Afghan Jezail in York, UK

ward · 14th April 2010, 03:13 AM

You may want to stop at this point removing heavy black pitting can be made better by using brass dental style picks along with oil.It is time consuming. To correctly acid etch a full barrell you need to submerge the whole barrel. You can get various other results using a quick ferricc chloride etch. If you are feeling brave you can do it with a full hydracloric bath but I would suggest you may want a chemist or a similar type of person with you to do it. It is a little dicey

RDGAC · 29th April 2010, 12:32 PM

Been removing the active rust, and have found that it's been working long enough to leave big, very ugly patches of black inactive rust all over the barrel's upper surfaces. I'd love to remove these but gather that inactive rust is bonded with the steel pretty firmly; noting Ward's recommendation of brass dental picks, would a brass brush do the same sort of job? Also, discovered that the green "copper" corrosion is indeed attributable to brass - consultation with a nearby expert on Oriental (i.e. non-Occidental) arms suggests it's part of the brazing that held its pan in place back when it was a matchlock (!); in the same area, the nipple carrier is seemingly screwed into the touch-hole, and the breech plug looks to have been (very crudely) welded in place. Eesh. Makes one leery of trying to shoot such a thing.

lionzden · 30th April 2010, 02:31 PM

err on the side of caution when removing rust, last thing you want to do is leave it submerged too long

RDGAC · 9th July 2010, 02:15 PM

And a belated reply, with a minor update: browsing around the forum for further information on these creatures (I'm now thinking of buying one myself - it's everyone here's fault, I tell you!) I came across http://blade.japet.com/B-afghan1.htm - which got me thinking about this lock. I had attributed the cut-away section of the lock to a crude attempt at de-activation; is it instead possible that this was a native-made flintlock, modified to become a caplock? I present my hypothesis - with thanks to LPCA - in the form of this magnificent illustration.

I also attach a couple of better pictures, which might show the watering more clearly than did my previous efforts.

9th July 2010, 02:15 PM	#4
RDGAC Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: York, UK Posts: 167	And a belated reply, with a minor update: browsing around the forum for further information on these creatures (I'm now thinking of buying one myself - it's everyone here's fault, I tell you!) I came across http://blade.japet.com/B-afghan1.htm - which got me thinking about this lock. I had attributed the cut-away section of the lock to a crude attempt at de-activation; is it instead possible that this was a native-made flintlock, modified to become a caplock? I present my hypothesis - with thanks to LPCA - in the form of this magnificent illustration. I also attach a couple of better pictures, which might show the watering more clearly than did my previous efforts. Attached Images

14th April 2010, 03:13 AM	#1
ward Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 637	You may want to stop at this point removing heavy black pitting can be made better by using brass dental style picks along with oil.It is time consuming. To correctly acid etch a full barrell you need to submerge the whole barrel. You can get various other results using a quick ferricc chloride etch. If you are feeling brave you can do it with a full hydracloric bath but I would suggest you may want a chemist or a similar type of person with you to do it. It is a little dicey

29th April 2010, 12:32 PM	#2
RDGAC Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: York, UK Posts: 167	Been removing the active rust, and have found that it's been working long enough to leave big, very ugly patches of black inactive rust all over the barrel's upper surfaces. I'd love to remove these but gather that inactive rust is bonded with the steel pretty firmly; noting Ward's recommendation of brass dental picks, would a brass brush do the same sort of job? Also, discovered that the green "copper" corrosion is indeed attributable to brass - consultation with a nearby expert on Oriental (i.e. non-Occidental) arms suggests it's part of the brazing that held its pan in place back when it was a matchlock (!); in the same area, the nipple carrier is seemingly screwed into the touch-hole, and the breech plug looks to have been (very crudely) welded in place. Eesh. Makes one leery of trying to shoot such a thing.

30th April 2010, 02:31 PM	#3
lionzden Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 51	err on the side of caution when removing rust, last thing you want to do is leave it submerged too long