Arabic percussion pistol?

[31yellowfin]

Hello forum,
New here and first post...

I’m not a collection of percussion pistols... however, I inquired on a bayonet and the seller asked me if I wanted to purchase an old antique handgun for $100.00.... sure??

Anyways, I made the purchase and now I’m trying to trace the roots of this old beauty. Bore looks very good and she functions properly.

My investigation of this piece leads me to believe it may be British? Possibility started out as a model P-1842 (Naval).... at some point, I believe the pistol maybe been surplussed to a foreign country with the Arabic writing? Thoughts? Any info would be appreciated! Thanks for taking the time and look.

 

[deermanok]

Cool looking old pistol for sure.

 

[Sam squanch]

Not sure, but it’s worth more than $100 ! Someone will be along in a bit to I D it.

 

[Rudyard]

Well it appears well made & follows the style of East India company or govt pistols the poor rammer badly abused. The Caligaphy I cant identifie but it looks better than the back street Peshawar pistol . perhaps a contract arm for Turkey or somewhere about that region. certainly looks worth the money from such as I can discern of it . .Ide call it a' commercial' . Could be for' Native States' in India they of us who can read the inscriptions should pin it down better. We don't see the Proof marks . even spurious copies useually have some such .. may I suggest don't buff it up just gently clean it . its allways better as a' sleeper ' Other than the rammer its in good nick / condition .
Rudyard

 

[31yellowfin]

Thank you all for the replies... yes, the ram rod took a beating unfortunately. I’m going to have a friend see if he can heat it up and put it back to a straight ram rod, not bent!

I’ve ltaken this gun apart and there’s no other markings other than what you see. It’s a neat little piece... my friends have been sending me photos of similar pistols out of India. 1842 lancer percussion pistol.

I’m interested to see if someone can actually figure this quagmire out.

I only rubbed her down with some oil and will leave it alone. I love the old look...

I put this pistol on one other forum and nobody has a clue. Hopefully, somebody here will have some knowledge... if not, she will just be displayed in the gun room!

Once again, thank you to those who commented!
D

 

[31yellowfin]

The ram rod bend... apparently, they were horsing around and got bent. Think it can be fixed...

 

[31yellowfin]

I’m attaching a couple photos of the stock in case anybody needs them....

 

[user 48679]

IMO, it looks exactly like this British P-1858 E.I.G. Service Pistol, supplied to East India Gov't native troops.

Here's some background on one: British P-1858 E.I.G. Service Pistol - Excellent

 

[31yellowfin]

Thank you for the post... yes, I agree with you. I looked at the P-1842 but this one seems more of what it actually is... thank you

 

[Musketeer]

I have a similar pistol, though of much more recent Indian origin. I bought it used at Track and it was just listed as a smoothbore horse pistol, .66 caliber. No markings other than the usual Udaipur India marks and some indecipherable numbers on the bottom of the barrel. Mine has no sights. With 35 grains of 3f and a double thick patched .610 ball (the closest mold I have) it's fun to shoot, even though I can't hit anything with it. Now that I've finally cast some buckshot, I might throw a half dozen of those in on top of the powder next time I take it out, just for grins.

 

[31yellowfin]

Yup... looks just like mine minus the Arabic writing. I’m assuming yours has been refinished? It looks beautiful!

 

[Musketeer]

It's a modern Indian import pistol, so it's not that old. What doesn't show up well in that pic is the beautiful grain in the Indian rosewood stock. Let me search for a much older pic I posted here that shows it better.

Found a couple old pics. I had forgotten until I saw these that I did go over the steel parts with a scotch-brite pad to take off the overly shiny finish it came with.

 

[31yellowfin]

I found this on the web... this piece has the exact markings as mine. I don’t know if the info is correct in the description... there’s a tab that says “View lot”... tap that to open and view pics..


https://www.catawiki.com/l/18557371-british-empire-arabian-percussion-pistol-1830