Balkan Pistol

[rickystl]

Hi David.

An Albanian pistol. For myself, if the price was right, I would have to have it for a "parts" gun. Yes, most of it is there except the top jaw and screw, and the trigger guard. The former may have been removed and lost from someone's youngster playing with it. But my guess is that both were probably canabalized for use on another pistol needing those parts during modern times.
The difficulty in restoring it is that those two parts would be very difficult to locate. The top jaw and screw as well as the trigger guard could all be made as long as the craftsman knows what it is supposed to look like. But the cost may not be worth it (?) Unless you feel the real need to do it LOL Which I am occassionally prone to do. The lock does appear to be one of the two more common Balkan made miquelet locks. Anyway, nice find. I could sure use those two barrel bands LOL (hint, hint).
Here's a pic of the same pistol complete just for comparison.

Rick