizontal sear/trigger arrangement is also used in miquelet locks.
Again, wonderful looking Snaphaunce musket.
Rick

 

[Heelerau]

Mate you have done a magnificent job on that musket. I hope another chap here , Rudyard gets to see this thread, he is a great lover and creator of early ignition systems.

 

[Commodore Swab]

I built one for my Mom a number of years ago, the lock was built when I got it and I did a fair bit of work on it to stop crushing rocks.
Currently Im working on another snaphaunce.

 

[hawkeye2]

Fantastic, I really like it!

 

[Teleoceras]

Erzulius:

That is a really beautiful Snaphaunce! Thanks for sharing!

 

[spudnut]

Buddy of mine built the same lock, he loves his, It really is a smooth action

 

[toot]

a great piece!!

 

[Rudyard]

Looks good to me I might have gone for the period roughness tool marks visible ect but that's just my tastes , its fine and a credit to its maker. Regards Rudyard

 

[rickystl]

Again, great job of building. For those interested, here are some pics of the same lock. This one was completed by TRS but not polished out yet. Shows the details of the internals with the horizontal sear.

Rck

 

[Canute Rex]

One of the cool things about a snaphaunce is that you can see the remaining influence of the wheellock on the mechanism. It still has the horizontal "seesaw" double sear and the sliding pan cover.

Elegant job on this one, Ricky.