• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades

Need help with ID and value please - Caucasion rifle?

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

smarti

32 Cal
Joined
Mar 27, 2022
Messages
14
Reaction score
12
I posted this to the flintlocks thread and it was recommended that I post it here with additional pictures to get more information. Member Rick (rickystl) provided this information:

Anyway, your rifle is Caucasian. Possibly made in Dagestan or one of the other gun making centers in the region. The rifle could have been made anywhere from about 1800 to 1870, as flintlocks were still in wide use in this region through at least the 3rd Quarter of the 19th Century. The butt stock and forearm were often both made in two-pieces. Usually of Circassian walnut. Every rifle I've seen has a Damascus barrel that is rifled. Either straight or twist. Though I suppose smooth bore barrels were used, I've never seen one. Their pistol barrels were always smooth bore. The lock is referred to as a miquelet style lock. Generally meaning the mainspring is positioned on the outside of the lock plate versus inside like the typical French style flintlock. The lock on your gun is the most common seen on these guns. Stylistically, it's of Persian origin. An interesting feature of these guns: With the exception of an occasional small decoration, I've never seen one of these guns with brass mounts. It's always iron or silver. The guns were made using a button style trigger, and made without a trigger guard. Caucasian weapons of any kind usually bring a premium at auctions. They are often loosely called "Cossack" guns. Hope this helps.

Please let me know if more pictures are needed. If anyone has an idea of value, that would be appreciated as well. One of the pictures shows some separation between the stock and barrel near the middle of the barrel. I was told it is .69 caliber and it measures 62" overall.

flintlock full.jpg
IMG_7326.JPG
IMG_7327.JPG
IMG_7329.JPG
IMG_7330.JPG
IMG_7331.JPG
IMG_7332.JPG
 
Last edited:
Hi again Smari

As mentioned, the fore end of the stocks on these guns were usually made from two pieces of the same wood, and spliced together. This is the norm for Caucasian rifles. Even a plain example, in fair condition, as this one, with a working lock could fetch 800-1,000K at auction. But it appears the are extra round holes that were drilled into the stock (?) Possibly to assist in mounting on the display ? If so, that would reduce the value dramatically. Still, the gun looks complete, and could easily fetch $500+ at auction.

Rick
 
Thank you. The hole was not drilled for the mounting on this board and appears to be quite old. Well, I am not going to retire on the value, but at least I can tell my wife it is worth considerably more than I paid for it.
 
All u need is a camel to ride with it. One hump or two , doesn't matter. These guns fit right in with the Lawrence of Arabia movie. We had a huge military surplus gun warehouse here in Cent. Pa. . Obsolete military guns from all over the world. Occasionally , one or so of these muskets like you show would be for sale there. I think I still have a funkey brass powder container for this type musket, used back in the day. The container is decorated with cheap beads strung on wires.
 
Here is a photo from the 1870's. It shows Caucasian warriors not only still using their flintlock rifles and pistols - but also still sporting chain mail armor and shields. Advancement came slow in this region of the world.

Rick
602902.jpg
 
Back
Top