Arab percussion for comments

[Mefidk]

Hi folks - been a bit quiet on the gun front so I thought I'd share my latest gun.

Barrel is 98cm long, 12mm bore, and is hexagonal at the base. The enlarged butt is covered with cloth and wrapped with pieces of animal skin (maybe shot with this gun!).

The lock was a nice surprise, which from the photos I was not sure if genuine or in what condition. The outside shows signs of age and the hammer of wear in the cup as a result of frequent use (and misses a retaining screw). The inside was perfect though once cleaned. Army stamps are clearly visible as are a number of other stamps on or near the individual parts (I believe these are referred to in cleaning instructions). The contractor that made the lock plate has his name inside (J. Francis). James Francis was a contractor for Enfield, and together with the form and date I'm assuming that the lock was originally on an P53 or P60 British army Enfield Rifle. Although I am not 100% certain.

I guess that the likelihood is that the lock moved to the arab gun at the end of the military rifle's life, perhaps 20 years later, perhaps putting this gun at around 1880-1900.

[Tim Simmons]

I do not know much about guns. I do know that British locks were widely traded. Perhaps the gun is as old as the lock? The only thing I can see that is latter is the white metal which is clearly replacements. Which to me suggests the gun is as old as the lock?

[rickystl]

Hi Mefidk. Nice looking old Arab gun. And, you have one with genuine British parts. Not only the lock, but the front lock screw, trigger guard (and rear sling swival), and ramrod appears to be from a M1853 Enfield. Can you post some additional photos? Especially the muzzle end and ramrod tip. Is the barrel rifled or smoothbore? I'm sure it just a coincidece, but the 98cm (39") barrel length is equal to the length of the M1853 Enfield rifle. But the standard Enfield rifle was a .577 caliber. However, the sharpshooter's rifle was about .45 caliber. From your photo, the front sight looks like it might be a filed down Enfield front sight? Again, more photos if you can. Thanks for posting!!! Wish I owned it. Rick.

[Mefidk]

Thanks, Rick. I've attached a couple of extra pictures that I had handy. The barrell starts off round and becomes hexagonal from the middle towards the back, not damascus, and the muzzle bore is smooth. So not unfortunately an P53 barrel, and ramrod was locally made but you are absolutely right about the trigger guard - even though its been decorated its a perfect match for the Enfield ( I'll come clean here and admit that I had not noticed this even though I'm sitting with a 1956 3-band Enfield not more than 4 feet from my nose )

Since the guard and lock at least are both from the British gun, I guess this was built from recycled parts, at some time after 1860. Since there is a neatly cut space for the missing part of the trigger guard it must have been complete when the gun was put together.

Do you know what the five rolled metal inserts on the butt were for - decoration or was there a practical purpose?

[rickystl]

Hi Mefidk. Thanks for the additional photos. Now that I see a close up of the muzzle end, as you mentioned the barrel and ramrod were locally made. And, the trigger guard (and trigger) started off as P53 with the exception of the locally added round sling ring. I'm pretty sure the 5 metal pieces on the stock behind the lock were added just as decoration, and quite common on these guns. This gun is a good example of utilizing salvaged British parts. I'm sure that this was often done but most surviving examples I've seen have crude locally made copies of the British Brown Bess or Enfield locks. Your's has the genuine lock and trigger guard, which makes this gun more interesting. Again, great looking gun. Thanks so much for Posting. Rick.

By the way, let me know if you want a hammer screw. As you know the British built these locks by the thousands. So "original" parts are not that hard to come by - at least here in the States.

[Mefidk]

I decided to clean this up a bit, make sure there was no rust in the barrel before displaying it on my wall and I made a rather nice discovery. The etched patterns that were visible under the old dry grease are about 60% still inlaid with silver. Not only that but the barrel is, contrary to my first expectations, a damascus twist barrel. No marks on the barrel though, no stamps etc., only the silver pattern.

So far I've only done an gentle etch to bring out the pattern on the top of the barrel where it was invisible. However, now I'm considering darkening it back to what I think is a more orginal colour, and fitting better with the dark wood. Not quite sure how I'll protect the silver though since the etch seems to work best hot and wax or grease resist might not do too well under those conditions. I wonder does anyone have experience with doing this and have an idea how best to tackle it?

