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Old 26th May 2018, 03:19 PM   #7
rickystl
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: St. Louis, MO area.
Posts: 1,621
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Hi Valjhun

That is a very nice Balkan, Ball Butt Pistol. And the stock appears to have all of it's inlays and wire decoration. Rare to find these pistols with their stocks in such nice, complete condition.
I notice the trigger guard also has a very Italian style to it. So the lock, guard, and probably the barrel were all imported, and the gun assembled somewhere in the Balkans. The use of imported locks, barrels, and hardware being very common.
The lock is not only marked, but the styling, with it's chisel work also looks very Italian. As Kubur mentioned, you often see Eastern, locally assembled guns that appear decent made, but with lock inletting to the stock being sub-par compared to the rest of the gun. This has always been somewhat of a mystery to me. But in this case, with the above photos, it does appear the lock was replaced at some point. Possibly the original lock was damaged and it was easier to replace it than repair the original (?) But then, the Italian origin of the lock matches with the trigger guard style. Hmmmm
If you couls post some additional photos, including one of the left side of the gun and a top view showing the barrel and tang. And, a pic of the priming pan, with the hammer at half-cock and the frizzen forward showing the relationship of the pan to the vent hole. This might also give us a clue as to the lock history.

Thanks for posting this great looking pistol. Would sure not mind having it in my collection.

Rick
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