I picked this up 6 month ago and not sure exactly where is from or age .





i think its Turkish / Otamen  and from the 1750~1800 any info would be very helpful
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Is it a fake?

Or rather a reproduction? Because the metal seems to have little patina and the screw on top doesn't look hand cut.

No its not a fake or a tourist gun  , the screws had been replaced along the the way it's not original.




everything else is hand made and i don't think the wood was engraved  originally ether the pics don't show it very good but the barrel and




most of the rest of the metal parts are engraved to .




and some moron in the past tried to do a restore on it that's why its shinny looking



you can see the pitting in the metal.




but its been fired alot in the past the flash hole and striker plate show it well.



The 6 diamonds are old European cut ovals.



any way just trying to get a better understanding of its origin and age.
 
 
 

It just doesn't look original and looks too crude.

I think it might be some Kyber Pass type gun, which MIGHT.....that's a big MIGHT.......have some original parts.

Kyber Pass guns have a knack for making things look old, when in fact they were made last month.

A picture of the muzzle end would tell us a lot. The typical Balkan pistols of the Ottoman era did not have real ramrods. Sometimes fake ramrods were carved out of the stock wood itself, and sometimes the muzzle was shrouded with a silver sleeve, that may or may not have had a backwards extension that looked like a ramrod.   The ramrod entrance pipe is normally present, but there is no ramrod channel drilled in the stock.

These were carried in multiples in a belt sash. A separate ramrod was carried. I once saw an interesting set, with Serbian markings, that consisted of a yataghan short sword and a pistol ramrod / loading tool in a single combination scabbard. These are much rarer than the pistols.

Because of the way the pistols were carried, the usual Western ramrods would have been impractical. The ramrods would have been caught in the folds of the sash as the pistols were drawn. They didn't want protruding attachments at the muzzle end.

Based in the pictures, my vote is that this pistol is original (for what it is). I think your time frame is a bit too early. These were being made through the 1820's, 1830's, and even later. Balkan chieftains liked to wear these as symbols of status, even after they had ceased to be particularly useful as weapons.

Hi and thank you , there's no signs of a ramrod that i can tell.

and the carvings on the wood don't seem to have the same level of quality as the engravings on the steel parts or the brass parts that's why i kinda think that it's gone through different hands and been added to along it's journey

but i love it the story's it could tell.

I hope the new pic's help.

Thank you again

















 
 
 

Hmmm... That's unusual in that it doesn't have even a fake ramrod. And no ramrod entrance pipe. The maker was obviously taking shortcuts.

These were originally assembled from parts obtained from different sources. Barrels and locks were often made in shops in Italy, and exported in bulk to the Balkans. They have engravings designed to appeal to their customers. For example, I have an interesting piece, known to be original, that has a .62 cal. smoothbore barrel with an engraving on top showing what appears to be an African native in a grass skirt, holding two spears, one in each hand. The lock has profuse "engravings" made by what appears to be an etching process. There is some indecipherable lettering on the lock's lower edge bevel that seems to be something in imitation of a maker's name. (I've seen this same indecipherable lettering on at least one other example.) The lock is of good quality, and still sparks reliably!

Fittings, such as trigger guards, butt caps, sideplates, escutcheons, etc. were either imported (on the higher quality guns), or made locally. The brass fittings on your gun appear to have been made locally. That feature pegs it as a lower-grade gun. The higher quality ones would have imported steel or German-silver fittings. The higher quality guns would also be characterized by elaborate silver muzzle shrouds. (Those silver muzzle shrouds are often missing today, because they could have easily been removed and sold separately, if the owner fell on hard times and needed money. My gun lacks its shroud. I once saw such a shroud on the loose, in an antique shop in Greece, but the shop was closed and I couldn't go back for when it would open. )

Finally, the whole collection of parts would have been assembled in a locally-made stock. The quality of the stocks vary widely. The best ones have extensive carvings and silver-wire inlays, even embedded precious stones and jewels. The carving on yours appears to have been made by an apprentice, or someone working under time constraints. No wire inlays.