Indians For Guns

Gentlemen,
Greetings, I am a new member, let me introduce myself.
I am a currently serving member of the British Army and am at present a member of the Weapons Intelligence Section in sunny Northern Ireland. When I am not being shot at by the natives I have the pleasure of picking up their homemade weapons. Which is very interesting indeed! In my down time I take the opportunity to fire Muzzle loading weapons of which I own two 17th century replica pistols and one carbine of the same era.

This is my question: I own two Muzzel loading 17th cetury english cavalry pistols, which where made in India. I am trying to locate the armourer in India who made them as Im looking to purchase ten more. There is a picture at:

http://www.militaryheritage.com/pistol5.htm

Ideally I would like to deal with the company via there web site. So if any one can be of help that would fantastic

Many many thanks in lou of a reply

Welcome Mr Constantine,

In all probability, you will find that these gentlemen here are the makers of the blunderbusses you seek.


http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php?t=525


Apart from your quest, we would highly appreciate if you could stop here often and share your knowledge with us. Do take great care in your occupation of disarming the natives.

Best-
Vikram

Constantine,

As far as I am aware there were no Indian individual gunmakers or brands in the period that you're talking about. There were several palace armouries and if you could trace the markings on your pistols and post them here, we could try to decipher them and tell you what the guns could be.

There was the War of 1857 following which many tens of thousands of Indian made guns were destroyed by the British and Sikh armies who were victorious and the original, pre 1857 matchlocks are, perhaps, some of the most valuable guns that were made in India. There were many replicas made post 1857 though those are nowhere near as valuable. It would take an expert, though, to tell the difference.

I would suggest talking to the Arms and Armour Society in London about whatever queries you may have. I personally doubt that any organisation anywhere in the world has as much archival information on early firearms that they have. Talk to Mr Anthony Dove at Tel: 01323 844278 and check out their website at this link.

If you would prefer to write to them, their address is PO Box 10232, London SW19 2ZD. You could also contact them at Fax: 01323 449430.

Hope this helps and if you post markings from your guns here, we could try to help you identify their source.

Best wishes,

Mehul

HI Constantine, and welcome aboard.
Am a bit of a militaria buff, masquerading as an A&E Doc...
if its not classified info, are you chaps comfortable with the sa80? met a couple of RM types a while ago who had unkind things to say about it, especially the shooting around corners!
Bit OT, apologies
Best,
Axx

The new ish SA80 ai isnt too bad a few new mods but the only visable one without stripping it is the new cocking handle. Oh there is no "E" setting on the gas plug any more. I think of all the stuff Ive fired recently from 12mm russian AA guns to the 50 cal Barratt is the old MP40, fires like honey.

With ref to the original question: The pistols Im after are reproductions, ill post the markings when im next on leave.