A TRIO OF ALBANIAN PISTOLS

rickystl · 4th July 2015, 06:58 PM

Hello all. Well, another weekend is here already.
Here are three typical, brass stocked, Albanian pistols. These were made in large quantities in the Balkans under contract to the Ottoman Empire. Probably early to mid 19th Century. Starting from the top, I'll call these #1, #2, and #3. The three pistols show the two different grip styles usually encountered. #1 has the familiar "rat tail" grip. While #2 and #3 have the more European style grip. #1 and #2 use the typical Balkan style miquelet lock, while #3 uses the less encountered French stle flintlock. The engraving/decoration on #1 and #2 are typical of what you see on these pistols. While #3 has an interesting combination of what looks like Albanian and maybe Greek. (?) There are no stamps on the barrel of #1. There are two stamps on barrel #2 and four on #3. No makers marks on the locks. All three locks are in perfect working order. All three are in solid condition with nothing loose or missing.
#2 has some natural wear on the brass at the grip area. So I think this one saw more use. Therefore, I had a new steel liner made for the barrel, and put #2 back in action in the 21st Century as my shooter. LOL

It's now a .59 caliber and shoots well.
Anyway, here are some pics of the three togeter. Hope you enjoy, and thanks for looking. Rick.

4th July 2015, 06:58 PM	#1
rickystl Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: St. Louis, MO area. Posts: 1,623	A TRIO OF ALBANIAN PISTOLS Hello all. Well, another weekend is here already. Here are three typical, brass stocked, Albanian pistols. These were made in large quantities in the Balkans under contract to the Ottoman Empire. Probably early to mid 19th Century. Starting from the top, I'll call these #1, #2, and #3. The three pistols show the two different grip styles usually encountered. #1 has the familiar "rat tail" grip. While #2 and #3 have the more European style grip. #1 and #2 use the typical Balkan style miquelet lock, while #3 uses the less encountered French stle flintlock. The engraving/decoration on #1 and #2 are typical of what you see on these pistols. While #3 has an interesting combination of what looks like Albanian and maybe Greek. (?) There are no stamps on the barrel of #1. There are two stamps on barrel #2 and four on #3. No makers marks on the locks. All three locks are in perfect working order. All three are in solid condition with nothing loose or missing. #2 has some natural wear on the brass at the grip area. So I think this one saw more use. Therefore, I had a new steel liner made for the barrel, and put #2 back in action in the 21st Century as my shooter. LOL It's now a .59 caliber and shoots well. Anyway, here are some pics of the three togeter. Hope you enjoy, and thanks for looking. Rick. Attached Images