Lefty38-55
Well-Known Member
Now Here's something that most of you will only see in a museum!
This started out as a research effort, then build, as I have dreamt about adding a shootable wheellock to my collection of muzzleloaders for years now. You know, as in the wheellock designed by Leonardo Da Vinci in the mid 1490s. He also conceived the idea for something like bicycle chain wrapped around a hub to transmit rotary motion into an axle, driven from the power of 'V'-shaped springs that were then the source of power in lock assemblies. And for Xmas a few years ago, well there was nothing else I really, really needed ... so I suggested to my wife that she buy me the early Germanic wheellock 'casting' set from The Rifle Shoppe. Beware - there are ROUGH kits!
For those who are not aware of the backstory, they found the original of this wheellock owned by the John Alden (of the 'Mayflower' of Plymouth, Mass colony fame in 1620) in the Alden family house back in 1974. It was hidden behind the wall in the house and they only discovered it when it was being remodeled. It came over on the Mayflower and had been made by Beretta – yes, that Beretta – in circa 1560.
The most crucial part, besides the inherent design itself, is in the proper heat-treating of the related parts, otherwise it will self-destruct. I succumbed to the belief that this was waaaaay above my pay grade and I had it completed by Brian Anderson of VT, a noted early firearms expert, as well as expert blacksmith and gunsmith. Brian said ..."If you send me that wheellock kit ... I'll build it right for you!"
True to his word he did and we collaborated on the stock design to mimic or borrow from the Alden 'Mayflower' carbine as originally made back in Italy, that now resides in the NRA museum as an FYI. But I guess you would call this the "boar hunting larger cousin" to the original Alden 'Mayflower' gun, as that stock would be totally unshootable for a modern-sized person, as it has a really short 10-1/2" length of pull, yikes!
Due to the size of the TRS Germanic lockplate we started with, as well as where the LOP on the original was totally impractical, we upsized it to be a 12-1/2" length of pull, with a 28-1/2" barrel and that bought the bore size up to 58-caliber, which began its life as a swamped Jaeger barrel. The stock is cherry, which fits nicely with early Italian arms. It has been 'aged' by a fake patina, just so you know, when you see the pictures.
Well, this completes one check off my muzzleloading 'bucket list'. The craftsmanship and workmanship of the lock action and stock by Brian is outstanding, this wheellock cycles like a fine jeweled watch! It uses pyrite (aka 'Fool's Gold') ground against the spinning wheel to create the spark; not harder flint like flintlocks use, that smash the rock into the frizzen (or steel it was called back then).
And now I have shootable BP arms representative of each ignition type and/or century from 1350 to ~1850, of hand gonne, matchlock, snaplock matchlock, wheellock, snaphaunce, miqulet, various flintlocks, and finally into the last of the flintlock lineage, an original inline-breech loading Hall flintlock rifle of patent date 1819. I finally end up with a Civil War era 58-cal Springfield percussion rifled musket ... but I really don't care for 'cap' guns, LOL. And yes, I hunt with all that I can - or am allowed (more later on this). And made most myself.
And I will say, with no pun intended, that wheellocks are simply a 'blast' to shoot! Now all ... please forgive me for posting this 'shorter' range BP arm, ahem ... on a 'long' range hunting forum, but when you think about it ... this carbine does provide for longer range than that of a trade fusil or smoothbore musket, right? Now all I need to do is seek special permsission from the various States that I muzzleloader hunt in, to make it legal for me to use ...
This started out as a research effort, then build, as I have dreamt about adding a shootable wheellock to my collection of muzzleloaders for years now. You know, as in the wheellock designed by Leonardo Da Vinci in the mid 1490s. He also conceived the idea for something like bicycle chain wrapped around a hub to transmit rotary motion into an axle, driven from the power of 'V'-shaped springs that were then the source of power in lock assemblies. And for Xmas a few years ago, well there was nothing else I really, really needed ... so I suggested to my wife that she buy me the early Germanic wheellock 'casting' set from The Rifle Shoppe. Beware - there are ROUGH kits!
For those who are not aware of the backstory, they found the original of this wheellock owned by the John Alden (of the 'Mayflower' of Plymouth, Mass colony fame in 1620) in the Alden family house back in 1974. It was hidden behind the wall in the house and they only discovered it when it was being remodeled. It came over on the Mayflower and had been made by Beretta – yes, that Beretta – in circa 1560.
The most crucial part, besides the inherent design itself, is in the proper heat-treating of the related parts, otherwise it will self-destruct. I succumbed to the belief that this was waaaaay above my pay grade and I had it completed by Brian Anderson of VT, a noted early firearms expert, as well as expert blacksmith and gunsmith. Brian said ..."If you send me that wheellock kit ... I'll build it right for you!"
True to his word he did and we collaborated on the stock design to mimic or borrow from the Alden 'Mayflower' carbine as originally made back in Italy, that now resides in the NRA museum as an FYI. But I guess you would call this the "boar hunting larger cousin" to the original Alden 'Mayflower' gun, as that stock would be totally unshootable for a modern-sized person, as it has a really short 10-1/2" length of pull, yikes!
Due to the size of the TRS Germanic lockplate we started with, as well as where the LOP on the original was totally impractical, we upsized it to be a 12-1/2" length of pull, with a 28-1/2" barrel and that bought the bore size up to 58-caliber, which began its life as a swamped Jaeger barrel. The stock is cherry, which fits nicely with early Italian arms. It has been 'aged' by a fake patina, just so you know, when you see the pictures.
Well, this completes one check off my muzzleloading 'bucket list'. The craftsmanship and workmanship of the lock action and stock by Brian is outstanding, this wheellock cycles like a fine jeweled watch! It uses pyrite (aka 'Fool's Gold') ground against the spinning wheel to create the spark; not harder flint like flintlocks use, that smash the rock into the frizzen (or steel it was called back then).
And now I have shootable BP arms representative of each ignition type and/or century from 1350 to ~1850, of hand gonne, matchlock, snaplock matchlock, wheellock, snaphaunce, miqulet, various flintlocks, and finally into the last of the flintlock lineage, an original inline-breech loading Hall flintlock rifle of patent date 1819. I finally end up with a Civil War era 58-cal Springfield percussion rifled musket ... but I really don't care for 'cap' guns, LOL. And yes, I hunt with all that I can - or am allowed (more later on this). And made most myself.
And I will say, with no pun intended, that wheellocks are simply a 'blast' to shoot! Now all ... please forgive me for posting this 'shorter' range BP arm, ahem ... on a 'long' range hunting forum, but when you think about it ... this carbine does provide for longer range than that of a trade fusil or smoothbore musket, right? Now all I need to do is seek special permsission from the various States that I muzzleloader hunt in, to make it legal for me to use ...
