Possible Afghani matchlock
 

Hello everyone, I recently acquired this item. I cleaned the bore and found an old mud-wasp nest as well as some cobwebs. It's about .64 caliber.

Given the shape of the buttstock I'm wondering if it would be considered an Afghani style? Further, it has an interesting double compartment on the right side near the breach.

Information would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Hi,

not my field of expertise but I lean towards India. And I believe the brass compartment is where the (burning) matchcord is fed through in a loop.

can you share a picture of the front end of the barrel? There seems to be some metal block on the side?

kind regards,
Eric.

I would hazard a guess on Baluch, and the brass fitting is for the match. The plain tube is a snuffer to put it out, the pierced part to keep a live coal safe and live.

Not sure about the Baluch ref (see photo below of Baluch taken in 1879 according to caption. They have Sindi style muskets). I also lean towards India for the subject weapon, rather than Afghanistan, but quite correct regarding the brass tubes.
Stu

This is a mid-19th century Indian military matchlock. Note the lug for a bayonet. Some of these were made with a sprung pan cover which retracts when the trigger is pulled and then snaps back in place once it is released.

I missed seeing the lug, you have a good eye there. Could be a bit earlier then, mid century caplocks were more common.

Hi Dave, that logic follows in Western Europe, however in India and other parts of Asia, the matchlock never went out of use. Certain Himalayan groups still hunted with them into the 1960s.

Military context here, hunters etc not really in to bayonets.

Sorry, that doesn't come into it. The point is that the matchlock ignition system remained in use into the twentieth century. What they were shooting at doesn't bear on it. And I'm pretty sure Himalayan hunters took more than an occasional shot at Chinese soldiers, in any case.

Hello all, thanks for the information.

The pan cover is manually opened and closed.

Very observant about the bayonet mounting hardware. That's what attracted me to this matchlock. The square mounting rings (one missing) were only located on the right side of the muzzle.

And a quick search leads to... http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=21080

and

https://worldbayonets.com/Bayonet_Id...a/India_2.html