Caucasian Miquelet Rifle
 

Hi All,
A new addition to my collection. From searching on the net I would suggest this is a Caucasian Miquelet rifle dating to somewhere in the 19thC. It is 50 inches overall with a barrel length of 36 1/2 inches excluding the retaining tang. It has a 1/2 inch diameter from land to land. The barrel is octagonal with six lands and grooves it would also appear to be possibly of Turkish manufacture given the cartouche on the breech. There is a brass bead sight at the muzzle and an aperture sight at the breech, please see photos. The inlay is bone and the buttplate is wooden contrasting with the main stock. The lock is in perfect working order complete with leather wrapped flint. The sling is attached properly at the rear but not at the forend. The wooden ramrod with steel tip and rear although the correct size and bore is not, I believe, original to the piece because it interferes with the insertion of the sling into the stock and makes it impossible to attach the sling in the proper place. As you can see by the photos the forend is missing a barrel band and the wood is split caused by using the sling on the ramrod. I think the ramrod is a period replacement and the split period damage caused by the owner using the sling in this fashion. If one of our overworked Arabic translators could have a look at the cartouche on the barrel I would be most grateful.
As usual I would be grateful for all and any information, ideas and comments you may have.
Regards,
Norman.


P.S. The two photographs one a posed studio shot " A Caucasian Falconer" and "Khevsur-Georgia" are by George Kennan who travelled through the Caucasus in 1870 and subsequently wrote a book about his experiences entitled "A Vagabond Life". The photo of the falconer was taken according to the author in Daghestan.

Beautiful gun, Norman,
Let's copy it to the European Forum, to share it with the folks here.