Reference "Double Falling Block Idea" post and Khyber Pass Apprentices:

This one was made near the Khyber Pass entirely with hand tools, mostly files. A hand brace was seen in the shop. Brought to me by my Nephew from one of his tours to Afghanistan.

A pretty good replica of the Old British Gunmakers work.




So yea, you do not need a fancy shop full of lathes and milling machines to make a firearm.

As it is truly a big bore, maybe it would make a good bear defensive handgun. After all, you only get one shot!

I remember reading an article in (I think) the American Rifleman about the Kyhber Pass gunsmiths back in the 60s. Among other firearms, it showed them making exact copies of the SMLE even down to the markings with nothing but simple hand tools.

Yes, I'm very interested in the Khyber Pass gunsmithing also. And it looks like they filed the pistol's barrel into an octagon!

Wonder how they were rifling barrels (though this muzzle-loading pistol may be a smoothbore, I don't know). But all the Lee Enfields they made, were they built with existing rifles or did some of these shops rifle them with the big wooden rifling benches, anybody know?

In Peshawar they do have some machines; not many and lots of their work is still done by hand. I suspect their rifling is done by hand pulled rods like we used to do in the 1700s.
They are more advanced than the muzzle loading muskets made in India; those are entirely done by hand; and they are not allowed by the Govt to make rifled barrels. Which is why even their Civil War rifle-muskets, are smooth bores; I have talked to them about that.

WOW dpcd, you finally admitted to being

THAT OLD?? Re: "back in the 1700's WE ___"
Say what again? Ha!

George