Afghan Rifle Re-Build

[rickystl]

Hello all. Well, here's the latest camel gun re-incarnation. :haha: I'll post the BEFORE photos here, and the AFTER photos on my next Post.
Gun: Afghan Jazail Rifle. Original Barnett lock dated 1805. Barrel is 42 1/4", tapered and flared round with a central rib and light engraving. Rifled barrel, about .60 caliber.
I bought this gun cheap with the intention of making it a shooter. (I am forever the optimist) :haha:
The Good: The gun was all complete except for the left brass decorative piece by the barrel tang. But we had the piece on the right side to duplicate. Even the original Barnett lock, ramrod, and sling.
The Bad: The rear of the stock was a mess. Large break at the wrist that someone tried to glue back together with epoxy - that was incorrectly mixed and never cured. It was still soft and you could wiggle the butt stock back and forth!1 :rotf: Someone had dropped the gun on the butt stock and caused the nailed horn butt cap to shift and crack. Half the camel bone inlay was missing and filled in with some kind of hard putty??
The trigger guard was broke in two, with an attempt to re-glue using the same stuff! Notice it just hanging there! :rotf:
The lock and barrel were covered with red surface rust, and the lock had some kind of hard tar on it :hmm:
WHAT A MESS!!! These photos are exactly the way I received the gun.
I'll Post the AFTER photos tomorrow morning. Thanks for looking. Rick.

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

That is an interesting project. Please post photos of your progress. :thumbsup:

 

[loco6725]

Interesting!! Is the stock extension wood?? It almost resembles a horse hoof?? I have an old German drilling that has a strange looking piece like that.
I could be wrong, just always wondered. :hmm:

 

[rickystl]

Hi rbtom. The butt stock is wood, bone, and horn. Yea, it does look like a horse hoof! :haha: It was curved that way for carrying under the arm pit while riding horseback. Rick.

 

[rickystl]

Hello again. Well, this gun took quite a bit of work. But I think it turned out pretty good. The gun was completely disassembled down to the wood leaving the original stain intact for the most part.
Stock: Fortunately, the large break at the wrist was in a straight line. So it was repaired using three pegs for strength and properly re-glued. Used a genuine camel bone slab for a knife handle to make the insert. The horn butt plate was polished out, and everything nailed back together. Touch up stain was a maple blend from TOTW. Trigger guard repaired, and all brass decoration straighten out and re-nailed with new brass nails. Decided not to darken the nail heads. Thought it looked good the way it is now. Just let the nail heads age naturally.
Lock: Cleaned up really nice. Great looking original patina. The mainspring was way to strong. Had the mainspring reduced and re-hardened. Sparks great now!
Barrel: Cleaned up very nice. Patina matches the lock exactly, and still shows some of it's damascus pattern. I am sending the barrel (only) to Bobby Hoyt to have a .54 cal. rifled liner installed. However, there is a breech plug problem which will be challenging. I will Post photos of the barrel situation next weekend before I send him the barrel. You guys won't believe what some ***** did. :shocked2: :shake:
Meantime, I'll Post some photos of the work so far. All thats left to do is the barrel fix and liner. Thanks for looking! Rick. :hatsoff:

 

[rickystl]

AFTER PHOTOS!!

 

[rickystl]

Just for fun.......photos of gun shown with original accoutrements. :thumbsup: Rick. :haha:

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

Extremely cool! :thumbsup: Great restoration too! :thumbsup:

 

[loco6725]

Great job!!! Be proud of it!!!

 

[wulf]

Great job Ricky. I guess it really is possable to
make a silk purse out of a camels ear...I admire your interest and ability to follow through with
an idea....
Wulf

 

[Tommy Bruce]

That's a pretty neat set up. Nice job on the restoration.

 

[Robby]

Ricky, I don't know how you find this stuff, but its always col, and I enjoy seeing it!!!! :hatsoff:
Robby

 

[Bob J]

That's a beautiful restoration you did on the "camel gun" Ricky! I have one that is virtually identical...only thing is, it is in the "Before" photos condition :idunno: :shake:

 

[jamesthomas]

I would like to have the sword!!.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Have to admire your restoration.
However, the style is, in my eyes, so ugly I would't beat my cat with it. :shocked2: (for the record: I don't have a cat and don't beat them)
BTW, did you find a loading block in the accutrements? :rotf:

 

[kaintuck]

good rstoration! allotta work there!

 

[cynthialee]

very nice

You did a fine job. (I would love to see that gun in a brand new version, siting next to the relic of course.)

 

[cyten]

ricky, you are the reason i joined this forum when i saw you posting about the caucasian miquelet pistol and the ottoman rifle! nobodys shoots these but you have the balls to make something of them. looks great!

 

[rickystl]

Thank you all for the kind comments. Yes, this turned out better than I originally thought it would.
I"ll Post the barrel only this weekend as part -3. :haha: Again, you guys (and Ladies) have to see what someone did to the barrel :cursing:
Again, Thanks for looking. Rick. :hatsoff:

 

[rickystl]

Hi Rifleman! No, nothing in the pouches :haha:
Yes, they certainly are not the most attractive looking guns :haha: And shooting them is a bit of a challenge. Not like shooting Virginia type rifles or English/French Fowlers, which is mostly what I shoot.
For sure, people in this part of the World sure had different ideas in firearm design :haha:
It's been more of a long term collector interest. But shooting them is a real blast. Thanks, Rick. :thumbsup: