Identification and dating of Flintlock pistols

[rickystl]

Hi Oz.

Unfortunately, makers ID and marks are not one of my strong points. And I can't read Arabic, so that makes it even more so. But there are others on this Forum who can translate, and possibly be of assistance.
It is very difficult, if not impossible to identify the final gunshop that assembled these Ottoman style pistols. Often, the barrels were made in one shop, the locks in another, and the stocks and decoration in yet another. And that even assumes all three items were made locally. Some parts may have been imported, which adds to the confusion. The barrel could have been made locally and stamped with the maker's mark. (Which I believe is the case here) Or, the barrel could have been imported, and stamped locally. The same situation with the lock. And often, the lock (and barrels) would have a spurious European type name stamped or engraved on the lockplate, to give the false impression that the gun was from a European origin, which the maker would probably charge a premium price to the unsuspecting prospective buyer. So it can all be very confusing studying these guns. There is simply no "paper trail" tracing the origin of these pistols, unlike their European counterparts. In fact, the gunsmiths and shops often did not want the gun traceable, since they were sold to both friend and foe alike.

Without seeing the inside of your lock, there is one clue that the lock was locally made. Notice the top jaw was made with a slight downward curve. I believe this was done to allow the leather holding the flint in the jaws to be wrapped around the flint in horizontal fashion vs vertical as shown. I've only seen this top jaw design on Ottoman style/built locks. I've never seen this feature on European built locks. That's likely the reason the top screw doesn't sit exactly flush on the top jaw. See photo below.

Anyway, I'll stop rambling on here. A very attractive pistol.

Rick.