My first jezail

[RDGAC]

Aha - I did wonder when Jim would smell interesting local markings Like leading a mouse to cheese... and once more I learn. I'd no idea these were referred to as "balemarks" for a start, let alone that this enormous, engraved "4" was something more sophisticated than a local artisan's attempt to replace something he couldn't copy - I really rather feel I've unjustly maligned him, long dead though he is, and it just goes to show the danger of letting preconceptions run away with you. This is especially poor, on my part, since he obviously made the rather elegant border around the periphery of the lockplate as well.

Now, as to the age of the lock, it does rather set the mind wondering, but here we come up against another question: although this duplicates a style of lockplate decoration seen in the mid-to-late 18th Century, at what point did the Khyber gunsmiths acquire the skill of making the flintlock? In fact, another question must be asked: am I wrong in thinking that the reason many jezails made during the 18th and 19th Centuries used a captured British flintlock was that its mechanical complexity (or some other aspect of the design) taxed local gunsmiths beyond their means, for some time?

My my, mystery upon mystery...

Thanks for the suggestion, Atlantia - I can probably acquire some wire cheaply enough, but you mention using a torch to guide it. I'd be most interested to find a torch that would allow me to see all the way down the barrel of my gun, since I'm presently finding it impossible with an ordinary hand torch, but don't know what exists for this purpose; some sort of fibre-optic bore light perhaps. Do enlighten me as to what I might be able to get in this field

[Atlantia]

Originally Posted by RDGAC

Aha - I did wonder when Jim would smell interesting local markings Like leading a mouse to cheese... and once more I learn. I'd no idea these were referred to as "balemarks" for a start, let alone that this enormous, engraved "4" was something more sophisticated than a local artisan's attempt to replace something he couldn't copy - I really rather feel I've unjustly maligned him, long dead though he is, and it just goes to show the danger of letting preconceptions run away with you. This is especially poor, on my part, since he obviously made the rather elegant border around the periphery of the lockplate as well.

Now, as to the age of the lock, it does rather set the mind wondering, but here we come up against another question: although this duplicates a style of lockplate decoration seen in the mid-to-late 18th Century, at what point did the Khyber gunsmiths acquire the skill of making the flintlock? In fact, another question must be asked: am I wrong in thinking that the reason many jezails made during the 18th and 19th Centuries used a captured British flintlock was that its mechanical complexity (or some other aspect of the design) taxed local gunsmiths beyond their means, for some time?

My my, mystery upon mystery...

Thanks for the suggestion, Atlantia - I can probably acquire some wire cheaply enough, but you mention using a torch to guide it. I'd be most interested to find a torch that would allow me to see all the way down the barrel of my gun, since I'm presently finding it impossible with an ordinary hand torch, but don't know what exists for this purpose; some sort of fibre-optic bore light perhaps. Do enlighten me as to what I might be able to get in this field

LOL, hmmm yeah it is problematic.... prehaps a single LED on a wire?
Actually, thinking about it, have you tried getting a thick steel coathanger and straightening it out and bending a tiny hook (like 5mm) on the end, then attaching it to a rod for length and seeing if you can hook it round the obstruction and pull it out?

[Philip]

Bravo, I think you've come up with a potentially workable solution to that stuck brush: cut the bristles with the sharpened edge of a metal tube! The copper wires aren't very thick, after all. How about filing the end of the tube into saw teeth, get them as sharp as you can. It'll be a variation on the "crown-saw" that locksmiths use to bore holes in doors to install doorknob kits (or what surgeons use to drill holes in our heads to get at the gray matter inside, haha!). Lemme know how it works!

Now, I don't recommend using C-clamps to compress those V-shaped springs. The clamps are just too unstable on such surfaces, the main- and frizzen springs are pretty powerful. I suggest that you buy a mainspring vise, available through suppliers of gunsmith tools and those firms selling supplies to shooters of black-powder replica firearms. These handy and inexpensive devices are articulated to fit just about any size of flint or percussion mainsprings and frizzen springs (they will do also on wheellocks, but won't work on the huge external mainsprings of Spanish or Near Eastern "miquelet" locks due to their size and the way they're mounted, but the average collector has little need to disassemble those locks). The small sear spring can be restrained with a pair of needle nosed pliers. Just pinch the spring enough (use tape on the plier jaws) to relieve pressure as you back the screw out just enough to allow the spring to rotate free, then release and continue unscrewing.

