Two wheel-lock guns replicas at IWA 2026
IWA OutdoorClassics 2026 – At the Armi Salvinelli / Investarm booth, the Lazzarino Historical Arms shop exhibited two beautiful and interesting reproductions of weapons with a wheel-lock ignition system.
Luca Svanosio, owner of Lazzarino Historical Arms
In the history of firearms, the wheellock ignition mechanism represents one of the most fascinating milestones in Renaissance engineering. Introduced in the early 16th century (around 1500) and remaining in use until the mid-17th century, it marked the transition from matchlock weapons to "modern" flintlock weapons.
Unlike the matchlock ignition system, which required the match (a special, very slow-burning type) to be kept constantly lit, alive, and ready for use, the wheellock ignition system operated on a principle similar to that of a modern cigarette lighter (which, in fact, traces its origins to the wheellock ignition system).
The heart of the system was a toothed steel wheel connected to a powerful leaf spring that was tensioned by manually "winding" it with a key.
- Loading: the spring shaft is rotated to "wind-up" the wheel mechanism.
- Preparation: a piece of pyrite (or marcasite), held between the hammer's jaws, is lowered into contact with the wheel.
- Priming: when the trigger is pulled, the wheel rotates rapidly, rubbing against the pyrite and producing a shower of sparks that ignite the black powder in the priming pan.
The wheel-lock system was a true masterpiece of watchmaking, composed of dozens of delicate, handcrafted parts. Unfortunately, however, their very complexity made wheellock guns extremely expensive, reserved almost exclusively for the nobility, both for hunting and for war purposes.
Wheel-lock arquebus (Lazzarino Historical Arms)
Despite the undoubted advantage of being able to carry a ready-to-fire weapon, but without the inconvenience (and danger) of carrying a lit match in the hands, the fragility and prohibitive cost of the wheellock system led to its gradual replacement with the simpler and cheaper flintlock system.
Wheel-lock pistol (Lazzarino Historical Arms)
Click to read the Lazzarino Historical Arms brochure
Due to its construction characteristics and production costs, the wheellock system has never been considered by manufacturers of modern muzzle-loading replicas, for which Italy has been famous worldwide for over sixty years.
Yet, it is thanks to an Italian artisan workshop that this year at IWA I saw, for the second time in my life (the first exactly 40 years ago, at EXA), two modern wheellock reproductions.
At the IWA OutdoorClassics 2026 fair in Nuremberg, at the Armi Salvinelli and Investarm booths, we found two beautiful wheellock reproductions made by Luca Svanosio, owner of Lazzarino Historical Arms.
Specifically, a cavalry pistol with a 35 cm barrel in 28 caliber (14 mm), for a total length of 56 cm; and a shotgun with a 73 cm barrel in 20 gauge (16 mm), for a total length of 110 cm.
Finished in white, with a simple design in typical 17th-century Central European military style, both weapons feature double-stack barrels (octagonal and conical). The pistol is priced at €1,800 and the rifle at €2,200.
Luca Svanosio's Lazzarino Historical Arms is based in Marcheno, in the heart of Val Trompia (Brescia). An ideal bridge between contemporary Brescian gunmaking technology and the mechanical and gunmaking art of the past, these two wheellock guns have attracted considerable attention for their philological fidelity and the complexity of their wheellock mechanism, well known to all firearms history enthusiasts.
On the other hand, it is not surprising that these wheel-action guns were “hosted” at the stand of the companies Investarm and Armi Salvinelli, whose replicas of Hawken-style muzzle-loading rifles have been known and highly appreciated in the United States since 1975.
For more information click here or on the image of the Lazzarino Historical Arms brochure that you see on this page.
