An Omani abu Fitila Matchlock gun for comment

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Cerjak

Hi Stuart ,
Well seen this one have a barrel around 90 cm and overall 130 cm.
I 'm still astonished at this barrel is more than 300 years old! Do you have a similar design in your barrel I would like to see.

Best

Cerjak

Salaams Cerjac, I have several barrels and complete Abu Futilla... Father of the Match or the one with the match ... Looking through Icoman it appears that a lot of guns were German...but as you say this Barrel seems to be Persian or Indian? I mention Icoman many times in http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ighlight=Forts and I have a number of barrels that have blown apart at the first join. In my store there's a barrel just like yours. In the Islamic Arms by the late Anthony North he goes immediately into a description of these firearms and how a tried and trusted system in this theatre lasted and lasted ...That is very much the case with Omani weapons where for example Abu Futilla were still being used well into the late 20th Century! not to mention the length of time of the Omani Battle Sword...

http://www.klm-mra.be/icomam/downloads/issue07.pdf is a useful reference and sets the background for the general theme...

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.