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by Philip

Bravo, I think you've come up with a potentially workable solution to that stuck brush: cut the bristles with the sharpened edge of a metal tube! The copper wires aren't very thick, after all. How about filing the end of the tube into saw teeth, get them as sharp as you can. It'll be a variation on the "crown-saw" that locksmiths use to bore holes in doors to install doorknob kits (or what surgeons use to drill holes in our heads to get at the gray matter inside, haha!). Lemme know how it works!

Now, I don't recommend using C-clamps to compress those V-shaped springs. The clamps are just too unstable on such surfaces, the main- and frizzen springs are pretty powerful. I suggest that you buy a mainspring vise, available through suppliers of gunsmith tools and those firms selling supplies to shooters of black-powder replica firearms. These handy and inexpensive devices are articulated to fit just about any size of flint or percussion mainsprings and frizzen springs (they will do also on wheellocks, but won't work on the huge external mainsprings of Spanish or Near Eastern "miquelet" locks due to their size and the way they're mounted, but the average collector has little need to disassemble those locks). The small sear spring can be restrained with a pair of needle nosed pliers. Just pinch the spring enough (use tape on the plier jaws) to relieve pressure as you back the screw out just enough to allow the spring to rotate free, then release and continue unscrewing.

You seem to be having a lot of "fun" with this jezail, but it (by the look of it) has potential to look rather nice when finished. A WORD OF EXTREME CAUTION. When you purchase that correct mainspring clamp, be VERY CAREFUL not to clamp it any more than you need as you could easily snap the mainspring! Also I would suggest that if you do not intend to shoot the gun, that you ignore that strange obstruction in the barrel and simply make sure that any internal rusting has been killed.
Good luck.
Stu

[RDGAC]

Hi there Stu, thanks for the tipe! Mainspring vice ahoy with next month's pay packet, I should think (along with some fine files and a set of brass dentist's picks, amongst other things), and I shall be very careful indeed to avoid snapping the spring; I figure all I want to do is move it a fraction of an inch clear of the tumbler in the fired position, to allow re-assembly of the lock mechanism without having to fight (and lose to) the tension of the spring acting upon the machine. Am I correct in my thinking?

Regarding this barrel problem, such was indeed my intention. Since fouling is, as I understand it, quite hygroscopic, and since the barrel has rusted quite a bit already, I want to remove as much of the extant corrosion and fouling as I can in order to safeguard it for the future, before applying a fair bit of oil to keep it that way. This mysterious obstruction has been frustrating my attempts to get to the very bottom of the bore to clean it, hence my eagerness to remove it - not much point having a good, stable barrel if the first two inches of it are as thin as tissue paper.

While I'd dearly love, in time, to shoot a jezail, I do wonder about the wisdom of putting a piece of metalwork such as this next to one's face with a load of propellant within it. Not that I wish to cast aspersions on the fellow who made this weapon, by any means; it's simply that, without testing it at the Proofing House (which is necessary to make it legally shootable, as I understand it) there's no guarantee that the barrel will hold up - and the PH tests might well just destroy her altogether.

I think, much as I'd like to have a go with a jezail, that this one might be in for a well-earned retirement, to a place of honour on my wall

[Philip]

Stu is right about springs. No danger of over compressing a mainspring with the vise however if you don't go any further than if the hammer were at full cock. Since your lock won't hold at cock, simply tighten only as far as you need to be completely clear of the tumbler.

