Watch: Khyber Pass Martini Henry Single Shot Pistol

Gunsmiths in the Khyber Pass (in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan) have been making firearms for more than a century, and sometimes they make fake antiques. This is one of those.

After learning that American soldiers are often interested by old guns and will purchase them to send back home, gunsmiths began making “new old guns” and aging them to make them appear authentic. Sometimes, the work is good. Other times, not so much.

As Ian says in the video, “Some of the guns that come out of there are actually remarkably high quality; some of them are utter junk.”

He adds that some are intended to be used, while others are intended “for what you might call ‘the tourist trade.'”

This one, a pistol built from a Martini Henry action and chambered for the 303 British military rifle round, “is almost certainly a tourist sort of gun.”

Ian takes us on a tour of this old iron, which someone went to a lot of trouble to build and to fake. In addition to the many “laughably crude” copies of traditional British stampings, I especially enjoyed this comment:

The bore is almost centered in the barrel, which is a nice touch.

Indeed it is!

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.