l was approached last fall by a young man wishing to learn to build muzzleloading guns; He had little background using tools but had done extensive research in european museums on early arms.
He had a particular fascination with the earliest handheld, cheeckstock, sighted, snapping matchlocks circa 1480 - 1500. l hadn't ventured that early in my experimenting and had a couple of semi-appropriate, short, largebore barrels setting in a corner waiting for an excuse, so we had a project. We would each build one - side by side at the bench.
Intermittently through the fall and winter (interrupted for a couple of months by a shop fire) we built these two. Both are snapping matchlocks; the blockier one about 1500, the other 1515-35?.
The triggers are buttons on the side of the stock; one operated by the forefinger of the right hand and the other by the second finger of the left or forward hand (both are a comfortable access). Actually quite reliable and fun to shoot.
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