This Miquelet Pistol was made by Luis Rodriguez of Salamanca Spain. It`s barrel has Rodriguez`s mark and counter marks, and the lock is signed and dated 1761. The stock resembles a shortened version of a contemporary long gun`s stock. The well known collector and author Keith Neal called it a "gun butt stock." Neal owned this pistol and uses it as an example of the style in his book Spanish Guns and Pistols (1).

Patilla style miquelet locks have a large external main spring. The spring exerts an upward force on the hammer`s heel. Two horizontal sears pass through the lock plate in front of the hammer. The lower one is the half cock sear. It locks the hammer`s toe in a safe position for loading and carrying the weapon. The upper one is the full cock sear. It prevents the hammer from falling until the trigger is pulled (2). At sometime in the mid-1800s this pistol was converted to percussion.

The swamped barrel is octagonal at the breech with a gold-lined makers mark (punzon). The crowned mark has three lines of text "LVIS" over a right justified "z" over "ROD.". This mark belongs to the gunmaker Luis Rodriguez (3). There are three mask style counter-marks above the makers mark, each on a different facet of the octagonal barrel (see photo). The barrel tang is plain and fastened from the top. The waist section has three rings where the barrel transitions to round. The first of these rings is very narrow. The barrel is held to a full walnut stock with a barrel band. The horn tipped ramrod appears to be a replacement. The gun butt stock has a steel butt cap. The patilla style miquelet lock is signed "LVIS RoDz" "CA SALAM 1761" The lock has been converted to percussion. The simple screw-plate has a long belt hook. The belt hook has a pierced heart shaped end. Attached to the trigger guard is a medallion numbered P28 and inscribed "WILLIAM KEITH NEAL COLLECTION", "TRUTH WILL CONQUER".