paid to much

[number1gunnie]

paid to much but have never seen a real fake before. who and where would have this been made? ideas paid $250

Information

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[browningautorifle]

Neat...these are the ones we call Khyber pass specials. You see so few around here and I agree that they're sort of neat in their own way. Interesting how they got the letters exactly backwards by making the stamps so they could read them, then when stamped they are reversed...but they don't speak or read English, so... We have lots of these documented here. Maybe you could show us more?

[number1gunnie]

not very steady, foggy pics.no front end wood,barrel looks good in and out

[browningautorifle]

barrel looks good

I wouldn't shoot it though. We've been suspecting these are made strictly for tourist sale...

[number1gunnie]

Theres so much missing from the receiver that I would have to know as much as you to get it back together with parts from the unkown. I will only shoot what ever I know I can, this IS just an oddity for me. Thanks for the info though. theres so much to learn and so little time. thanks again Jim

[Gil Boyd]

Jim,
One has to assume they "copied" a captured rifle from a British squaddie side by side for comparison!!!! but here is what they should have produced. I have to say, their patience is amazing in producing the detail

[browningautorifle]

theres so much to learn and so little time.

You have an oddity for Canada, we don't see many of those around here...for sure...

[bombdoc]

These were never made for the "tourist trade".. the North West Frontier was never much of a tourist spot, and even if it were, they would not be buying rifles. No, these were made for local consumption, and still are in places like Darra Khedam and around Peshawar, although they tend to be AK47 knockoffs these days. A gentlemen is simply not dressed without a rifle in these parts. Even after the invasion, gun ownership was only restricted to one per family in the rougher places.

For a time, one of my jobs was to check antique rifles bought by UK forces going back home. At one time, provided the firearms met the UK legal requirement as antiques this was allowed.. (it was stopped eventually as some squaddie tried to shoot one and the police threw a strop...) I had to certify they were genuine antiques and free from explosives... great fun - I had a huge pile of guns at the back of my desk which I went through in my down time. They were mostly Martini Henrys of various types, both carbine and rifle, and Sniders. There were also the "Khyber Pass" specials. Providing these were old (over 100 years) , I let them through as they met the legal specification, however I did mark them on the certificate as being "local manufacture". I would not allow any newly manufactured example, if only to kill the trade in manufacturing them. I brought a Mk 3 Snider and a Lebel back, both now on ticket and shot regularly!

The general state of manufacture of the "genuine local" guns was very good, although the bores were mostly corroded from using locally manufactured primers (from match heads!).. The modern AK variants from the Tribal Areas were extremely good, at least visually! The barrels were generally made from old Russian car and truck parts... the steering column of the ZIL truck being particularly favored I believe.. The locals seemed fine with them and were, to our regret, extremely good shots! I suspect a local gunmaker who did not do a good job would rapidly have an opportunity to discuss his problems with his maker! The "Makarov" that one of our lads tried to take home was extremely well made, and it was only the fact that the inside of the grips were reinforced with coke tin and body filler gave it away..!

The "green" varnish is a real givaway.. this is some local brew that is quite acid and leaches the copper out of the brass.. you don't get it with old guns, unless they have been tarted up recently. Scrubbing the whole thing with wire wool is another local habit, which is a bit galling when they do it to an original and take off all the blue and patina...