theotherwaldo
Member
This Belgian-made African Trade Musket was probably assembled around 1885 to 1920 from an array of outmoded Austrian, German, French and Belgian military components (suitably modified), with a new-made lock plate and stock.
When built it was the primary firearm that the Belgian colonial natives were allowed to possess during most of the colonial period.
Its history potentially covers the entire period between 1885 and1962.
When it's type was first made:
- The British were fighting the Mahdis in the Sudan and Kipling was writing about it.
- Charles Dow first published the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
- Gottlieb Daimler was making his first motorcycle and Karl Benz was making his first car.
- The Washington Monument was finished and the Statue of Liberty arrived in New York.