'Khyber Pass' percussion pistol

Found this old oddity yesterday at the LGS. Afghanistan 'bring back'. Never one to pass up something strange and unique, it came home with me. I'm certain the stock and barrel are handmade, but the lock and hammer seem to be 'authentic something'. A fairly long pistol, approximately 18 inches. Made without a triggerguard. It has an almost 'micro Jezail' vibe to it. I like the barrel decoration (which is carried over to the bottom of the barrel, interesting as you can't see it) and the markings are total gibberish, adding to the overall character. If I had to guess, I'd say it has been fired at some point in its life. Pretty neat piece!

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Originally Posted by Anzac15

I like the barrel decoration

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Could that be a Damascus wrap?

You may be right BAR you can see the lines going around the barrel

(...which is carried over to the bottom of the barrel, interesting as you can't see it...)
That makes it less likely to be decoration, anf more likely to be structure, i.e. Damascus.

The barrel looks rather like rose-pattern Damascus to me. A careful cleanup is required.

The lock appears to be one of those bits of creative recycling with more-or-less Enfield /EIC lock parts. Only a good cleanup and close hands-on examination can reveal what is original and what is home-brew.

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Originally Posted by browningautorifle

Could that be a Damascus wrap?

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Very possible...hadnt thought of that.

Reminds me of those Occidentals who walk around with Chinese/Japanese characters for things like "potato" tattooed on their bodies: looks fine if you can't read! :D

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Originally Posted by Anzac15

Very possible

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If you bring it up close and look, you'll have to do some fine clean up to tell us for sure. Look for the seams?

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Originally Posted by Patrick Chadwick

The barrel looks rather like rose-pattern Damascus

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That's where I'm at with it too...interesting though.

Gave it a light going over today, I do believe it is wrapped. Also, no markings on the inside of the lock.

Don't know how well you can see it, but there appears to be a bit of script here. Couldn't get it much clearer. I believe this barrel may have some legitimate age to it.

You can see the angle of the wrap now...

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Originally Posted by Anzac15

there appears to be a bit of script here

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If you are referring to the faint marks that can be seen about 1 cm below the "3 short rivets" decoration, then I agree. A curved script line beneath an almost scrubbed-out emblem.

Yep, once some of the grime was wiped away, you can really see it all along the length of it.

---------- Post added at 01:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:00 PM ----------

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Originally Posted by Patrick Chadwick

If you are referring to the faint marks that can be seen about 1 cm below the "3 short rivets" decoration, then I agree. A curved script line beneath an almost scrubbed-out emblem.

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Yep, that's it.

There is a technique called "reflectance transformation imaging" that is used by archaeologists to bring up old inscriptions. YouTube has some examples. For many of the inquiries we get here, it would be very helpful.

Unfortunately, without having the necessary equipment, one can only use the "squint and rotate under a strongly directional light" method, relying on the brain to form a kind of average impression - the "joining the dots" effect. Give it a try Anzac15 !

I've been using the 'squint' technique under light with a loop, lol. There is definitely something there, and some sort of symbol(?) above the 'script'. Unfortunately, it's too worn to make any kind of guess as to what it is.

Copied the 'script' as best I could. Definitely an emblem or symbol above it, but too worn to make out. The more I look at this pistol, the more Turkish miquelet it looks, at least the barrel.

That's a tough one. The first letter (i,e the rightmost one!) looks like the sound "9ayn".
The final letter (the leftmost one!) looks like "mim".

The problem with the middle letter is that the small sign above is either "hamza" - the glottal stop sign, usually transliterated as ` - in which case the middle letter ought to be a vowel.
OR it is "shadda" - the doubling sign for a consonant. But the joined letter beneath it can hardly be anything other than a "t" - but this should have a double dot above the apex - unless, of course, the small sign is a sloppy kind of handwritten double-dot.

Nothing fits well. Something like " 9attama " - which would mean "delay" in Arabic.

Now it's your turn to guess!

I'll try to get some clearer pics...I've been wondering if it's the name of the barrel maker(?)

...anyway, I think we're talking slightly at cross-purposes here!

The "sort-of-kind-of-Arabic-ish-script" is that within the "tombstone" mark right in the center of our photo. That would be the likely place for a maker's mark.

What I was thinking of in a previous post was in the bottom eighth of the photo. The decoration ends with a ring of what I termed "short rivets" standing on their heads. Now look below that. I see - or imagine that I see - a curved script line below a faint impression of a figure. One can even imagine a couple of letters. Something like **DEC. The figure looks like a side view of a man's head and torso facing to the left.

I realise that this is my visual imagination working overtime - probably one of the side effects of lockdown :madsmile:- but that is the area which I invite you to inspect.

... Well, did you look at what I mentioned?
About 2cm from the bottom of your photo in Post #15, at about the same level as the nipple boss.

It was a serious suggestion.

Yep, I've looked all over that area where you've described, I don't see anything like that. May be a trick of the lighting.
An interesting update, an associate who is big on oddballs like this has informed me that the barrel may indeed have some serious age to it, possibly 18th, early 19th century.

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Originally Posted by Anzac15

May be a trick of the lighting.

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It's the "joining the dots" effect of the optical recognition system in the human brain. The ability to recognize a shape from fragments sometimes leads to the erroneous interpretation of fragments that have no original connection.