Ottoman Tufek Rifle - Restored

rickystl · 2nd May 2015, 08:56 PM

Hello again. Well, here goes with another gun.

This is a typical Ottoman Tufek Rifle. Probably early to mid 19th Century. The gun originally had a lock that was slightly larger, but was changed out sometime during the period. Probably to replace a broken or worn lock. But it was professionally done. Again, the goal of this project was to return the gun to safe firing condition. Here is what was done:
LOCK: The lock worked fine as-is. Just needed cleaned and tuned.
STOCK: The stock was basically solid. Just a couple of small cracks that were glued (without showing) for reinforcement. But the original trigger plate that was made of horn was broke in two, with one piece missing. So we took a genuine camel bone knife handle slab and made a new trigger plate inlay, and aged to match the other inlays on top of the stock. Looks much better now.
BARREL: This is where all the work came in. The barrel tang was broke in half. And someone just drilled a hole in the front part of the tang and installed a modern wood screw.

Amazingly, the original tang screw that installs from the bottom of the stock was still there, attached to nothing. LOL. So the new hole was filled, and a new piece of tang was welded on with a new hole and threads to accommodate the original breech plug screw position and stock mortise. Next the breech plug and breech were inspected, which were found to be in good shape with good plug to breech integrity. But the original 8 groove rifling in the barrel was too rough to clean up for shooting. So a new steel .54 caliber liner was installed with 7 groove rifling. As well, a new taller front sight. So the gun is complete and turned out to be a real nice light weight shooter. Hope you enjoy the pics and thanks for looking. Rick.

rickystl · 2nd May 2015, 08:59 PM

Some more pics...........

rickystl · 2nd May 2015, 09:01 PM

And some more.........

rickystl · 2nd May 2015, 09:02 PM

Here are pics of the barrel before and after....

rickystl · 2nd May 2015, 09:03 PM

Woops...forgot the pics

kahnjar1 · 2nd May 2015, 10:03 PM

Another nice job Rick, and another sleeved barrel

Your gunsmith really has been busy! I see that the forewood has been joined at some stage. Just as a suggestion, what about moving the barrel band second from the muzzle to cover the join. Would not be as obvious.
Stu

rickystl · 3rd May 2015, 06:55 PM

Thanks Stu. Yes, that join was there when I bought the gun. Whoever did it did an excellent job. This one seems to be a favorite with other shooters at the gun club. Light weight and very accurate.
BARREL LINERS: The only reason to add a liner is the original barrel is in too poor of condition for safe shooting. And, your primary intent is to have a shooter more so than a collector item. I realize adding the liner dramatically decreases the historical significance and pure collector value. And maybe I'm considered just the lunatic fringe of interest in these guns. LOL

I have others in my collection that I would not think of altering in this way.
This Tufek rifle was a good candidate to make in to a shooter. In it's original state, it had only minor collector value. And the Mid-East type guns are by no means rare, having been made virtually unchanged for some 200+ years. Yes, there is a big difference between restoration and altering/rebuilding. So I'm careful when picking a gun to be a shooter. Hope this sort of makes sense? And thanks again for your correspondence. Rick.

2nd May 2015, 08:56 PM	#1
rickystl Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: St. Louis, MO area. Posts: 1,623	Ottoman Tufek Rifle - Restored Hello again. Well, here goes with another gun. This is a typical Ottoman Tufek Rifle. Probably early to mid 19th Century. The gun originally had a lock that was slightly larger, but was changed out sometime during the period. Probably to replace a broken or worn lock. But it was professionally done. Again, the goal of this project was to return the gun to safe firing condition. Here is what was done: LOCK: The lock worked fine as-is. Just needed cleaned and tuned. STOCK: The stock was basically solid. Just a couple of small cracks that were glued (without showing) for reinforcement. But the original trigger plate that was made of horn was broke in two, with one piece missing. So we took a genuine camel bone knife handle slab and made a new trigger plate inlay, and aged to match the other inlays on top of the stock. Looks much better now. BARREL: This is where all the work came in. The barrel tang was broke in half. And someone just drilled a hole in the front part of the tang and installed a modern wood screw. Amazingly, the original tang screw that installs from the bottom of the stock was still there, attached to nothing. LOL. So the new hole was filled, and a new piece of tang was welded on with a new hole and threads to accommodate the original breech plug screw position and stock mortise. Next the breech plug and breech were inspected, which were found to be in good shape with good plug to breech integrity. But the original 8 groove rifling in the barrel was too rough to clean up for shooting. So a new steel .54 caliber liner was installed with 7 groove rifling. As well, a new taller front sight. So the gun is complete and turned out to be a real nice light weight shooter. Hope you enjoy the pics and thanks for looking. Rick. Attached Images

2nd May 2015, 08:59 PM	#2
rickystl Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: St. Louis, MO area. Posts: 1,623	Some more pics........... Attached Images

2nd May 2015, 09:01 PM	#3
rickystl Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: St. Louis, MO area. Posts: 1,623	And some more......... Attached Images

2nd May 2015, 09:03 PM	#5
rickystl Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: St. Louis, MO area. Posts: 1,623	Woops...forgot the pics Attached Images

2nd May 2015, 09:02 PM	#4
rickystl Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: St. Louis, MO area. Posts: 1,623	Here are pics of the barrel before and after....

2nd May 2015, 10:03 PM	#6
kahnjar1 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: CHRISTCHURCH NEW ZEALAND Posts: 2,741	Another nice job Rick, and another sleeved barrel Your gunsmith really has been busy! I see that the forewood has been joined at some stage. Just as a suggestion, what about moving the barrel band second from the muzzle to cover the join. Would not be as obvious. Stu

3rd May 2015, 06:55 PM	#7
rickystl Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: St. Louis, MO area. Posts: 1,623	Thanks Stu. Yes, that join was there when I bought the gun. Whoever did it did an excellent job. This one seems to be a favorite with other shooters at the gun club. Light weight and very accurate. BARREL LINERS: The only reason to add a liner is the original barrel is in too poor of condition for safe shooting. And, your primary intent is to have a shooter more so than a collector item. I realize adding the liner dramatically decreases the historical significance and pure collector value. And maybe I'm considered just the lunatic fringe of interest in these guns. LOL I have others in my collection that I would not think of altering in this way. This Tufek rifle was a good candidate to make in to a shooter. In it's original state, it had only minor collector value. And the Mid-East type guns are by no means rare, having been made virtually unchanged for some 200+ years. Yes, there is a big difference between restoration and altering/rebuilding. So I'm careful when picking a gun to be a shooter. Hope this sort of makes sense? And thanks again for your correspondence. Rick.