Persian percussion gun repair.

[estcrh]

I bought this Persian percussion smooth bore, long gun at auction, it was wrongly described as being Caucasian and the stock had a noticeable crack or splice separation. I asked around in order to find someone who could repair the stock and I decided to contact Philip Tom as his work was highly recommended to me by a forum member I greatly respect.

Philip did a fantastic job, and fortunately the stock was just separated at a joint were two pieces had been spliced together. Persian guns are rather rare, in my opinion possibly due to the Persians early adoption of European firearms and this gun seems to be a very late model, possibly from the last phase of traditional Persian guns. I am really happy with the results, I have no plans to fire it and wanted as little work done on it as possible.

In Philip's words before repair....."there is one oblique crack crossing the point where the sling slot is. Disassembly will be needed to see if there are any related problems inside, and also need to see if I have to address any losses along the edge. I would need the whole gun to work on since the barrel has to be kept in place for proper alignment. The lock is a civilian version, possibly Eastern-made, of a mid-19th cent. Enfield percussion regulation pattern. The main difference being stylistic, a flat surfaced hammer, and a slightly different profile just on the front end of the plate."

After repair.
"As you can see from the differences in grain, this wasn't so much a stress break, but a separation of a diagonal joint in a two-piece stock. When scraping off the crud, there were traces of the original organic glue under the newer clear adhesive of the later amateur repair. The saw cuts on the mating surface weren't perfectly smooth so I had to dig the old stuff out of the crevices to make sure my repair had 100% contact.

The inlaid bone sling escutcheons have these pieces of brass inlaid in them, these are not original and were probably put in by the guy who did the last repair. Rawhide thongs once went through these, which were knotted through holes at the end of the wider leather belt that served as a sling. I decided to leave the brass in, even though not original, because taking them out might open another can of worms as far as stability of the inlays. If it can be done cheaply, a local gunsmith can install a bead type brass shotgun sight in the hole in the barrel. That's what it had originally since the barrel is off an English sporting gun.

Mechanical repair to the firing mechanism isn't any priority since you're not planning to shoot this. The percussion nipple is all munged up and needs to be drilled out and replaced with a new one -- too much money and the new nipple is going to stick out like a sore thumb. The gun looks great as is in an ethnographic collection. As you probably know, the style of stock inlay and the overall quality mark it as being a provincial piece, from one of the tribal areas, probably from southeast Iran since the decor is reminiscent of the circular motifs on the grips of chooras and other daggers from Afghanistan and the Sind."

[Will M]

Great stock repair! The hammer is out of alignment from viewing the damage to it. It is not aligned or is wobbly. Hammers can be removed and bent slightly to align them with the nipple. This hammer could be welded to replace the loss and then the depression milled out. Probably seen too much dry firing by previous owners.
It's a good looking piece and worth the effort.
You can add a front bead then use a wire brush and bluing on it to help age it.

[rickystl]

Hi Estcrh.

I remember this gun. Philip did an outstanding job with the stock repair. Looks great !! Interestingly, I own a Caucasian rifle that needed the exact same repair. The mechanical work, lock repair/tuning, nipple replacement (tough job in this case), and front bead sight added could all be done. And I would tend to bend in that direction. But then, I tend to take restoration a bit further than many collectors would like. In this case, it's certainly not necessary to take the restoration any further. It's perfectly presentable as-is for an Ethno arms collection. And, as you mention, Persian made/assembled guns are usually considered quite rare in any condition, and seldom come up for sale.

Again, great job by Philip. A nice addition to your collection.

Rick

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by rickystl

Hi Estcrh.

I remember this gun. Philip did an outstanding job with the stock repair. Looks great !! Interestingly, I own a Caucasian rifle that needed the exact same repair. The mechanical work, lock repair/tuning, nipple replacement (tough job in this case), and front bead sight added could all be done. And I would tend to bend in that direction. But then, I tend to take restoration a bit further than many collectors would like. In this case, it's certainly not necessary to take the restoration any further. It's perfectly presentable as-is for an Ethno arms collection. And, as you mention, Persian made/assembled guns are usually considered quite rare in any condition, and seldom come up for sale.

Again, great job by Philip. A nice addition to your collection.

Rick

Rick, I admire the extra steps you take with your guns as far as restoring them, here is a better image of the split before repair.

[rickystl]

Hi Estcrh.

Yes, I see what you mean. That was a real break in the stock. Philip did a great job.

For comparison, here is a very similar stock break in my Caucasian rifle. I had hoped the repair would have turned out a bit better on mine. But that's just the way it had to be in this case.

Rick

[Richard G]

I'm not sure these are 'breaks' as such, but rather a form of scarf joint that has come apart.
Regards
Richard

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by rickystl

Hi Estcrh.

Yes, I see what you mean. That was a real break in the stock. Philip did a great job.

For comparison, here is a very similar stock break in my Caucasian rifle. I had hoped the repair would have turned out a bit better on mine. But that's just the way it had to be in this case.

Rick

Rick its not bad really, I have seen much worse, in my case there was an inlay that had to be worked around.