Caucasian Rifle - Restored

[David R]

Very nice indeed.

[rickystl]

Originally Posted by David R

Very nice indeed.

Thanks David. This one took a lot of work to complete. These long guns are usually hard to come by. More so than the pistols. There are typically a couple for sale at the Baltimore Show each year, but expensive. So I am lucky to have found this one at a reasonable price for restoration.
Just for fun, here is a pic of the gun shown with both original and replica accessories. LOL. And a couple more pics. Thanks again for looking. Rick.

[Norman McCormick]

Hi Rick,
Nice restoration as usual. I'm not sure about the sling rings. I thought the leather sling was attached as per this photograph of my rifle. I did research this method of attachment as my rifle came with the sling in situ and I wasn't sure if it was correct but my findings did reinforce that this was in actual fact the correct method but of course that's not to say that the rings are historically incorrect. Re the barrel bands, mine are brass if I remember correctly, stuff been in storage for the past year and a bit. Electroplating copper sheet with silver for your barrel bands would have been a bit cheaper than sterling silver but that's just my Caledonian thrift. Again a real nice display.
My Regards,
Norman.

[Kubur]

Hi Rick,
It seems that I have the little brother...
Best,
Kubur

[rickystl]

Originally Posted by Norman McCormick

Hi Rick,
Nice restoration as usual. I'm not sure about the sling rings. I thought the leather sling was attached as per this photograph of my rifle. I did research this method of attachment as my rifle came with the sling in situ and I wasn't sure if it was correct but my findings did reinforce that this was in actual fact the correct method but of course that's not to say that the rings are historically incorrect. Re the barrel bands, mine are brass if I remember correctly, stuff been in storage for the past year and a bit. Electroplating copper sheet with silver for your barrel bands would have been a bit cheaper than sterling silver but that's just my Caledonian thrift. Again a real nice display.
My Regards,
Norman.

Hi Norman.
OHHHH.....that's a beautiful rifle!!! And appears in really nice shape.
I'm sure you are right about the attachment of the leather sling. In fact, next time you have it out of storage, if you get a chance, would you take a couple more pics of how that leather was attached? I've never really known myself. But I'm not too bashful to try and take advantage of another collector's research. LOL. I can have a leather sling made and artificially aged, and attached the same way, if I knew how it's tied/knotted.
The sling ring assemblies are mostly something out of my imagination. LOL
however, I've seen a couple of Ottoman Tufuk Rifles with a similar attachment. They are easily removable by taking off the smaller ring on the other end. In fact, I can use them on my Ottoman rifle as well. The sling rings were just more of my experimentation and playing. LOL
Brass barrel bands. Every rifle and pistol I've seen had either iron or silver barrel bands. Doesn't mean brass was not used. I've just never seen any. I'm still being surprised all the time. Thanks for your post and the sling information. Most helpful. Rick.

[rickystl]

Hi Kubur.
That is a very nice pistol!! And looks like it still has all of it's leather covered stock. And BRASS barrel bands. Nice collector piece for sure.
The one I own in the background of the photo above, was restored to firing condition, and posted here on the Forum maybe 3+ years ago. What's unusual about that pistol is the stock is one piece of horn. Not wood/leather. Thanks for posting.
Rick.

[Norman McCormick]

Hi Rick,
Here are some photos of the sling arrangement. I have checked through all the contemporary photos I could find and this seems to be the correct way of attaching a sling. My rifle came with the sling in this configuration.
My Regards,
Norman.

[Norman McCormick]

Hi Rick,
As you can see from this image the tail is slightly narrower at one point and then pushed through a slot and rotated to prevent it slipping out.
My Regards,
Norman.

[Philip]

Originally Posted by rickystl

The sling ring assemblies are mostly something out of my imagination. LOL
however, I've seen a couple of Ottoman Tufuk Rifles with a similar attachment.

Brass barrel bands. Every rifle and pistol I've seen had either iron or silver barrel bands. Doesn't mean brass was not used. I've just never seen any. I'm still being surprised all the time. Thanks for your post and the sling information. Most helpful. Rick.

Hey Rick, the ring attachment is not so imaginary. I've seen these fairly frequently on some types of Balkan guns as well -- you have quite a few of those and have no doubt encountered them.

I agree with you on barrel bands, in regards to the Caucasus (and by the way, also Iran since there was quite a bit of overlap in firearms design). Quite a wide use of silver even on guns without a great deal of deco otherwise. The niello bands on the best pieces is a really nice touch.

For some reason brass was more freely used in the Ottoman area, especially the Balkans, on pieces of mid-range quality.

[rickystl]

WOW !!! It's been four years since my original Post. Where has the time gone ?

Norman: Thanks so much for the close up photos of the sling attachment. What a simple, clever method. I will remember this.

Battara: Since I did not do the restoration myself, I'm not sure what glue was used to reconnect the two fore end pieces. But I'm fairly sure it was some form of epoxy. I think we determined the two-piece forearm was originally made that way (ala Indian Torador) and came unglued with age.

Philip: Thanks for your comments. I have a spare metal rod that has to be used with those custom sling rings as a wood rod won't clear the channel. But using the method per Norman's rifle, the wood will work fine.
I've seen this flat plate and ring attachment used on other Ottoman/Balkan guns. But they are easy to remove and use the original style method above.

Thanks again Norman. Much appreciated.

Rick

[Norman McCormick]

Originally Posted by rickystl

WOW !!! It's been four years since my original Post. Where has the time gone ?

Norman: Thanks so much for the close up photos of the sling attachment. What a simple, clever method. I will remember this.

Thanks again Norman. Much appreciated.

Rick

Hi Rick,
I must apologise for the ridiculous length of time it has taken me to take these photos and post them. Much of my stuff has been in storage for some time and this rifle was among them. I'm glad the images were useful.
My Regards,
Norman.

[Philip]

Originally Posted by Norman McCormick

Hi Rick,
Nice restoration as usual. I'm not sure about the sling rings. I thought the leather sling was attached as per this photograph of my rifle. I did research this method of attachment as my rifle came with the sling in situ and I wasn't sure if it was correct but my findings did reinforce that this was in actual fact the correct method but of course that's not to say that the rings are historically incorrect. Re the barrel bands, mine are brass if I remember correctly, stuff been in storage for the past year and a bit. Electroplating copper sheet with silver for your barrel bands would have been a bit cheaper than sterling silver but that's just my Caledonian thrift. Again a real nice display.
My Regards,
Norman.

Norman, the leather is correct. As an historical aside, the Russians became so enamored of this method of attaching a sling that they adopted it on their Model 1891 Mosin-Nagant rifles and carbines, and it remained in use as long as the rifle was current-issue which is until the end of World War II. Other nations which adopted the same lineup of rifles and made their own versions also kept the same sling system.

I've collected a number of Caucasian guns over the years, and have found that most of them have silver capucines. On some of the top grade guns, these sleeves were ornamented in niello just like the dagger and saber fittings.

[Philip]

Rick, excellent work on the stock. I especially like the ivory reconstruction, was great that your guy was able to secure walrus tusk in the appropriate dimensions.

[Battara]

Great work!

What kind of glue/cement did you use on the wood?