Antique BP Pistol info and input needed

R

r.j.medals2

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Hi I am seeking info on this Antique Flintlock pistol. The gun is about 10 inches long. It has a very interesting story as it was given to a WW2 Canadian Artilleryman in Italy in 1942/43 as a gift. It's origin is unknown and any info is welcome. All the Best of the season to All you gun-nutz out there!
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it looks to have been a well made gun and definitely fancier than most. The lock is called a "miquelet" lock and differs from the locks we are used to because the sear moves sideways through the lock plate rather up and down. Miquelet locks were popular in Spain and along the Mediterranean shores. You would need someone who is familiar with the art work of the various countries to speculate on what country it was made in. The steel piece on the left side was to allow the gun to be carried in a sash or belt

cheers mooncoon
 
Looks Spanish as the gold filled stamp on top of the breech is, I believe a cross of Castille similar to markings on a barrel I brought back from northern Spain a few years back which Mooncoon talked me out of. Would guess it was made for the north African trade and late 16 or early 1700's. Nice find!!
 
mooncoon said:
it looks to have been a well made gun and definitely fancier than most. The lock is called a "miquelet" lock and differs from the locks we are used to because the sear moves sideways through the lock plate rather up and down. Miquelet locks were popular in Spain and along the Mediterranean shores. You would need someone who is familiar with the art work of the various countries to speculate on what country it was made in. The steel piece on the left side was to allow the gun to be carried in a sash or belt

cheers mooncoon
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Wow.....I've never even heard of or seen a "miquelet" lock before ?.....good eye!
 

According to this video from Forgotten Weapons, you have an Italian miquelet pistol of some sort, judging by how the mainspring and hammer are arranged.

edit - I am wrong. It should be Spanish. I didn't see the main spring extending past the bottom of the hammer in the pictures last night, but the new pictures posted clearly show that it does.
 
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That interesting pistol has all the characteristics of a Ripoll region miquelet, Spanish of course. There was an article in the (iirc) Arms and Armor Annual, published as a one-off in the 80's of the firearms from this region. I would guess it to date from the third quarter of the 18th century.
Regrettably I am a long way from my library so can only offer the preceding as a starting point.
 
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