Paint primer on old weapons?

[fernando]

Originally Posted by M ELEY

... The red stock is quite nice. Is it one from your collection?...

Oh no; i have selected the more "close up" one from those illustrated in two of my books.
Not that they are extremely rare; you may find them for sale every now and then.
However examples spotted are often of very low quality. There were those made by Lazaro Lazarino, those imported from Belgium, and later even from Birmingham, to feed the increasing demand. Also Liege made their own exports to Africa.
And finally the African started making their own replicas, with barrels made of water pipes ... the usual stuff, with the stocks fully decorated with brass nails, etc.
As a matter of fact, these guns achieved the status of currency; they could be traded for women and, later, they were currency for the buying of slave boys ... as witnessed by Livingstone.
But i believe the red finishing in the stocks was a particular characteristic only used by Lazaro Lazarino.
Fernando