Afghan Jazail - Restored

rickystl · 11th April 2015, 06:53 PM

Hi Norman. Well, you're right of course. I too believe in the general consensus: As little as possible, and as much as necessary. I have another Jazail that I will eventually post. It is more highly decorated and in very good condition as is. The only work I will do to it is clean the inside of the barrel. And have the lock cleaned and tuned. It will simply reside in my collection.
To make a safe shooting gun you have to search for just the right candidate. Better than a wall hanger, but not so good as to alter a nice collectors piece. This Jazail was just a couple of steps above a basket case. But it also had an original Barnett export lock versus a locally made copy. The mainspring was too strong and had to be reduced and re-hardened. Works fine now. Sparks very well. Yes!!! It's a blast to shoot. I do plan on a series of YouTube videos while shooting these guns. Hopefully this Summer, but next Summer for sure. There are plenty of videos of guys shooting original/replica European and U.S. Made arms. But I've never seen any footage actually shooting these Middle Eastern guns. So maybe I'll be the first.

Rick.

Norman McCormick · 11th April 2015, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickystl

I do plan on a series of YouTube videos while shooting these guns. Hopefully this Summer, but next Summer for sure. Rick.

rickystl · 18th April 2015, 04:18 PM

hello again. Well, I am finally back home long enough to get my computer working correctly. So here are some additional pics of the barrel and lock.
BARREL: Note the barrel started life as a Matchlock. The original groove cut into the barrel is where the pan/cover resided. Imagine my surprise to see this when I first removed the lock. The pic shows where the new breech plug was installed with the original barrel tang welded back on. As well, the original sight groove welded closed and re-cut to match the new front sight.Still had to re-heat the tang and slightly bend it to fit the stock. Whew. And note the muzzle end of the barrel. You can hardly notice the new steel .54 caliber liner was installed.
LOCK: Note the thick sheet brass added to the back of the lock plate and pan area to fill the space between the lock and barrel. That way the evidence of the original matchlock is still intact.

This gun took far more work than I originally anticipated. But I'm happy with the end result. It shoots very accurate and is a lot of fun. Thanks for looking and all of your responses. Hope you found it interesting.
I'll post another gun this weekend. Rick.

rickystl · 18th April 2015, 04:20 PM

And pics of the Lock:

18th April 2015, 04:18 PM	#3
rickystl Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: St. Louis, MO area. Posts: 1,629	hello again. Well, I am finally back home long enough to get my computer working correctly. So here are some additional pics of the barrel and lock. BARREL: Note the barrel started life as a Matchlock. The original groove cut into the barrel is where the pan/cover resided. Imagine my surprise to see this when I first removed the lock. The pic shows where the new breech plug was installed with the original barrel tang welded back on. As well, the original sight groove welded closed and re-cut to match the new front sight.Still had to re-heat the tang and slightly bend it to fit the stock. Whew. And note the muzzle end of the barrel. You can hardly notice the new steel .54 caliber liner was installed. LOCK: Note the thick sheet brass added to the back of the lock plate and pan area to fill the space between the lock and barrel. That way the evidence of the original matchlock is still intact. This gun took far more work than I originally anticipated. But I'm happy with the end result. It shoots very accurate and is a lot of fun. Thanks for looking and all of your responses. Hope you found it interesting. I'll post another gun this weekend. Rick. Attached Images

18th April 2015, 04:20 PM	#4
rickystl Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: St. Louis, MO area. Posts: 1,629	And pics of the Lock: Attached Images

11th April 2015, 06:53 PM	#1
rickystl Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: St. Louis, MO area. Posts: 1,629	Hi Norman. Well, you're right of course. I too believe in the general consensus: As little as possible, and as much as necessary. I have another Jazail that I will eventually post. It is more highly decorated and in very good condition as is. The only work I will do to it is clean the inside of the barrel. And have the lock cleaned and tuned. It will simply reside in my collection. To make a safe shooting gun you have to search for just the right candidate. Better than a wall hanger, but not so good as to alter a nice collectors piece. This Jazail was just a couple of steps above a basket case. But it also had an original Barnett export lock versus a locally made copy. The mainspring was too strong and had to be reduced and re-hardened. Works fine now. Sparks very well. Yes!!! It's a blast to shoot. I do plan on a series of YouTube videos while shooting these guns. Hopefully this Summer, but next Summer for sure. There are plenty of videos of guys shooting original/replica European and U.S. Made arms. But I've never seen any footage actually shooting these Middle Eastern guns. So maybe I'll be the first. Rick.