Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

rickystl · 28th April 2013, 05:26 PM

Hi Donny. Thanks for your last reply. I've been traveling and have not had much of a chance to respond. You present some interesting additional questions.
My therories and conclusions on the styling of these guns are also based on my experiences loading and firing actual specimiens. Warning: do not fire these guns without a new barrel liner.
The more I look at the photos of your gun, the more convinced I am that it was made for a youth. The barrel on most of the Moroccan guns are about 42" or longer - usually longer. Of course there are original examples with cut down barrels, but the barrel on y your gun still has a cannon style muzzle. So it appears the gun was made with a 33" barrel. The combination of the barrel length and the shorter than normal LOP brings me to that conclusion.
One of the theories is that these guns were fired from the chest vs the shoulder? I don't believe that is correct. It is very awkward, and in any case there would not be no need for a rear sight. And every one of these I've seen has a rear sight. When I shoulder these guns to shoot, I simply shift my shoulder forward a slightly - which adds about 2" - and the gun is actually fairly comfortable to shoot.
Another theory of the flat butt stock was to aid in loading - allowing the butt stock to be placed on the ground - while on horse/camel. I don't believe this one either. Even the longest barrel would not allow convenient loading. The gun would not be long enough to reach the ground to load from horseback much less camelback. No, I believe at least the upper portion of the butt stock curve was used as an aid to carry under the arm pit while riding. Also note these guns - even with long barrels - are relatively light. An aid to carrying in the mountainous region while riding. The thin fore stock is very delicate, requiring multiple barrel bands fore strength.
If this style of butt stock were not made in segments, it would require a very wide piece of walnut, which would be more difficult to obtain. Many of these segments were made from horn, ivory, etc., depending on the decoration and quality of the gun.
All this said, there are two other styles of the Moroccan snaphaunce muskets, from different Regions, that differ primarily their different butt stock styles and the decoration. One of which is a bigger mystery than this style

I'm still working on all these theories

Thanks again for posting one of my favorite topics. Rick.

28th April 2013, 05:26 PM	#6
rickystl Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: St. Louis, MO area. Posts: 1,621	Hi Donny. Thanks for your last reply. I've been traveling and have not had much of a chance to respond. You present some interesting additional questions. My therories and conclusions on the styling of these guns are also based on my experiences loading and firing actual specimiens. Warning: do not fire these guns without a new barrel liner. The more I look at the photos of your gun, the more convinced I am that it was made for a youth. The barrel on most of the Moroccan guns are about 42" or longer - usually longer. Of course there are original examples with cut down barrels, but the barrel on y your gun still has a cannon style muzzle. So it appears the gun was made with a 33" barrel. The combination of the barrel length and the shorter than normal LOP brings me to that conclusion. One of the theories is that these guns were fired from the chest vs the shoulder? I don't believe that is correct. It is very awkward, and in any case there would not be no need for a rear sight. And every one of these I've seen has a rear sight. When I shoulder these guns to shoot, I simply shift my shoulder forward a slightly - which adds about 2" - and the gun is actually fairly comfortable to shoot. Another theory of the flat butt stock was to aid in loading - allowing the butt stock to be placed on the ground - while on horse/camel. I don't believe this one either. Even the longest barrel would not allow convenient loading. The gun would not be long enough to reach the ground to load from horseback much less camelback. No, I believe at least the upper portion of the butt stock curve was used as an aid to carry under the arm pit while riding. Also note these guns - even with long barrels - are relatively light. An aid to carrying in the mountainous region while riding. The thin fore stock is very delicate, requiring multiple barrel bands fore strength. If this style of butt stock were not made in segments, it would require a very wide piece of walnut, which would be more difficult to obtain. Many of these segments were made from horn, ivory, etc., depending on the decoration and quality of the gun. All this said, there are two other styles of the Moroccan snaphaunce muskets, from different Regions, that differ primarily their different butt stock styles and the decoration. One of which is a bigger mystery than this style I'm still working on all these theories Thanks again for posting one of my favorite topics. Rick.