Ottoman rifle

[rickystl]

Originally Posted by fspic

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.