Thread: Found in Vietnam

Now that my vague title has got your attention.
This was hanging on a restaurant wall in Vietnam. Well beyond restoration but I found the exposed trigger mechanism interesting. Has anyone got any thoughts on its heritage ?

My guess is handmade in a village. Probably not as old as you'd think.

@akaroa1 will be along shortly to tell us all about it. Then next week, he will have found one to rustore and take hunting.

Looks like the conquistadors era, kind of when Marco Polo was cruising toward China .
The teck screw it is hanging from looks a bit out of context.

Originally Posted by Joe_90

@akaroa1 will be along shortly to tell us all about it. Then next week, he will have found one to rustore and take hunting.

Haha, it wouldn’t surprise me!

Rubber band gun made by village idiot circa 1860

Then passed on to white man on Columbus boat for three blankets a slingshot and some pawpaw chutney

Then smithsonian sought govt approval to buy for millions in USD

Years later descendants of said idiot recognised rifle from drawings on gravestone

rifle then finds its way onto resteraunt wall hoping no one would ever know what went down

steampunk

Matchlock my guess

Plenty of variations on the basic principle
But a glowing cord drops into the flash pan and kaboom

Ignition would be epically slooow

46 minutes to reply!
Well done that man

Matchlock of the type made by the hill tribes, used with shot for birds and monkeys. Since the war they were left with a lot of US equipment as they were an allied guerilla force supported by the CIA. I guess they don't need matchlocks now!

Originally Posted by gundoc

Matchlock of the type made by the hill tribes, used with shot for birds and monkeys. Since the war they were left with a lot of US equipment as they were an allied guerilla force supported by the CIA. I guess they don't need matchlocks now!

I was in Laos in the mid 1990's, care of the Queen. Lots of hill tribes hunted with home made caplocks. I watched a monkey get taken out with a load of road gravel thrown out of 6 foot of three quarter inch water pipe powered with home made black powder. They reused the caps time and again, just loading them with the scrappings of kids toy gun caps.

Originally Posted by Joe_90

46 minutes to reply!
Well done that man

Slowed up sorry
Packing to go to the West Coast tomorrow morning for the rest of The week

Lots of very “unique” bits of kit hiding in the countryside over there

On holiday in 2018 I got to see the collection of a local bloke near lang vei, he very kindly offered to show us some stuff he had acquired, and of the absurd amount of kit and gear a very rusty mosin M44 caught my eye, no stock, pitted to absolute hell, iron sights consisted of a brazed washer on the rear sight base and a hose clamp stuck behind where the front sight was ment to be with the tail bent vertical and trimmed to height, rounded off with a modified bolt and a barrel sleeve to take nail gun blanks and a ball bearing.

He would load it by inserting a nail gun blank, closing the bolt and then ramming a ball bearing down the muzzle with a rod, the casing would just fall out when the bolt was opened and drop where the magazine formerly was.

We asked our guide what he hunted with it, and old mate in full confidence replied with deer (muntjac)

I do hope he is still getting his muntjac, what a unit.

He also had a 1919A6 stock and grip that I was very tempted to offer him some dong for.

I recon thats actually a percussion gun.

That spring had some force behind it before it broke as pictured, and if the percussion cap sat on a nipple on the top of the barrel that would explain why the hammer is bent in that direction.You wouldnt have to make a drum for the cap,just a nipple.

I have seen locks like that before that operated in a similar manner.