'Kubura' Flintlock Pistols of The Ottoman Empire:

Please NEVER forget 6 y.o. Hind Rajab ..

Can you hear her pleas to be rescued without crying?

- For starters - despite my pommie Grammar school education - I didn't have a clue as to what exactly 'The Ottoman Empire' was .. Turkish perhaps?

Describe the 600 year history of The Ottoman empire in 200 words or less ...

- The Ottomans fought us Brits & Kiwis in the desert around GAZA & RAFA in the First World War .. as well as at Gallipoli.

- Well I've started taking a look at it and there's a lot of ground to cover, firstly why were they known as the "Gunpowder Empire"? Very Interesting, - if you're interested eh.

The Gunpowder Empire Link:

https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1088&context=ghj#:~:text=Nathan%20Lanan-,The%20Ottoman%20Empire%20is%20known%20today%20as%20a%20major%20Gunpowder,early%20as%20the%20sixteenth%20century.&text=used%20massive%20cannons%20to%20batter,beginning%20to%20gain%20their%20potency.

Wikipedia OTTOMAN WEAPONS Link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_weapons

Anyway - Many Ottoman Empire 'KUBURA'  FLINTLOCKS were seemingly made not only in TURKEY but in the Southern part of Europe we refer to as THE BALKANS - Serbia even - where there is & was a long tradition of GUN making. - Who knew? - Belgium, Italy and Spain also supplied 'The Empire' with parts such as locks & barrels including complete guns too. -The "Ottomans" were around as a power for some 600 years .. so the situation varied over time.

Check-out ZASTAVA ARMS - if you're looking for a diversion ..

These old guns are often found with carved 'FALSE RAMRODS' in the forend wood - leading to some know-all Fuds declaring them to be reproduction, copy "wallhangers". - The fighting guys actually preferred and used separate metal ram-rods . - BUT naturally there are fake modern pieces being made & bought.

It is possible - even likely - that  the British deprication of "Ottoman Empire Guns" has something to do with their English armies never managing to defeat or enslave these guys .. even getting our 'British' ANZAC arses kicked in 1915 by the Turks at Gallipoli in WWI.

These two recently acquired FLINTLOCK pistols are large smoothbore guns - decoratively carved and engraved, in "rough enough" used but fully working condition - that are not highly appreciated by British type military collectors. - These working guns are very good looking and decorative "pirate guns".

It seems these old gunmakers liked to engrave 'spurious signatures' onto the locks - so this name below likely has no particular meaning or significance ..

See the flint scratches above the vent.

There used to be a British smoking tobacco branded 'Players No Name'

Right now - no 'expert' can certify differences to say one gun is Ottoman Balkan while another is Ottoman Turkish .. but there are plenty of these surviving because they LIKED and relied on their Flintlocks and kept them in use and manufacture until late in the 19th Century. - No doubt there are existing records of historic firearms procurements in the Turkic languages in their archives - but we Brits are not well known for learning foreign stuff eh ..

I'm learning ..

Marty K.

You Pretty old 40 cal 'Pom' ..

 I sort of accidently bought this 1840's British made Percussion pistol .. it is a 'turn-off' - Cannon Barrel, Boxlock "Muff Pistol" with some real fancy  silver wire inlay  on the stock. - But I'm now so pleased that I got it, as it is such a nice thing. - The standard of metalwork is finely precise and detailed.  The steel (Iron?) metal is so hard you can feel it shining my Swiss Files as they cut AND - it is so well made. 

- How come such hard steel corroded SO badly .. was it case-hardened?

As delivered this gun had deep corrosion and all-over surface rusting. Where might it have been stored? .. dumped for years in some damp cellar in a salt mine?

A Delicate 185 year love token💝pistol for a Victorian Lady - Mistress or 'consort'.

- I've already made a start cleaning-up the Trigger Guard.

Now this piece has issues - some absolutely horrible rust corrosion of the barrel inside & out .. I think this once beautiful barrel looks to be SCRAP.

Muzzle as bought online auction ..

Someone please tell me I've ruined it's "Collector Value".

 - I was viewing images of it on the auction site considering just what the hell - if anything - could be best done to save this old thing .. maybe build-up the metal with weld or machine it all off and replace with steel sleeves - But the most simple solution is to just turn-up a completely NEW BARREL on the lathe and finish it appropriately. That would be easiest.

I waited until the last minutes of the online auction before putting up a throw-away extra $5 bid and it won. That surprised me ..

The pretty silver inlay decoration is missing in several places of the left side & top - meaning I have a repair job to do. I have to buy jeweller's Silver wire and learn how to use it to inlay into a once lovely pistol stock. This was old time skilled artistry.

AliExpress China offer various silver wires at reasonable cost while YouTube or Google have instructions on how to use it .. so what's the delay then?

The original domed screws are undamaged excepting the one fixing the stock to the bottom tang - so it will be seized-rusty .. I have been using my Chinese 'Swiss' files to excise the bubbling scabs of iron-corruption from this once fine barrel - and it now looks better than the corroded mess received ..

