Despite the fact that Spain controlled nearly two thirds of what is now the modern United States until well into the 19th Century, modern collectors tend not to think of Spanish weapons when they consider "American Colonial firearms". While Dutch Fowlers, French pistols, and British Brown Bess muskets, all fetch large sums on the modern market, Spanish guns tend to remain over looked. This is likely because "New Spain" primarily covered the Southwest portion of the U.S, which was an area that remained quite "wild" until well into the 20th Century. Because of this any Spanish weaponry that was utilized in this area was used often used for generations, as it was difficult to obtain modern replacements. There are numerous accounts of early White Settlers in America's western territories during the mid 19th Century who encountered Indian warriors wearing Spanish armor and carrying Spanish escopetas that dated as far back as the 16th Century. Naturally the incredibly long service life of these Spanish colonial pieces meant that they eventually degraded to the point of becoming unusable and were simply discarded. By comparison, the Eastern portion of the U.S. was settled rather quickly; meaning that Colonial guns from this region were generally used for sporting purposes rather than subsistence or self defense. This means that Eastern pieces are often found in barely-used condition.
This particular piece is an excellent example of a Spanish commercial rifle. This contemporary Escopeta was built ENTIRELY from scratch. It was copied from original commercial guns from the Madrid region of Spain It features a completely custom late model Spanish Miquelet lock and a .50 caliber rifled barrel.
This slender rifle measures roughly 51" in overall length. The hand-shaped the Madrid-style butt stock was cut from a blank of beautiful European walnut, and features some beautiful figure near the butt plate. Like most original Spanish sporting arms, this rifle is very light and handy; weighing in at 7lbs exactly. The length of pull is 13.5" meaning it will comfortably fit most average-sized shooters.
Despite its light weight, the superbly-designed stock profile means that recoil is very manageable with a tightly patched .490 ball and 45 grains of FFg. . The 36" swamped barrel was custom turned and hand engraved with "Lazarino" on the top barrel flat; and includes period correct gilded Spanish proofmarks at the breech. This gun is newly finished and has only been test fired; meaning the barrel is in mint condition with no rust or pitting.
The late miquelet-style lock was almost entirely handmade and functions flawlessly with a reliable half and full cock and a beautiful shower of sparks with every pull of the trigger.
All the furniture was also hand-made by the builder; and finished with a satin polish.
This beautiful weapon is a true custom gun. Unlike, most custom muzzleloaders that are assembled with mass produced parts and a stock shaped from a blank, this gun was almost entirely produced from scratch. We can guarantee that nobody else at the range or reenactment will have a piece like this one.
