Ottoman rifle
 

Nice short rifle- 86 cm. i hope 18C?

more pics

Hello. Very nice Turkish Rifle. Wish I had found it. :D My guess would be early 19th Century. The lock on this one is interesting. Overall looks Turkish made, the hammer design looks somewhat Spanish/Portugese influenced.
The mainspring is mounted very low on the plate. Also, the hammer screw appears to have fine vs coarse threads? Never seen that hammer style on a Turkish rifle. But, the lock looks complete and original. Is the lock in working condition? Again, nice piece. Congratulations. Rick.

The barrel is old Turkish and considerably shortened. The stock is Turkish influenced but the decoration has elements of north Africa and Morocco. I have this on two boy's kabyle stocks. It is likely 19th century African from the area occupied by the forces of Ali (likely an Albanian and a part of the Turkish occupation. His son later took over the "business" and ran a somewhat independent territory under Turkish authority). The lock is north African style and is found on a lot of guns of that region. The lock is likely a traditional style for the area as is the Moroccan development of the English dog lock/snaphaunce and its relatives found on Jezails or Kabyles.

Hello. I very much agree with all your assesments. Now that you mention it the decoration does look North African/Morocco. And, yes the lock is not Turkish. Just have not seen a miquelet lock styled like this. But then, this gun is a real mix of cultures. I find it very interesting. Even though I don't own this paticular gun, I do collect them. Thanks for your knowledge and input. Rick.