Indian/Afghan/Islamic Flintlocks & Mathclocks. Any interest?

chevalier · 17th July 2008, 01:59 PM

...so has anyone ever fired one of these?

Atlantia · 17th July 2008, 02:28 PM

Thats a nice one Chevalier!
Similar lock to mine.
Lovely carved steel ramrod!!! I'm gonna have to make ramrods for all of mine! 0 out of 3 still having them!

I've never fired one of these.
But my interest in guns stems from when I was a kid and a family friend (huge gun collector) let me fire a big flint dueling pistol (really nice early one, be worth a bundle now, he had several cased pairs).
I was about 8 or 9 and it was almost as long as my arm.
He used to shoot a railway sleeper in a big double garage with his guns (it was the 70s! I know the police would shoot him for that now).
I pulled the trigger (struggling to hold it out with both arms) and it went 'CLICK'.......'Fizzzzzzzzz'........and in that second I thought "hmm, its not going to fire" and relaxed....
BOOOM!
LOL.
Very scary, smelly, loud!

And there was a new beam of sunlight like a mini spotlight coming through the back wall of the garage.

Loved them ever since!
Never fired another sadly.
I've got a beautiful muff-pistol which would probobly take the pressure.
In fact I have a matchlock which might!
Hmmm, I'll post pictures of them later.

ward · 17th July 2008, 05:59 PM

When I mas much younger and stupider I fired one of the Indian matchlocks at the range. firing a 230 year old weapon is not something I would recommend to anyone. You lower the match into the pan wait a few seconds than the pan ignites and then in a few seconds the weapon fires a 70 caliber ball, I never managed to hit a target with it. Now somethng fun to fire is the broomhandle pistol or the german lugar.

ward · 17th July 2008, 06:06 PM

I will remind people that these guns are mechanical damascus and usually heavily pitted if there are any flaws in the barrell it can blow up and kill you. Also do not ever use modern gun powders or pyredex. Black powder is the only thing to use and there are diffect grain sizes of it and it is dangerous to handle if you are not used to it. Again I do not recommend it

Atlantia · 17th July 2008, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ward

I will remind people that these guns are mechanical damascus and usually heavily pitted if there are any flaws in the barrell it can blow up and kill you. Also do not ever use modern gun powders or pyredex. Black powder is the only thing to use and there are diffect grain sizes of it and it is dangerous to handle if you are not used to it. Again I do not recommend it

Almost all functioning firearms are illegal over here now.
Even black powder stuff for reinactment is very strictly controlled.
I have a replica broomhandle, you can't even buy new ones of them (or any replica firearms) over here now, not even plastic ones unless they come painted signal orange or some other daft colour.

Of course the most missused 'legal' firearms in the UK have always been shotguns, but they didn't ban them because the rich do love to slaughter the wildlife with them!

I wouldn't be suprised if soon we'll all be eating with plastic forks and spoons (even plastic knives will be banned!).

Atlantia · 17th July 2008, 06:54 PM

BTW, the dueller I fired as a kid fired beautifully.
You never forget the smell of a black powder!
He owned tons of antique stuff. Sporting rifles, big game hunting 19thC stuff, an underlever winchester, Lot of revolvers too, Addams, Tranters, Colts, I liked the 'cowboy' guns as a kid! Never let me fire them (or anything else after the garage wall got that hole). Can't say I blame him, most of his collection of pistols were cased pairs. The dueler was a monster though, wish I had a cased pair like that now!
They lived in the big victorian house and he'd converted the 'pantry' into a huge gun cabinet.
Would be worth a fortune now! Literally! I just hope it didn't all get handed in during one of the periodic gun amnestys after he died by some uncaring relative.

ward · 17th July 2008, 07:05 PM

A little different in U.S. . I believe the statistics are we have in private ownership enough guns to arm every man woman and child in the country. Things have changed over the years and to buy new pistols is pretty regulated. I remember going thru a barrell of lugars to pick the one I was nterested in all had been decommisoned from the Israli army. You can not buy surplus foreign ammo anymore.

