Jezail barrel origin question

AHite · 20th August 2025, 02:37 AM

I recently acquired another jezail for my collection. It is a bit worn and beat up, but like all of these guns has a lot of history behind it. It is a simple and unadorned gun, with the East India Company-marked flintlock mechanism made by Hirst and dated 1781. It still goes to half and full cock, but the frizzen hinge area is very worn. No trigger guard, nor any indication of one ever being installed.

I would like to know the origin of the barrel. On the top of the barrel there is an "Arabesque" design, and there appears to be a maker's mark on the left side of the barrel near the breach. The barrel is made of twisted steel, with a slight flare at the end. It appears to be smoothbore. I believe the barrel bands were originally steel, like one of the remaining ones. The others are brass, with one being a simple band that was probably an easy field fix. I have another jezail with a similar "fix".

The front of the stock is damaged, and missing half of it's length. It's interesting to note that the stock has what I believe is a "duffel cut". A duffel cut was something US soldiers did during WW2 when they were bringing back a souvenir long rifle, like a Japanese Arisaka. The soldier would disassemble the rifle, and cut the stock roughly in half (where a barrel band would cover the cut) in order to put it and the other parts into their duffel bag to take home. I believe this happened to this jezail, and somewhere down the way the front part of the stock got damaged and the cleaning rod was lost. Just speculation. If I can source a proper piece of wood (aged walnut from an old gunstock) I would like to recreate the missing section. I have several other jezails that have cleaning rods to use as models.

Thanks for looking, any comments or info are appreciated!

DaleH · Today, 03:58 PM

From my experience, many of these and Toradars were made using 2-piece stocks on the upper forend, glued with animal glue and covered by a barrel band. Usually the splice was on an angle.

20th August 2025, 02:37 AM	#1
AHite Member Join Date: Dec 2022 Posts: 66	Jezail barrel origin question I recently acquired another jezail for my collection. It is a bit worn and beat up, but like all of these guns has a lot of history behind it. It is a simple and unadorned gun, with the East India Company-marked flintlock mechanism made by Hirst and dated 1781. It still goes to half and full cock, but the frizzen hinge area is very worn. No trigger guard, nor any indication of one ever being installed. I would like to know the origin of the barrel. On the top of the barrel there is an "Arabesque" design, and there appears to be a maker's mark on the left side of the barrel near the breach. The barrel is made of twisted steel, with a slight flare at the end. It appears to be smoothbore. I believe the barrel bands were originally steel, like one of the remaining ones. The others are brass, with one being a simple band that was probably an easy field fix. I have another jezail with a similar "fix". The front of the stock is damaged, and missing half of it's length. It's interesting to note that the stock has what I believe is a "duffel cut". A duffel cut was something US soldiers did during WW2 when they were bringing back a souvenir long rifle, like a Japanese Arisaka. The soldier would disassemble the rifle, and cut the stock roughly in half (where a barrel band would cover the cut) in order to put it and the other parts into their duffel bag to take home. I believe this happened to this jezail, and somewhere down the way the front part of the stock got damaged and the cleaning rod was lost. Just speculation. If I can source a proper piece of wood (aged walnut from an old gunstock) I would like to recreate the missing section. I have several other jezails that have cleaning rods to use as models. Thanks for looking, any comments or info are appreciated! Attached Images

Today, 03:58 PM	#2
DaleH Member Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: near Boston - USA Posts: 13	From my experience, many of these and Toradars were made using 2-piece stocks on the upper forend, glued with animal glue and covered by a barrel band. Usually the splice was on an angle.