'Trust The RUST' .. Pitting is still HORRIBLE but better than it was ..

I guess I'm now hoping that there might be some barrel life remaining?

- In case you were wondering - I just checked .. NONE of these antique gun barrels can be interchanged as they each have different threads .. not much standardization in mid 19th century.

I'll do a "follow-up" showing my efforts with SILVER INLAY repair work and maybe a replacement barrel before I get too old ..

Marty K.

Big Bore Barrels, Boxes & BAD News.

22 Bore or .59 inch or 1.5 cm. ? .. Bigger than a .45 anyway

RUST to RICHES ..Was it worth the effort?

I still need to find a proper top screw ..

 

I like to research my facts before pecking at the keyboard letters - but I think I may have to give that up as a bad idea - reading modern writing that is .. Some joker called Dave Emary in Guns & Ammo July 2021 got paid for one of the crappiest editorial pieces on 'Cap & Ball Revolvers' that I've ever read. - He reckoned they are "anemic" and "tedious to load"  while observing that "the cylinders hold about 30 to 35 grains of blackpowder" .. and "cylinders may be .001" or .002" larger than a revolvers groove diameter". Link to this nonsensical crap:

https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/cap-ball-revolver-history/394130

- Better try reading 1950's Sixguns by Elmer Keith eh ..

"For its size and weight nothing is so deadly as the round ball of pure lead when driven at fairly good velocity. Maximum loads give these slugs fairly high velocity from a 7 1/2 inch barrel gun. Both Major R. E. Stratton and Samuel H. Fletcher told me the .36 Navy with full loads was a far better man killer than any .38 Special they had ever seen used in gun fights."

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/keith-article-on-cap-and-ball-pistols-long.11474/

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I definately am NO expert but it seems likely that Boxlock actions in pistols date from, maybe 1730ish as carry gun Pocket Pistols aka "Boot Pistols" - with their parts protected inside the chassis - rather than mounted outside on a 'lock-plate'.

Naturally, these first boxlocks were FLINTLOCK guns - until the CAPLOCK percussion ignition guns were developed 100 years later - around 1820.

- Three of mine .. 

I fully understand that as collectibles these blackpowder boxlocks are rated as barely one degree above "Saturday Night Specials" - But there's a superbly good reason why I like Box-Lock Percussion Pistols ... I can  AFFORD TO BUY (fix) AND OWN THEM.

Likely they will cost here in NZ around three or five times more than in UK and what you might find in USA but they can be found down here in New Zealand and bought as 'antiques' free of licensing restrictions as long as you don't plan on shooting them at all. - This restriction might be wise - as some neglected offerings seem to be rust corroded and non-functional anyway.  Most of these that I see are smooth bore and commentaters like to observe that these will be inaccurate. NOT SO .. only at longer ranges, say over fifty feet - is rifling beneficial to even-out any projectile irregularity due weight and balance.

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Yes I have bought another double-barrelled one .. functional hammers but looks like shit .. all surface rust corrosion and seized barrels, black painted stock, loose trigger guard and wrong screws - but beggers can't be choosers and I get it to enjoy working on improving it.

This Latest buy is a BIG Boy - maybe 22 Bore (.596 inch) 15mm. 

Note the black painted grip ..

Advertised as a "shotgun pistol likely Liege Belgium made" .. but there are London 'view marks' .. if the CROWN over V markings under the barrel are genuine.

Rust & London View Proofs?

- These are 'Turn Off' breach loading barrels that are solidly seized in place. - First I removed the stock & boiled the iron lump with a change of water after 15 minutes - removing the crud and trying to convert the red rust to black oxides, which doesn't seem to work very well for me ..

Putting it aside for the seized barrels to soak in CRC - I have sanded-off the BLACK PAINT covering the walnut stock using fine 'Wet'n'Dry' to expose some sort of white filler BOG and an area of solid plastic wood that I'll stain & re-finish back close to the original walnut ..

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- So I'm cooking away with the butane torch to unseize the first barrel - trying to shift it at higher & higher temperatures in stages .. when at last it gives a little - BUT just as I smile in relief .. I catch the sweet pine resin smell of ROSIN soft solder FLUX.

- That screw-off barrel is not seized - IT IS SOLDERED in place.

That revelation is a message to LEAVE  IT  AS  IT  IS. Full Stop. - Cease all removal work on these tubes. This is an instance of  Red Line issues when buying old second hand goods .. Does everything always go right? - Does my screw driver sometimes slip and gouge a long scratch into the polished walnut? For sure - but we can fix it mostly.

- But this solid looking Big Boy does look somewhat better than before, it being a handsome fight stopper - something like an maxi 'Derringer' or perhaps even a Lancaster big-bore pistol, suited for colonial warfare and use against Tigers & Cape Buffalo ..

- Any identification help would be valued ..

Marty K.