Rick,
Good observation on the butt cap area. I was not aware that this could be used to differentiate between Ottoman pistols made in the Balkans from those made in the Asian part of the Empire. Is there a reference that states that?
To me, the brass rosettes on the stock look very simialr to the rosettes found on Balkan rifles and daggers, such as the Bosnian knives. I agree that the crescents indicate that the pistol likely belonged to a Turk, but there were a lot of Turks all over the Balkans in the 19th century.
I am not trying to be argumentative, I am just trying to learn more, as the topic of Ottoman firearms is still not a well studied one, given the vast size of the Empire and the tendency to describe many tiems as simply Ottoman, with little attempt to attribute them to a more narrow area. This is further complicated by the fact that as David ntoes, this design is French and a lot of French, Italian and Belgian manufacturers were flooding the Ottoman market with pistols and pistol parts, supplemented with locally made imitations.
Regards,
Teodor
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