POWDER MAGAZINE/BANDOLIER for Comment

[kahnjar1]

Just received this interesting old belt/bandolier, holding tubes for measured charges of black powder. Origin was stated as Afghani but the brass buckle suggests Omani. Anyway a very hard to find item IMHO.
The 9 tubes are of bamboo??? with woolfibre stoppers capped with leather. The tubes measure 4 1/2" (115mm) and are approx. 30mm diam. The tops are decorated with inset white metal of some sort.
The leather pouch attached to the belt has a very hard to decipher stamp on the back which looks like: Middlemore & Lambert
1909
Birmingham
together with the large stamped letters M.R/O This is obviously an old British Military pouch of some sort.
Comments welcome.
Stu

[thinreadline]

The small pouch looks like one of the pouches from the 1901 Royal Navy Bandolier .

[colin henshaw]

Nice piece Stu, with good honest wear. I like it. With the Omani type buckle, what about East Africa for origin ?

[thinreadline]

Could the stamp say 'Middlemore & Lamplugh' ? This was a firm of Birmingham leather equipment manufacturers to the War Dept up to 1920 . What is it about the brass buckle that indicates Omani to you ?

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by thinreadline

Could the stamp say 'Middlemore & Lamplugh' ? This was a firm of Birmingham leather equipment manufacturers to the War Dept up to 1920 . What is it about the brass buckle that indicates Omani to you ?

Thanks Threadline. Yes the stamp likely says Middlemore & Lamplugh. As I said it is rather indistinct. Thank you for the clarification. However the pouch style is not the same as those shown in your other post. Yours show a single layer flap, and the one on my belt has a double layer.
In relation to the buckle, it is similar in shape and design to those used on most true Omani belts and has been discussed elsewhere on the Forum. This style appears to attributed to the interior of Oman....Rostag/Nizwa regions.
Attached is a pic of an Omani ammunition belt with the same buckle.
Stu

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by colin henshaw

Nice piece Stu, with good honest wear. I like it. With the Omani type buckle, what about East Africa for origin ?

Maybe, as Omani traders/slavers were all over the region. The belt/flask of yours recently on the Swap Forum, I believe, also has an Omani belt, but merged with a flask from somewhere else in Africa.
Stu

[thinreadline]

Thanks for that info re the buckle. My mistake re the flap . in that case your pouch is the Infantry Pattern 1903 ammunition pouch . This has the double flap and the 5th rivet to the rear which would have originally retained a brass 'D'.

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by thinreadline

Thanks for that info re the buckle. My mistake re the flap . in that case your pouch is the Infantry Pattern 1903 ammunition pouch . This has the double flap and the 5th rivet to the rear which would have originally retained a brass 'D'.

Yep that looks like it. So it also fits with the 1909 date stamped on the back. I have no doubt that the pouch was likely "souvenired" from British equipment and used (maybe) to hold lead balls....sounds logical anyway.
Stu

[thinreadline]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

Yep that looks like it. So it also fits with the 1909 date stamped on the back. I have no doubt that the pouch was likely "souvenired" from British equipment and used (maybe) to hold lead balls....sounds logical anyway.
Stu

Yes that will be it ... the 1903 equipment although designed initially for infantrymen , it saw long service ( up to the late 1940s ) by mounted troops especially in India and South Africa .

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

Just received this interesting old belt/bandolier, holding tubes for measured charges of black powder. Origin was stated as Afghani but the brass buckle suggests Omani. Anyway a very hard to find item IMHO.
The 9 tubes are of bamboo??? with woolfibre stoppers capped with leather. The tubes measure 4 1/2" (115mm) and are approx. 30mm diam. The tops are decorated with inset white metal of some sort.
The leather pouch attached to the belt has a very hard to decipher stamp on the back which looks like: Middlemore & Lambert
1909
Birmingham
together with the large stamped letters M.R/O This is obviously an old British Military pouch of some sort.
Comments welcome.
Stu

Salaams Khanjar1 ... I last handled a similar set of charge, wadd, ball and belt about a year ago in Muttrah Souk... exactly the same material and I thought at the time ...bamboo...The buckle is indeed Omani and I remember writing something to library about the old cuttle fish bone moldings the master craftsmen used... Reading on I see the very uniform looking pouches are discussed successfully . The style of leather stitch on the rear of the broad belt section using a thick flat lace of leather curiously interwoven also appears to be the Omani style.

I definitely ought to have collected that old gunbelt as I'm sure it will have gone by now...However, next week I will take a look.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Salaams Khanjar1 ... I last handled a similar set of charge, wadd, ball and belt about a year ago in Muttrah Souk... exactly the same material and I thought at the time ...bamboo...The buckle is indeed Omani and I remember writing something to library about the old cuttle fish bone moldings the master craftsmen used... Reading on I see the very uniform looking pouches are discussed successfully . The style of leather stitch on the rear of the broad belt section using a thick flat lace of leather curiously interwoven also appears to be the Omani style.

I definitely ought to have collected that old gunbelt as I'm sure it will have gone by now...However, next week I will take a look.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

Salaams Ibrahiim,
Thank you for the confirmation as to Omani origin.
Stu