Ottoman Tüfenk

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This tüfenk (musket), is finely crafted, with a pattern-welded damascus barrel and a wood and bone stock inlaid with gold. The tüfenk was used by Janissaries (Ottoman infantry units) and its characteristics include a square-section butt, a cusp- or knob-shaped trigger without a trigger-guard, and a pronounced ‘prawl’ – the ridge where the butt meets the breech – to stop the hand slipping forward. The Ottomans made snaphance and miquelet tüfenks until the 19th century, long after they had become obsolete in the West.