Smoothbore barrel, slightly swamped at the muzzle, with octagonal to round tapered outer section, devided by diametrical cannelures. Wheellocks with spring-loaded sliding pan cover. Lever operated safety peg for blocking the inside sear lever attached to the left side of the stock. Lockplates and barrel surfaces decorated with etched, chiseled and engraved, leaf-, rank- and rollworks, partly gilt, partly black enameled. Cock, cockspring and trigger cut and engraved. Stocks from plumwood, fully inlayed with engraved bone and ivory plates, figures and floral elements. The buttballs aditionally inlayed with moulded and fire gilt mascarons and brass bands. The original Nurnberg master and proof marks replaced by Armin Koenig's marks.
This Pair of 16th century Nuremberg wheellock pistols represent an extraordinary work of Armin Koenig. Approx. 1500 workhours were spent to handcraft this fine replicas. The goal of this project was not to just rebuilt this type of weapons in regard of outer shape and similar functionality but to reproduce the original down to the smallest detail and to exactly every line of encraving and chiseling. Manufacturing of this kind of luxury weapons was a big challange, already in the 16th century and reserved to the best and most well known master gunmakers. The optimal finetuning to achieve the best functunal performance of the lock required a lot of experience in terms of material and craftmanship and non of this works of arts, that survived up to our days was built without many trials and cases of reclamation for pieces, that did not survive. For a modern replica of this kind in order not only to be an optical lookalike but also to have the same functional characteristics as the original, it is necessary to copy all Details with a maximum of precision, achive the same grad of spring tempering and have avery axle of screws and bearings upt to 1/100 mm in axact the same position as the original.
The lock-area of the replica in detail. The lockplate is edget and chiseled with floral elements. The cock-bridle, wheel cover, pancover release knob and all screw-heads are fire-guilt.
Comparison with the original. The two replicas are on top. The original below only differs by the darker patina of the bone inlays.
Same comparison from the rear side. To be seen is the safety peg which can by operated by using the thumb of the firings hand (in difference to the more common sear type of safety mechanisms, which are located on side of the lock-plate and require a second hand to operate).
Details ot the buttballs. Encraved bone inlays together with platically raised and fire-guilt brass bands and medails create a homogeneous unit. Original and replicas are exactly the same size.
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Replica pair of wheellock pistols, copied from a "Nurnberg Puffer" around 1575. Original in the art collections of the castle of Coburg. Inv. Nr. V.136.
