Hi Colin

Item 2 you mention above is something I believe is often over-looked when studying these shoulder guns. With the exception of the thick, leather pads which would seem obvious to reduce recoil, the separate wood butt cap, whether Arab, Coorg, or even Ottoman leads me to believe you are correct. Should the gun be traded or sold, the user could change the Length of Pull (LOP) to accommodate a different shooter by just extending or shortening the butt cap. It's why I believe the Ottoman guns butt stocks were always made in two pieces.
It's also what makes these guns a bit difficult to shoot today. The LOP typically being between 11 and 12 inches. Whereas the European guns would be closer to 13 to 13.5 inches. Today's shooters average 14 inches.
And, as you mention, the grips on the tulwar swords are smaller than their European counterparts. Quite interesting.

Rick

To add to the interesting information and discussion above, here is Elgood's take on the Indo-Arab gun, from his book Firearms of the Islamic World (in the Tareq Rajab Museum, Kuwait).
Hope you find it of interest.
Stu

Thanks Stu. Most interesting. Glad I have this book.

Rick

Hi Stu

You may be interested to know that the middle gun you have illustrated (no. 125) now in the Kuwait Museum, was the one once owned by me. Bought in an antique shop in Abu Dhabi and which I foolishly sold later in the UK.

Colin

Oh! And I was just about to comment on the beauty that is no. 125...

Glad I am not the only one to regret selling stuff :o :o :o

Me too. LOL :(

Rick

Found this image from The National Museum of Yemen, Sana'a which might interest. Note the guns in the display case in the background...

Great pic Colin and thanks for posting. I wonder with the troubles in Yemen if the museum is still standing!
Interesting that all the long guns shown on display appear to have the butt "extension" which perhaps suggests that the feature COULD be typical only to that region. Certainly the Omani matchlock does not have the butt extension (see pic), and to my knowledge it is the only other type of matchlock peculiar to the Arabian Peninsula.
Stu

another one

Here two photos of Ottoman matchlocks in Istanbul.
The link is very clear to me...
:shrug:

Wonderful pics guys. And a very interesting Thread.

Rick

A question re the guns shown in the pic posted by KUBUR....... the 2 on the right certainly look to be Turkish as described by the museum item labels, as the butt shape looks typically from that region, however the one on the left is typical of the subject gun of this thread.........mislabeled???
Stu

Regarding the Arab style butt, years ago when these were often referred to as "Camel guns" I was told that they were often "tap loaded" from horse or camel back.
Tap loading is done without the use of a ramrod, powder and shot are put down the barrel and the butt then banged on the ground to force the load down to the breech. If the touch hole was large enough it would prime the pan as well, if it was a flintlock.
The large butt extension could make sense in these circumstances.

That’s very interesting. I can imagine the frustration on horse/camelback when fiddling with a ramrod and dropping it to the ground. Can see why “tap loading” might be a preferred method.

I have "tap loaded" back when I shot muzzle loaders and it is faster than ramming... but always a bit risky if you put a ball down there.

Napoleonic armies did it a lot to increase rate of fire, the record is 12 rounds in one minute by one of Wellingtons veterans.