Moukhala Rifle
 

Hello everybody!
I am new on this forum,my name is Martin Merks from the Netherlands.
I have been a collector for almost 18 years now.
I collect russian and islamic swords/weapons.

Hereby I want to share with you this very nice and very long (180 cm)
Moukhala rifle.
I believe all parts of this rifle were completly made in Marrocco including the flintlock.
The butt is made of a big piece of Ivory,and the stock is inlayed with small blood corals.
Seems to me it was made for somekind of chief or other high tribesman.
However I was wondering from what area it comes from and if some of you can tell memore about it.

Great forum this is!!

Rgds
Martin Merks

Thank you so much for posting this outstanding piece Martin!!!
I really dont know a great deal on these North African guns, but they are fascinating, and incredibly colorful. I am wondering about the significance of the corals imbedded in the butt, and have often seen coral as a decorative addition on Moroccan weapons. Can anyone please explain, is there any kind of talismanic or symbolic meaning?

All best regards ,
Jim

Hi Martin,
Welcome to the forum.
Great Moukhala you got there.
I hope the expert folks will tell you where about it comes from :) .
Fernando

Well, I have no idea abour guns, but...


What is this strange sword you have on the wall, the one between the Nimcha and the 1881 Russian shashka ?
Can I entice you to provide better pics?

african short sword
 

Hi Ariel

Good eyes you have.
I posted a new thread with pics.

Rgds
Martin

Outstanding rifle!
Are you going to fire it?

Welcome to the forum Navigator!!!
Thank you for posting....tell us about your interests, are you a gun collector?
Best regards,
Jim

Hi Jim,
I do have the collector gene.
But my strongest interests are in Philippine ethnic art.
I lived six years in the Philippines and travelled in the Cordillera as both an anthropology student and amateur photographer.
I have a modest collection of weavings, carvings, basketry, and weapons from the Cordillera and perhaps a dozen Kris from Mindanao.

OK, I guess our gun experts are on vacation and nobody else wants to dance:)....I know little about guns, but decided to hit the books.

Apparantly these interesting Kabyle guns are termed the Kabyle miguelet or moukalla (these other terms such as miguelet etc.are apparantly often in dispute, but moukalla is the locally used term). While references claim that Italian locks were often supplied to the Kabyles (these guns were in use from the 17th century) it does appear this is a native version of the locks which I believe are termed an ajujeta lock (Arab toe lock). These are modified versions that are said to correspond loosely to the Ripoll (Catalonia) style miguelet locks.
These guns usually fired in about .67 cal. range, and usually had about up to twelve 'capucines' (silver bands) around the barrel.

While I was not yet able to discover the specifics on significance or meaning of the corals, it does seem that these were used extensively to decorate weapons and trappings with the Ottomans, who referred to this type of decoration as 'cezayir isi' (Elgood, p.76). Many flintlock pistols were made in France (St. Etienne) for export to Algeria with profusely applied coral decoration. The French Copmpagnie d'Afrique in Tunisia and eastern Algeria supplied the coral.

This looks like a splendid example of late 19th century moukhala, and likely served well in regions in Kabylia into the struggles there into the 20th century. The flintlock was often a favored weapon in remote tribal regions as they remained servicable where cartridge weapons supplies were often unobtainable.

The illustrations are an Ottoman hilt profuse with coral decoration and a Kabyle warrior of 19th c. with his moukalla and familiar flyssa. This example does not have the recognizable trumpet shaped butt however.

Great stuff
 

Nice peices Martin and great data Jim.

Jim, for a man who doesn't know guns you certainly made an entrance with that post. I have never studied firearms of any kind. I shot a lot but that is as far as the romance goes. I'd be interested to see what Philip brings to the table if he catches this thread.

What I like about these long arms and in in particular what Martin shows in the images, is that that display well and are of impressive proportions. I have read in historical accounts of the deadly long range capabilities of these rifles where lesser modern carbines stood no chance at a distance.
I can only imagine the charge needed to hurl a large calibre shot down those long barrels over such distance, which brings me to an interesting point, these old barrels must have been well proofed to withstand the charge of the shot and the harsh climates and situations they faced even though they are not over heated to the extent as repeating arms are.
Equally as interesting as Jim notes, is how simplicity in the action kept these alive for so long where modern arms would eventually have no use due to lack of cartridges.

The ivory stock and the coral, especially the size of the ivory stock I like very much.

Martin, I'd be interested in seeing the other or others to compare varieties.

Gav

PS, I must add, there are the circle motifs previously discussed at length.

Welkom
 

Hallo Martin,

Welkom op het forum!

Vr. Groet,
Maurice

Mouhkhala rifle
 

Thanks for this info Jim.

I was also wondering what the meaning is of all the red and black circles on the back of the ivory butt.
HIts?????

Rgds

Martin

Hi Martin,
Excellent reminder, forgot those! These are basically a solar oriented symbol that is well known ethnographically in many cultures, but is very well known in many Saharan regions. As seen here it is primarily used as motif, but is sometimes suggested as having either talismanic or other significance. It could be perceived in some cases as protection for the owner from the evil eye, but it is pretty hard to interpret that perspective.

Really a great gun!!!

All the best,
Jim

Moukhala Rifle
 

Hi Gav

hereby some pics of the other rifles.
The second one from the top is an Algerian miquelet rifle with signed octogonal barrel.
Great lock.