Coca-Cola, in its original "classic" formulation, is a wonderful solvent. When I was in high school, a gearhead buddy told me about how it ate through rust and gunk, he used it to free the frozen cylinders in a FIAT engine. And I read a report about how a testing lab found that soaking a nail in the stuff caused all the galvanizing to dissolve, and it "melted" the letter off a typewriter key that was detached from the machine and stuck in Coke for about a week or two. Think of what it does to your teeth and the lining of your GI tract! I've used it to dissolve gunk from muzzle loading barrels -- just plug the touch hole and fill 'er up.

Thinking about shooting that old gun? In a word -- DON'T! Who knows if that barrel is so corroded that it's no longer safe and serviceable? I might try it if the specimen had a tube in really sound condition, but even then I wouldn't shoulder it with a live load inside until I had it proofed.

[RDGAC]

I too have heard of the near-legendary destructive power of Coke... makes one wonder why you folks didn't weaponise it, like some latter-day mustard gas However, one concern: wouldn't putting it down the barrel leave me with a layer of sticky, hard-to-remove residue?

Regarding shooting, this is very much a vague and long-term idea. Firstly, I don't own a firearms certificate or shotgun licence; obviously, I'd need an FAC to shoot this gun. Secondly, as noted, all firearms must, in order to be legally used for shooting, be proofed at the government Proof Houses in London or Birmingham, to the best of my knowledge, and the tests are stringent (as one would hope); I doubt many (if any) antique jezails would survive the process, though I'm curious as to anecdotal evidence on the matter. And third, as noted, these are often quite badly abused and generally dodgy pieces of work. So, as I say, in the long run it remains most probable that this - and future jezails - shall retire to a life of cosseted admiration in my hands

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by RDGAC

Hi there Stu, thanks for the tipe! Mainspring vice ahoy with next month's pay packet, I should think (along with some fine files and a set of brass dentist's picks, amongst other things), and I shall be very careful indeed to avoid snapping the spring; I figure all I want to do is move it a fraction of an inch clear of the tumbler in the fired position, to allow re-assembly of the lock mechanism without having to fight (and lose to) the tension of the spring acting upon the machine. Am I correct in my thinking?

Regarding this barrel problem, such was indeed my intention. Since fouling is, as I understand it, quite hygroscopic, and since the barrel has rusted quite a bit already, I want to remove as much of the extant corrosion and fouling as I can in order to safeguard it for the future, before applying a fair bit of oil to keep it that way. This mysterious obstruction has been frustrating my attempts to get to the very bottom of the bore to clean it, hence my eagerness to remove it - not much point having a good, stable barrel if the first two inches of it are as thin as tissue paper.

While I'd dearly love, in time, to shoot a jezail, I do wonder about the wisdom of putting a piece of metalwork such as this next to one's face with a load of propellant within it. Not that I wish to cast aspersions on the fellow who made this weapon, by any means; it's simply that, without testing it at the Proofing House (which is necessary to make it legally shootable, as I understand it) there's no guarantee that the barrel will hold up - and the PH tests might well just destroy her altogether.

I think, much as I'd like to have a go with a jezail, that this one might be in for a well-earned retirement, to a place of honour on my wall

Re the spring....yes you only need to move it enough to release it from the sear. That should mean that it can be swung down (if of course you can not safely remove the retaining screw).
Regarding shooting things like this. IF you plan to shoot ANY old gun and are not sure of how sound it is, then I used to lash it to a suitable car tyre and retire a safe distance with a piece of string attached to the trigger. I can tell you that I have over the years fired some real interesting pieces even just to say that I have done so. We do not of course in this country have the requirement to have guns reproved to legally use them.
I DO think that this jezail when tidied up will look really great on the wall.
Regards Stu

[RDGAC]

Today I have begun treating the stock, applying wood wax in order to try and give it some additional lustre, as well as protect it from further damage as best possible. Prior to this I applied a layer of lemon oil, which the wood seemed to absorb (or which evaporated) with remarkable speed, and effected some improvement. While doing so, I have begun to wonder about the three curious notches, cut with precision and even spacing, present on the tumbler. Any ideas, while I continue waxing?

Edit: Just observed some corresponding notches on the cock, as well as some very nice file-marks showing exactly where they finished it off. Photo included (for real, this time! ).