Atlantia · 17th July 2008, 07:59 PM

OK, so going off on another tangent here, but another slightly crazy friend of mine used to fire this sort of thing all the time (when it was still legal, he had all the licences and do-dahs), old muzzle loading 'double rifles' and the like, and anyway, we were chatting about how the barrels often look 'thin' on the upper rim of the muzzle.
He said it was due to persistant overcharging the load and the projectile rubbing harder on the upper edge as it exits the muzzle.
I've not got enough experience of firing these things to venture an opinion, but I notice that my Afghan damascus barreled musket has the same thinning.
Any thoughts?
Its interesting to think of these 1.5m long barrels being overcharged to fire further! If the theory is true of course.

Gene

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17th July 2008, 01:59 PM	#1
chevalier Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 119	...so has anyone ever fired one of these?

17th July 2008, 02:28 PM	#2
Atlantia Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: The Sharp end Posts: 2,928	Thats a nice one Chevalier! Similar lock to mine. Lovely carved steel ramrod!!! I'm gonna have to make ramrods for all of mine! 0 out of 3 still having them! I've never fired one of these. But my interest in guns stems from when I was a kid and a family friend (huge gun collector) let me fire a big flint dueling pistol (really nice early one, be worth a bundle now, he had several cased pairs). I was about 8 or 9 and it was almost as long as my arm. He used to shoot a railway sleeper in a big double garage with his guns (it was the 70s! I know the police would shoot him for that now). I pulled the trigger (struggling to hold it out with both arms) and it went 'CLICK'.......'Fizzzzzzzzz'........and in that second I thought "hmm, its not going to fire" and relaxed.... BOOOM! LOL. Very scary, smelly, loud! And there was a new beam of sunlight like a mini spotlight coming through the back wall of the garage. Loved them ever since! Never fired another sadly. I've got a beautiful muff-pistol which would probobly take the pressure. In fact I have a matchlock which might! Hmmm, I'll post pictures of them later.

17th July 2008, 05:59 PM	#3
ward Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 637	When I mas much younger and stupider I fired one of the Indian matchlocks at the range. firing a 230 year old weapon is not something I would recommend to anyone. You lower the match into the pan wait a few seconds than the pan ignites and then in a few seconds the weapon fires a 70 caliber ball, I never managed to hit a target with it. Now somethng fun to fire is the broomhandle pistol or the german lugar.

17th July 2008, 06:06 PM	#4
ward Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 637	I will remind people that these guns are mechanical damascus and usually heavily pitted if there are any flaws in the barrell it can blow up and kill you. Also do not ever use modern gun powders or pyredex. Black powder is the only thing to use and there are diffect grain sizes of it and it is dangerous to handle if you are not used to it. Again I do not recommend it

17th July 2008, 06:54 PM	#6
Atlantia Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: The Sharp end Posts: 2,928	BTW, the dueller I fired as a kid fired beautifully. You never forget the smell of a black powder! He owned tons of antique stuff. Sporting rifles, big game hunting 19thC stuff, an underlever winchester, Lot of revolvers too, Addams, Tranters, Colts, I liked the 'cowboy' guns as a kid! Never let me fire them (or anything else after the garage wall got that hole). Can't say I blame him, most of his collection of pistols were cased pairs. The dueler was a monster though, wish I had a cased pair like that now! They lived in the big victorian house and he'd converted the 'pantry' into a huge gun cabinet. Would be worth a fortune now! Literally! I just hope it didn't all get handed in during one of the periodic gun amnestys after he died by some uncaring relative.

17th July 2008, 07:05 PM	#7
ward Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 637	A little different in U.S. . I believe the statistics are we have in private ownership enough guns to arm every man woman and child in the country. Things have changed over the years and to buy new pistols is pretty regulated. I remember going thru a barrell of lugars to pick the one I was nterested in all had been decommisoned from the Israli army. You can not buy surplus foreign ammo anymore.

17th July 2008, 07:59 PM	#8
Atlantia Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: The Sharp end Posts: 2,928	OK, so going off on another tangent here, but another slightly crazy friend of mine used to fire this sort of thing all the time (when it was still legal, he had all the licences and do-dahs), old muzzle loading 'double rifles' and the like, and anyway, we were chatting about how the barrels often look 'thin' on the upper rim of the muzzle. He said it was due to persistant overcharging the load and the projectile rubbing harder on the upper edge as it exits the muzzle. I've not got enough experience of firing these things to venture an opinion, but I notice that my Afghan damascus barreled musket has the same thinning. Any thoughts? Its interesting to think of these 1.5m long barrels being overcharged to fire further! If the theory is true of course. Gene