Rgds

Martin

I have once read that the shape of the butt like in Martin's example, is intended to allow the gun to stand upright on the ground, to facilitate its barrel loading while the user stays mounted.
Fernando

interesting
 

Interesting observation Fernando and a very nice display Martin, they look great with the horns attached with each rifle, thank you for sharing.

Regards

Gavin

Moukhala rifle
 

Hi Fernando

Thats correct,you can stand the gun upright,I didnt expect that first time.
Now I know why.
Thanks.

Martin

Moukhala Rifle
 

Hello everyone. I am also NEW on this Forum. Martin: Absolutely GREAT looking Moukhala Rifle with Snaphaunce lock. I have one similar, but plain and mostly undecorated. But in very good solid condition. Since mine was plain and I bought it at a good price, I sent the barrel to Bob Hoyt in Pennsylvania and had a barrel liner installed. I still have to re-assemble it, then it will be in safe shooting condition. I will post pictures at a later date here. I have other Islamic arms - in shooting condition.
Martin: That is a GREAT looking Algerian miquelet lock rifle. I'm looking for one myself, but no luck yet. Thanks for sharing your collection. I'm still wiping the drual off my mouth. :)

Moukhala rifle
 

Hi Rick

Interesting that you actually shoot with these weapons.
In the netherlands you also have some groups that practice this kind of shooting.
The Algerian was a great find,somewhere in Belgium.
You dont find them often.
But there must be a lot out there since belgium and france occupied a lot of countries in Nort africa in the past.
Would love to see pics from your collection.
Rgds

Martin

separating the Sheep from the Goatz
 

Hi, gang
Have been away from the forum awhile, just noticed this thread. Martin has so far posted a number of pics showing several guns from the Maghrib. Some clarification is in order.

1. The first gun on the thread is indeed Moroccan, called an "afedali" (Elgood, FIREARMS OF THE ISLAMIC WORLD, London 1995, quoting an early 20th c. French source), characterized by its broad flaring butt. Jim, the lock on this gun is not a so-called miquelet, rather it is a snaphaunce (schnapphahn), an early flint mechanism of Dutch origin. What's the difference? The miquelet has a large external mainspring and a combined, L-shaped frizzen and pan-cover. Its cock is released by a sear which moves horizontally through an aperture in the lockplate. The snaphaunce has an internal mainspring and sear, and the frizzen and pan-cover are entirely separate units. Whereas on a miquelet, the flint's striking the frizzen causes it to flip forward exposing the pan to the shower of sparks, the snaphaunce relies on an internal pushrod system to slide the pan-cover open automatically as the flint strikes the frizzen and pushes it up and forward out of the way of the pan.

2. Later, a picture of an Algerian gun was posted. These have elongated triangular butts, no trigger-guards, and miquelet locks. In the case of these, the miquelet is a particular type originating in Spain, sometime in the latter 16th cent., called "llave de agujeta". It saw only limited popularity in its homeland but was widely used in Algeria until the 20th cent. In the Iberian it was very soon superseded by the familiar "llave patilla" which is the type copied by the Ottomans. The difference: Agujeta locks have a complex sear system derived from wheellocks, and no half-cock detent (a manually-set dog catch acts as a safety). The patilla has a half-cock
setting which blocks the trigger, and its sear is simple and robust. In my experience, the agujeta locks of Algeria, though robust and well-made, are far less efficient. The sear easily works itself out of adjustment due to wear and tear, and the dog catch is a comparatively clumsy feature.

(for more information on Spanish miquelet history and types, see Jas. D. Lavin, A HISTORY OF SPANISH FIREARMS, NY, 1965)

Olá Filipe, ;)

Thanks for bringin in the expertized input :) .

Miquelet
 

Hello again Martin. Thanks for the respose. Actually, there are a number of the Algerian miquelet (sometimes referred to as toe-lock miquelet due to the external safety at the toe of the lock) rifles. But most are all highly decorated and seem to show up only in auctions - especially Christie's or Southby's - at big prices. There also seems to be a few in the UK, for some reason.
Yes, I will gather some photos and post here in the near future. Have you found any Internet forums that seem to have members interested in these guns? I know we are a minority among gun collectors. Rick.

Lock Identification
 

Thanks Philip for the information. Most helpful. Do you know of any Internet forums that have collectors interested in these type of guns? Rick.

Huh?!!!
I thought this WAS an internet forum.......what the heck are we, chopped liver???!!!! :shrug: It seems like we have collectors here interested in these types of guns too....kinda what we were talking about.


Philip, outstanding clarification on the miguelet term, thank you so much for your detailed explanation....its great to have you back with us!!! :)

there are worse things than chopped liver...
 

Jim,
Now I can go with some beef tongue on rye, with a side of kosher dills and sauerkraut, plus a bowl of "Jewish penicillin" containing a matzoh ball of planetary proportions with a dusting of cracked black pepper...

Moukala
 

OK Jim. My bad choice of words :( What I should have said was: Does anyone know of additional Internet Sites that offer these types of guns for sale? Some one on this Forum might know one I have not seen yet. :)
Thanks again.

OK Ricky thats different :) and I probably could have worded my words better too ! Sorry:)
There are of course many sites online that sell guns of all kinds, many are dealers while there are countless auctions online. Once you're able, use the swap forum here to place requests describing what you're looking for. We cannot discuss commercial matters on this as it is a discussion forum, but
most everyone here with these interests will be glad to help anyway we can via private messages or emails.
Looking forward to your success and discussing your future acquisitions here!!!

All the best,
Jim

The Swap Forum!! Good idea. I'll keep looking. Thanks Jm. Rick.