Double barelled flintlock ottoman pistol

[kahnjar1]

A most unusual and beautiful pistol IMHO.
The only other styles of double barrel flintlock pistols I have seen are: fixed side by side barrels with left and right hand locks, and turn over barrels with their own locks.
An observation of the subject pistol.....with both pans full of powder, there would be a risk of double discharge UNLESS the pans have a really good seal to stop any spark getting to the lower pan powder.
Stu

[Rick]

Looks like an almost guaranteed chain fire to me.
The bottom pan looks very commodious compared to the upper one.

[corrado26]

Here are fotos of a miquelet pistol with a very similar system.
After having given powder to the basic pan one pushs back what is then the bottom of the upper pan and fills this with powder too.l After the first shot - and when you are still alive - you remove this bottom and can shoot a second time.
corrado26

[Kubur]

Hi

What a strange animal...
There is no inscriptions here.
It could be North African, you have this kind of pan on Moroccan guns...

Best,
Kubur

[eftihis]

i meant here

[OneshotOnekill]

What an Awesome Piece! You rarely see things like this on this my of the Atlantic!

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by Kubur

Hi

What a strange animal...
There is no inscriptions here.
It could be North African, you have this kind of pan on Moroccan guns...

Best,
Kubur

No, that is incorrect. The pan on Moroccan guns is a SINGLE pan, with a cover which moves away when the cock comes down. See Snaphaunce lock below...The round piece is the part that moves.
Stu

[rickystl]

Hi Eftihis: What a wonderful and interesting pistol. The lock, barrels and hardware look European made for the Ottoman market, and stocked locally somewhere in the Balkans. The lock has a roller on the frizzen, a late flintlock period feature. Usually, oddities like this are commisioned by an individual. And that's probably the case here.
Unless the tolerences/fit of both pans were very precise (where it's almost not moveable) I can't see how you would avoid the lower, secondary pan from ignighting at the same time. How this might have worked would be to prime the first pan only, and after firing the first shot moving the first pan out of the way and re-priming the second pan only. While this might take a few seconds longer, it would pre-clude an accidental discharge of the second barel. Just a guess.
In any case it's a super neat pistol.

Hi Corrado: What a great Spanish pocket/belt pistol. This seems to operate on the same principle. It just uses a slide to expose the second pan versus lifting the pan out of the way. Very clever.

Rick

[Kubur]

Originally Posted by rickystl

it would pre-clude an accidental discharge of the second barel. Just a guess.
Rick

I agree with you Rick.
Have you seen the second hole light in the main pan?
I wonder if it was effective. I saw double pans on Moroccan guns but no hole in the main pan. It must have been done later.

Best,
Kubur