Zaghnal

[Jim McDougall]

When I was a very young collector, I learned very quickly that the most important thing in collecting, weapons in this case, was to absorb every bit of knowledge possible. After many extremely unfortunate instances where I was very much taken advantage of, I started acquiring books. I always wished there was someone I could learn from, but I had no close access to museums, other collectors and the few resources I had were dealers, who were often less than straighforward in many cases (not always, and certainly not all of them, but the key was knowing the difference).

I began a quest for knowledge on weapons that became a lifelong obsession, and always dreamed of establishing a center for the study of the history and development of arms, a place where collectors could seek and share knowledge, and advance this study to preserve this valuable history.

The arrival of the computer brought amazing possibilities, and when I found the forums it was beyond belief! Of the forums I experienced, ours was the most friendly and the members and staff were the most dedicated to the ideals I believed in, and proudly I have been here for over ten years.

I can honestly say, that not only have I learned along with members and staff here, but from them. I have always passionately studied all I could, and in responding, my admittedly epic length posts often seem more like Michener novels (...and then the earth cooled...etc. or Tolstoy........but I have always wanted to find and share all that I could. It is how I learn.

Our forums are virtually my dream, online....and here we all share and learn together. As Vandoo has noted, these forums will be a valuable resource in the future, much as it is now. The research we all spend countless hours on is something that in essence belongs to all of us, and I think that while we are the authors and copyright holders......our words verbatim are in that perview. Our work can be paraphrased or used for information freely, but again .....for commercial purposes....permission for quoted material is best.

I know that I always try to acknowledge the observations or comments of others in my text as I do not want to take credit for thier ideas or thoughts. I do so as I have the highest respect for the knowledge of members here, just as I value thier friendship . I feel very fortunate to be among some of the finest arms scholars in the world here.

With regard to the question on the zaghnal Emanuel (I knew I'd get to that eventually ) I think your views are well placed, and agree with the 19th c. date. It is really hard to tell much from the photos, but I am inclined to think that many weapons in India especially toward latter 19th c. were indeed put together. I suppose the good news would be that the components were often from other damaged or contemporary weapons, so although composite, in many cases they were returned to servicability for use. In this case, your thoughts about the incongruence are well placed as noted.

Thank you Emanuel for the very kind words!!

All the best,
Jim