Bczrx,
Purely FYI, the only thing that qualifies as a pin when counting the pins in a lock is the nether end of a screw visible on the outside of the lock. The thing we can see at the front of the lock plate isnt the end of a screw; its the end of a nib that is part of the main spring.
The screws (English gun making jargon, pins) you have circled in red are the only screws that are visible on the outside of the lock plate. The thing you have circled in orange is the hammer pivot, and is not a screw.
The only real use of counting pins visible is to get some clue as to what kind (i.e. type, such as H&H or Purdey) of locks are on a side lock, and how the lock works are arraigned. And the whole pins visible can be fooled by blinding the pins (not drilling the screw holes all the way through the lock plate, thereby concealing the nether ends of the screws).
Some years ago I wrote up a short document that showed examples of Spanish locks with seven, six, five, and four pin locks, a (really, really) simple three pin lock from a Ceskoslovenska Zbrojovka (Brno) ZP 49, and a Purdey lock (what the Spanish call a lock of four pillars). Im going to try to provide access to that document using Drop Box. Lets see is this works
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4y0x0khss6hhkez/Side_Locks_and_Pins_english_version20120506.pdf?dl=0 Welcome to the world of Spanish side lock shotguns :-)
Update: I was just looking at the document linked, above, and caught an error. Using the generally accepted definition of "pins", the VS five pin lock is actually a three pin lock. Mea culpa!
