Kabyle Musket

By Crusader1307

The standard musket weapon seen in Northern Africa, The Kabyle Musket was used by many African and Arabian Tribesmen around the 16th/17th Centuries. Noted for it's very unique stock, The Kabyle Musket featured the Miquelet Lock system for firing (similar to The Snaplock). The weapon “migrated” (via trade), into Turkey, Spain, Italy and The Balkans. Cheap to make, the weapon fired the “unusual” calibered .67 lead shot. The weapon was around 50 to 60 inches in length and weighed around 8-pounds. Noted for it's “crescent Moon” stock, this was actually a form of striking weapon. Often iron or steel would be incorporated into the Crescent (increasing it's lethal quality). Most Kabyle Muskets were elaborately decorated (and many are considered military art). With the advent of brass and steel cartridges, The Kabyle Musket became more of a “generational weapon” kept for ceremonies – rather than a fighting weapon.