Musket Barrel for ID

rickystl · 8th April 2017, 10:14 PM

Hello all.
I'm not sure yet which Forum this should be on. But I'm starting on the Ethno Forum since it appears to be decorated for this market.
The seller thought this might be a Spanish made barrel, with the stampings and small amount of engraving. It was so covered in dirt you could just make out a small amount of what looked like silver at the breech. It's exactly 48" long (not including the breech plug tang) and about .62 caliber. You can see the four spaces where the barrel bands use to sit. The barrel tang hole is threaded. So it's bolt would have come through the bottom of the stock. I thought this barrel might have originally been mounted to a Moroccan snaphaunce musket (?) So I bought it (very cheap). After receiving it, I gave it a good oil cleaning, and look what I found !!!!! The entire top of the barrel is covered in silver. Virtually all of it still intact. What a surprise !!!! There are three stamps on the top flat of the breech, with one having a trace of gold left. And there appears to be some Arabic or maybe Greek script. If so, maybe a Forum member can translate it ?
And, on the bottom flat of the barrel it reads from left to right it reads:
Fort' Fd Sperandio Mutti a Gavdone There is the number 5 and the letter M along with a couple other small stamps.
So this may have been a Spanish/European barrel made for the Eastern market (?). Any help or opinions greatly appreciated. Maybe this should also be posted on the European Forum ? Anyway, here are a bunch of pics. And thanks for looking. You just never know what you'll find under dirt/rust. LOL

Rick

8th April 2017, 10:14 PM	#1
rickystl Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: St. Louis, MO area. Posts: 1,623	Musket Barrel for ID Hello all. I'm not sure yet which Forum this should be on. But I'm starting on the Ethno Forum since it appears to be decorated for this market. The seller thought this might be a Spanish made barrel, with the stampings and small amount of engraving. It was so covered in dirt you could just make out a small amount of what looked like silver at the breech. It's exactly 48" long (not including the breech plug tang) and about .62 caliber. You can see the four spaces where the barrel bands use to sit. The barrel tang hole is threaded. So it's bolt would have come through the bottom of the stock. I thought this barrel might have originally been mounted to a Moroccan snaphaunce musket (?) So I bought it (very cheap). After receiving it, I gave it a good oil cleaning, and look what I found !!!!! The entire top of the barrel is covered in silver. Virtually all of it still intact. What a surprise !!!! There are three stamps on the top flat of the breech, with one having a trace of gold left. And there appears to be some Arabic or maybe Greek script. If so, maybe a Forum member can translate it ? And, on the bottom flat of the barrel it reads from left to right it reads: Fort' Fd Sperandio Mutti a Gavdone There is the number 5 and the letter M along with a couple other small stamps. So this may have been a Spanish/European barrel made for the Eastern market (?). Any help or opinions greatly appreciated. Maybe this should also be posted on the European Forum ? Anyway, here are a bunch of pics. And thanks for looking. You just never know what you'll find under dirt/rust. LOL Rick Attached Images