Holy cow ... lookie that ... about 16 barrel bands, wow!
Well ... that's nothing! Lookie at THIS one @ 23!
Well ... that's nothing! Lookie at THIS one @ 23!
Got barrel bands?
- Thread starter Flint62Smoothie
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The barrel band guild has gone too far!
I'm not sure if I should count the wood.....or the metal.....Life is confusing at times!!
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LOL !! Amazing isn't it. Depending on the barrel length and the width of each band, the norm on these Moroccan muskets would be around 7-8 bands. Any more would likely be considered extra decoration. The multiple bands were used to hold both the barrel and ramrod to the stock. But I believe often more bands than necessary were used to help strengthen the fore end of the stock due to the ultra thin wood in that area.
Rick
Rick
Also probably because it looks cool, lol!
That barrel must have had some hellacious harmonics that needed tamping down. Probably caused the forearm to completely shatter and fly off in various directions without the bands.
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My guess the narrow forearms on these muskets were to keep the weight down as much as possible. These guns were carried and used in hot, dry, mountainous climates. Most of these guns today, especially if shown to have seen substantial use, have forearms that would be unusable for restoration. The wood is super thin and very brittle.
The reason the multiple bands didn't really add to the weight is that the brass, silver, or iron band material is very thin. Only about 7-8 thousands in thickness. What we would call today shim stock. They were simply compression fitted to the barrel and stock.
The two examples posted above would be considered museum/advanced collector grade.
Rick
The reason the multiple bands didn't really add to the weight is that the brass, silver, or iron band material is very thin. Only about 7-8 thousands in thickness. What we would call today shim stock. They were simply compression fitted to the barrel and stock.
The two examples posted above would be considered museum/advanced collector grade.
Rick
Very beautifully decorated guns. They certainly went for lots of applied surface decorations. One can wonder how often someone’ flowing robes got snagged on a sharp edge 
On many of these, there was a long angled 4 to 6" long 'splice' (like the blade of a chisel) to form the upper forend, typically 1/3rd of the way forward of the breech. Wood conservation I guess! Held together with animal glue to boot!
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Good question. After all my years studying these guns I am still not sure. Even with all the mountainous terrain there are many oak forests in Morocco. But I would think oak would be too heavy and hard to work with for gun purposes (?) There is a type of cedar grown there. But I would think that too soft (?) Also, I am not good at identifying wood types. Maybe I should take a broken piece of forearm, remove any finish, and send it off to a wood expert for identification. I've just never made an honest attempt to find out.
Rick
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