Afghanistan matchlock musket

AHite · 1st October 2024, 10:29 PM

Thanks for your comments. After doing more research I determined that this gun is an Indo-Arab matchlock, and I doubt it was obtained in Afghanistan. There's a saying among vintage gun collectors, "Buy the gun, not the story". I found it odd that a French Gras rifle was part of the three guns supposedly found in a cave in Afghanistan. Gras rifles were heavily distributed in Yemen and Arabia and some are still in use. I suspect someone collected all three weapons when visiting those regions in the past. Doesn't really matter, I'm happy to get it and add to my collection.

BANDOOK · 4th May 2025, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AHite

Thanks for your comments. After doing more research I determined that this gun is an Indo-Arab matchlock, and I doubt it was obtained in Afghanistan. There's a saying among vintage gun collectors, "Buy the gun, not the story". I found it odd that a French Gras rifle was part of the three guns supposedly found in a cave in Afghanistan. Gras rifles were heavily distributed in Yemen and Arabia and some are still in use. I suspect someone collected all three weapons when visiting those regions in the past. Doesn't really matter, I'm happy to get it and add to my collection.

This is from Yemen , the leather cover on the butt could have wolf skin as a talisman against evil , the teeth probably would be wolf teeth , cheers

AHite · 4th May 2025, 02:30 PM

Thanks for your information! I suspected that this gun came from Yemen. I could only guess as to what the skin was from. Standard guess from others was "camel".

Regards,

Andrew Hite

AHite · 4th May 2025, 07:38 PM

I paid a visit to my son's museum, his upstairs room which is filled with lots of skulls and taxidermy. The teeth on my musket definitely match those on the Russian boar mount he has, the teeth that are on the lower jaw between the tusks. My son has a replica wolf skull as well as a real coyote skull, and there is not a good match of the teeth on theses to the ones on the gun. The leather on the buttstock ball could be wolf, as there is the Arabian wolf in Yemen, an endangered species.

The big question mark on this gun is the Saudi Arabian emblem embedded on the receiver area, with resin. This emblem was probably what is left of a Saudi military pin. Even though (as stated by a forum member) it is not legal for a Saudi citizen to use this emblem as decoration it's possible it fell into the hands of a Yemeni, who acquired it during the border conflicts. It also shows that this gun has been in use up through modern times, if only as a ceremonial piece.

Regards,

Andrew Hite

1st October 2024, 10:29 PM	#1
AHite Member Join Date: Dec 2022 Posts: 64	Thanks for your comments. After doing more research I determined that this gun is an Indo-Arab matchlock, and I doubt it was obtained in Afghanistan. There's a saying among vintage gun collectors, "Buy the gun, not the story". I found it odd that a French Gras rifle was part of the three guns supposedly found in a cave in Afghanistan. Gras rifles were heavily distributed in Yemen and Arabia and some are still in use. I suspect someone collected all three weapons when visiting those regions in the past. Doesn't really matter, I'm happy to get it and add to my collection.

4th May 2025, 02:30 PM	#3
AHite Member Join Date: Dec 2022 Posts: 64	Thanks for your information! I suspected that this gun came from Yemen. I could only guess as to what the skin was from. Standard guess from others was "camel". Regards, Andrew Hite

4th May 2025, 07:38 PM	#4
AHite Member Join Date: Dec 2022 Posts: 64	I paid a visit to my son's museum, his upstairs room which is filled with lots of skulls and taxidermy. The teeth on my musket definitely match those on the Russian boar mount he has, the teeth that are on the lower jaw between the tusks. My son has a replica wolf skull as well as a real coyote skull, and there is not a good match of the teeth on theses to the ones on the gun. The leather on the buttstock ball could be wolf, as there is the Arabian wolf in Yemen, an endangered species. The big question mark on this gun is the Saudi Arabian emblem embedded on the receiver area, with resin. This emblem was probably what is left of a Saudi military pin. Even though (as stated by a forum member) it is not legal for a Saudi citizen to use this emblem as decoration it's possible it fell into the hands of a Yemeni, who acquired it during the border conflicts. It also shows that this gun has been in use up through modern times, if only as a ceremonial piece. Regards, Andrew Hite