Afghan Jazail - Restored

thinreadline · 6th April 2015, 01:22 AM

Nice job , and superb accessories ! Maybe you could share with us some of your restoration techniques, I am especially interested in how you treated the stock and the lock.

kahnjar1 · 6th April 2015, 01:39 AM

Nice job indeed! FYI the heart shaped stamp on the lock is that of the British East India Company.
Are you planning to replace the screws which would have held the barrel tang? The holes look a bit obvious........
Stu

estcrh · 6th April 2015, 02:39 AM

Great photographs, thanks! Did you do all of the restoration by yourself?

David R · 6th April 2015, 12:30 PM

Nice to see an old warrior returned to shooting condition.

Norman McCormick · 6th April 2015, 01:53 PM

Hi Rick,
Nice job, of course this will always bring up the difference of opinion within collector circles of how much restoration is too much and for that matter too little. For me your restoration has been sympathetic and very well done. Barrel lining is possibly a step too far for me with some of my pieces e.g. my Greek Kariofili rifle and my Caucasian miquelet rifle but for something that needs a ground up restoration and is a bit thicker on the ground I don't see a problem. Must be damn good fun to shoot

My Regards,
Norman.

rickystl · 6th April 2015, 01:59 PM

Hello all. Thanks for all the kind comments. As I write this, I'm about to leave home for the Airport. Will be out of town all week. So I won't really be able to reply till Saturday. There is more to the story on this gun. Especially the barrel. You won't believe it. Talk to you Saturday. Rick.

rickystl · 11th April 2015, 06:10 PM

Hello again. We just installed a new computer service company at work, but I can't get into Windows to access photos from home. This will get fixed Monday morning and I'll post photos of the barrel. This is a must see. Meantime, I'm confined to using text only on my I-Pad.

I did not perform the restoration myself. Restoration was done by my gunsmith Earl Kathan in New Hampshire. I can do minor repairs, but Earl is so good at this, I usually leave matters to him. The gun was completely disassembled down to the stock. A stock stain was mixed to match the original stain. The lock and barrel were cleaned using a glass bead blaster at very low speed. This works great for removing loose red rust while maintaining the original patina underneath. But here is the amazing part: When I removed the lock, there was a thin piece of wood and leather used to fill a gap between the lock plate and the barrel. And the reason for this is that the barrel started life kas a MATCHLOCK !! What a surprise. The original groove cut into the barrel for the matchlock pan/cover is still there. I didn't want to weld up this area and loose the evidence of the original matchlock configuration. So we added a thick piece of sheet brass to the back of the lock plate to fill the gap.
Another barrel problem: Someone had beaten the tar out of the breech plug tang trying to get it to line up. Breech plug could not be removed. So the breech plug tang was cut off, and the breech plug drilled out and a new plug was installed with the original tang welded back on the the new plug. At the same time, a new .54 caliber liner was installed. The V notch for the rear sight was welded up and re-cut to properly line up with the new front sight.
More about the stock: At some point, the stock had been dropped on it's heel causing a break at the wrist. This was properly repaired. The two nails holding the horn butt cap and bone inlay to the stock were bent. With half the white bone inlay missing. So two new, long nails were hand made, the horn butt cap polished out, and a new camel bone inlay was made from a knife slab handle and everything put back together. WHEW! This gun's had a lot of work done to it. More than I really expected. But once we got into it far enough, there was a point of no return. LOL

I'll post the barrel pics Monday. Thanks for your interest. Rick.

6th April 2015, 02:39 AM	#3
estcrh Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: USA Posts: 1,497	Great photographs, thanks! Did you do all of the restoration by yourself? Attached Images

6th April 2015, 01:22 AM	#1
thinreadline Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Wirral Posts: 1,204	Nice job , and superb accessories ! Maybe you could share with us some of your restoration techniques, I am especially interested in how you treated the stock and the lock.

6th April 2015, 01:39 AM	#2
kahnjar1 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: CHRISTCHURCH NEW ZEALAND Posts: 2,730	Nice job indeed! FYI the heart shaped stamp on the lock is that of the British East India Company. Are you planning to replace the screws which would have held the barrel tang? The holes look a bit obvious........ Stu

6th April 2015, 12:30 PM	#4
David R Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 1,053	Nice to see an old warrior returned to shooting condition.

6th April 2015, 01:53 PM	#5
Norman McCormick Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 1,577	Hi Rick, Nice job, of course this will always bring up the difference of opinion within collector circles of how much restoration is too much and for that matter too little. For me your restoration has been sympathetic and very well done. Barrel lining is possibly a step too far for me with some of my pieces e.g. my Greek Kariofili rifle and my Caucasian miquelet rifle but for something that needs a ground up restoration and is a bit thicker on the ground I don't see a problem. Must be damn good fun to shoot My Regards, Norman.

6th April 2015, 01:59 PM	#6
rickystl Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: St. Louis, MO area. Posts: 1,621	Hello all. Thanks for all the kind comments. As I write this, I'm about to leave home for the Airport. Will be out of town all week. So I won't really be able to reply till Saturday. There is more to the story on this gun. Especially the barrel. You won't believe it. Talk to you Saturday. Rick.

11th April 2015, 06:10 PM	#7
rickystl Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: St. Louis, MO area. Posts: 1,621	Hello again. We just installed a new computer service company at work, but I can't get into Windows to access photos from home. This will get fixed Monday morning and I'll post photos of the barrel. This is a must see. Meantime, I'm confined to using text only on my I-Pad. I did not perform the restoration myself. Restoration was done by my gunsmith Earl Kathan in New Hampshire. I can do minor repairs, but Earl is so good at this, I usually leave matters to him. The gun was completely disassembled down to the stock. A stock stain was mixed to match the original stain. The lock and barrel were cleaned using a glass bead blaster at very low speed. This works great for removing loose red rust while maintaining the original patina underneath. But here is the amazing part: When I removed the lock, there was a thin piece of wood and leather used to fill a gap between the lock plate and the barrel. And the reason for this is that the barrel started life kas a MATCHLOCK !! What a surprise. The original groove cut into the barrel for the matchlock pan/cover is still there. I didn't want to weld up this area and loose the evidence of the original matchlock configuration. So we added a thick piece of sheet brass to the back of the lock plate to fill the gap. Another barrel problem: Someone had beaten the tar out of the breech plug tang trying to get it to line up. Breech plug could not be removed. So the breech plug tang was cut off, and the breech plug drilled out and a new plug was installed with the original tang welded back on the the new plug. At the same time, a new .54 caliber liner was installed. The V notch for the rear sight was welded up and re-cut to properly line up with the new front sight. More about the stock: At some point, the stock had been dropped on it's heel causing a break at the wrist. This was properly repaired. The two nails holding the horn butt cap and bone inlay to the stock were bent. With half the white bone inlay missing. So two new, long nails were hand made, the horn butt cap polished out, and a new camel bone inlay was made from a knife slab handle and everything put back together. WHEW! This gun's had a lot of work done to it. More than I really expected. But once we got into it far enough, there was a point of no return. LOL I'll post the barrel pics Monday. Thanks for your interest. Rick.