ottoman empire Dag or knee blunderbuss pistol

Ottoman Empire Flintlock "DAG" Blunderbuss Pistol Also called a knee pistol because of how they were fired from a horse.
c. 1780-1830, Ottoman Empire Flintlock "DAG" Blunderbuss Pistol.
This type of Ottoman Empire Flintlock "Dag" Blunderbuss Pistol was a style coveted by the Barbary Coast pirates. This example has a 9" steel Blunderbuss barrel with flaring muzzle. The flint lock has rather crude decorative engraving and has a dark and dirty age patina. This gun is in its original Flintlock configuration and functions correctly as designed. It has all brass furniture. The stock has areas of decorative carving. Overall, the stock is solid with light scratches and dings from handling.

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Originally marked on the lock plate by the maker but has been purposely removed.  This pistol is beautifully made with heavy silver mounts and extensive intricate gold inlay, this flintlock pistol is almost certainly of French manufacture with British influence. The silver pommel is encrusted with deeply embossed Stands of Arms, the trigger guard, side plate and ram rod pipes are also of silver. The 10" barrel is also decorated in silver and gold and is most likely of Arabic design, the lock plate also has silver overlays making this an extremely attractive pistol. The silver stamps do not appear to be French, likely Arabic.  Dating from the time of Napoleon Bonaparte, circa 1750-1800, this was a period of French expansion of the Eastern Mediterranean.

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The British Royal Navy Sea Service Pistol has the unique distinction of being one of the very few military small arms to retain its basic form for a century of service. While most military arms have service lives of a few decades at most, the flintlock Sea Service Pistol of the British Royal Navy remained in general use from 1716 until 1816, exactly 100 years, with only some minor modifications. While these minor changes, primarily to the locks, have led modern collectors to label the variations as different pattern dates, the reality is that from its introduction circa 1716 through the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the basic form of the pistol remained unchanged. 

The first pattern date applied to the Sea Service pistol in this form is 1716. The Pattern 1716 Sea Service Pistol was very similar to the Land Service Pistol of the same era, in overall appearance and design. The pistol was a single shot, flintlock ignition gun with a 12” long, round iron smoothbore barrel in “pistol bore”, approximately .56 caliber. The guns were of simple, but robust construction, and like their land service brethren were built with an eye towards the gun seeing equal service as a club, as it did as a firearm! In fact, US Naval manuals from the first decades of the 1800s included instruction on how to throw the pistol at an enemy, a tactic that no doubt originated in the Royal Navy. The 12” barrel of the Sea Service pistol was secured to the full-length stock by a pair of transverse wire pins, and a single screw through the breech tang. The forend tip was without cap or reinforcement. The furniture was of brass, with a simple cast brass lobed butt cap that doubled as the head of the pistol butt “club”, a brass triggerguard, a flat brass side plate and a single brass ramrod pipe. A steel belt hook was attached to the reverse of the pistol by the rear most lock mounting screw, and a stud at the inboard rear of the hook engaged a hole in the side plate to keep the belt hook from swiveling when in use. A recurved iron trigger was suspended from a single iron wire pin that passed through the stock and into the lock mortise. A simple, brass-tipped wooden rammer was secured under the stock by the ramrod pipe. 

The lock was the one area that showed the largest amount of variation, and the pattern of lock is the principle reason for the various pattern date designations assigned to these pistols. The earliest Pattern 1716 pistols used the Pattern 1716 Sea Service Lock, which was flat with a semi-banana shaped profile with an integral, faceted, unbridled iron pan without a fence, and a flat reinforced cock (hammer). The plates were pointed to the rear and did not have the boarder-line enhancements of later pistol locks. All of the lock markings were engraved. These included the lock contractor’s name, as well as the lock’s date at the tail of the lock, and the royal crown over “GR” royal cypher forward of the hammer. The Pattern 1716/77 Sea Service Pistol was in in essence identical to the Pattern 1716, with the exception of the adoption of the new Pattern 1777 Sea Service pistol lock. The new lock featured a shorter sear spring, which meant that the ends of two internal screws are visible to the rear of the hammer, while the older 1716 lock had the end of the sear spring screw concealed behind the hammer. The Pattern 1777 lock also introduced a rounded pan with a bridle. 

The final variation of the pistol was again for all reasonable purposes identical to the two previous variations, with the exception of the lock, which was the new India Service pistol lock. It was adopted for use with the Sea Service pistol in 1801 and that is the designation that this final variation carries, the Pattern 1801. The refinements of the new lock were primarily simplifications and production improvements. Visually the most identifiable features were the addition of a fence to the rear of the round iron pan and the change from engraving the markings on the lock to stamping them. With the simplification of the marking system, aesthetic enhancements like stamped boarder lines around the lock and body of the cock were added. The pistol remained unchanged in this variation until 1816, when it was determined that the barrels of the pistols should be shortened from 12” to 9”, and many Pattern 1801 pistols were subsequently shortened. 

Other than some changes in the lock system, the long barreled Royal Navy Sea Service Pistol remained in the same basic form from and in constant service from 1716 to 1816, a claim that very few other military arms can make. These pistols saw service during the entire range of British Wars during that century of service, from The War of the Quadruple Alliance (1717-1720) to the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748), to the Seven Years’ War (or French & Indian War 1756-1763), through the American Revolution (1775-1783), and into the era of the Napoleonic Wars (on and off from 1793-1815, through 7 coalitions), and the War of 1812 (1812-1815), just to list the major wars that occurred during their service. It was the British Royal Navy that time controlled the seas during that time and extended British power around the globe. These pistols were a small part of the Royal Navy’s ability to project British influence beyond the horizon of the British Isles.

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John Jones and Co. are recorded as Gunmakers at 12 Bells Buildings, Salisbury Square, London, between 1828 and 1830. The company also had a factory in Birmingham between 1814 and 1835.  Obviously, since this pistol is in its original flintlock configuration t must be a very early gun for jones.

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A rare British Military Light Dragoon Flintlock Pistol dated 1780. The lock plate engraved with a crown & "GR TOWER". Standard military pattern side-plate, trigger guard, brass butt-cap and ramrod pipe. London proof marks to the breech on the 9 inch barrel. Wooden ramrod. Marked on the stock a crown with the date 1780 underneath. Calibre approx .69 cal. Nice crisp action. In good condition with some minor dings and scratches during it's working life. Overall length 15 inches. The middle 18th century saw a change in the way the British Board of Ordnance approached the design of small arms. The need for small arms for men in the field began to influence designs and innovation.  This pistol dating 1780 very possibly saw action in the American Revolution.  I am presently researching the possibility that is had some relationship with West Chester County Volunteers.

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The prancing unicorn deeply struck next to the name "TEZENAS LARONI" is the mark of Francois Tezenas who worked in France from 1689-1720.  This is a very ornate pistol in absolutely incredible condition, by a master gun maker of the sixteenth century.

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Gun maker Jean Dubois, worked in Sedan in Northern France from 1633 to 1670.   This is an early French Pistol from the time of King Louis the 14th.  Information is scarce on this firearm and is therefore on going.

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The 1796 Heavy Cavalry Pistol was the result of an initiative by the Board of Ordnance led by Henry Nock in the late 18th century to produce a more modern simplified pistol for Heavy Cavalry which was easier to maintain and more cost-effective to manufacture than its predecessors. This involved the slimming down of previous designs and a focus on improved core functionality.  This represents a  clean example of a regulation pattern British Military 1796 Heavy Dragoon Pistol, Proof stamped 9" round barrel, full walnut stock with regulation brass mounts, the lock plate stamped with CROWN over GR under the pan & TOWER across the tail.

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