[Battara]

I am just amazed at how those original artisans cut into damascus steel to inlay the silver. I would imagine that twist-core steel would be more difficult than mono-steel.

[Mefidk]

I guess it must be hard to cut due to differential hardness. I was also wondering how the silver inlay is held in place - is it put in hot or simply hammered into the recess? It would be nice to fill the missing sections, but that might be a technical step too far for my metalwork abilities (at least without risking damage to the barrel).

The silver pattern and the form of the barrel is somewhat similar to this one http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=13706 although this barrel is much nicer. Perhaps mine was a practice piece before he got onto making libra's gun

Chris

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by Mefidk

I decided to clean this up a bit, make sure there was no rust in the barrel before displaying it on my wall and I made a rather nice discovery. The etched patterns that were visible under the old dry grease are about 60% still inlaid with silver. Not only that but the barrel is, contrary to my first expectations, a damascus twist barrel. No marks on the barrel though, no stamps etc., only the silver pattern.

So far I've only done an gentle etch to bring out the pattern on the top of the barrel where it was invisible. However, now I'm considering darkening it back to what I think is a more orginal colour, and fitting better with the dark wood. Not quite sure how I'll protect the silver though since the etch seems to work best hot and wax or grease resist might not do too well under those conditions. I wonder does anyone have experience with doing this and have an idea how best to tackle it?

Not sure what you are using as etch, but in my past experience, the metal IS better hot but ONLY to the heat of boilng water. That will not damage the silver and if it is a "feric" etch (which it should be) then it won't attack the silver either.
Regards Stu

[Mefidk]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

Not sure what you are using as etch, but in my past experience, the metal IS better hot but ONLY to the heat of boilng water. That will not damage the silver and if it is a "feric" etch (which it should be) then it won't attack the silver either.
Regards Stu

Thanks Stu - I didn't realize that Ferric Chloride would not attack the silver. So I can manage this without the resist - great.

Added a couple more pictures of the gun this far.

[kai]

I didn't realize that Ferric Chloride would not attack the silver. So I can manage this without the resist - great.

It won't attack pure silver to any noticeable degree and even lower silver alloys will repolish easily. However, the acid will eat away any rust in the crevices and sometimes this is the only hold for old inlay work which then can get loose...

If you work swiftly and take care to kill any remaining acid afterwards (IMHO ammonium based solutions work more effectively than washing soda or baking powder), this is usually not a problem. If you want a bit more safety, you can use a clear lacquer (or nail polish) to fill any crevices and offer so some protection for the inlay and remove this later with organic solvents. If you decide to go this route, I'd suggest to carefully remove any lacquer from the surface as any remaining stains may interfere with the etching process.

Regards,
Kai

[kai]

I am just amazed at how those original artisans cut into damascus steel to inlay the silver. I would imagine that twist-core steel would be more difficult than mono-steel.

I doubt that these pattern-welded barrels received a heat treatment that would make them harder than decently treated monosteel of western origin. If you can work out a good bore for a barrel of almost 1 meter, the engarving for the inlay seems more like a piece of cake to me...

Regards,
Kai

[kai]

Hello Chris,

I was also wondering how the silver inlay is held in place - is it put in hot or simply hammered into the recess? It would be nice to fill the missing sections, but that might be a technical step too far for my metalwork abilities (at least without risking damage to the barrel).

Silver and gold inlay is cold worked - these are soft metals and quite easy to work with (especially, when annealed).

Regards,
Kai

[Mefidk]

Originally Posted by kai

If you work swiftly and take care to kill any remaining acid afterwards (IMHO ammonium based solutions work more effectively than washing soda or baking powder), this is usually not a problem. If you want a bit more safety, you can use a clear lacquer (or nail polish) to fill any crevices and offer so some protection for the inlay and remove this later with organic solvents. If you decide to go this route, I'd suggest to carefully remove any lacquer from the surface as any remaining stains may interfere with the etching process.

Sounds like excellent advice, thanks Kai. I'll see if I can give this a go at the weekend. I like the idea of lacquer, just in case. Don't want to lose the last 60% silver