It is often said among academics to work within the “Primary Sources” in order to have the most qualitative work while conducting research. At SR, we take this effort to heart and have been visiting numerous reference collections in the United States, not to even mention what we’ve collected and looked at in person while overseas in the regions that we study. Museum collections are fantastic and provide researchers an intricate look into what is out there. But due to our site’s location based in the United States, there is a legal firearms market that offers so much when it comes to studying small arms within the MENA and Central Asian Regions.
To that end, we’ve established a working reference collection that is primarily to be used by researchers associated with SR, but will of course be made available to any researcher with a legitimate interest in studying the small arms from these regions. Now, this is a “Working” collection and not a “museum” collection that primarily serves to conserve the artifacts within it. Unless it will drastically damage the firearm, we are absolutely interested in taking these old (and new) guns apart and of course firing them to gain insight into their operation.
Another point here is that the firearms coexist with their various accessories and accouterments, whether that be in a civilian or military capacity. Whether that be an Egyptian rifle sling or a leather Kurdish chest rig with ornate decoration covering it, all these come together to tell a historical story of religion, culture, and politics intertwining together sometimes in tragedy and other times in triumph.
Currently, the working reference collection can be viewed here as one of the components of our website.
We also have a simple ad posted on Armslist.com trying to get in touch with prospective sellers of what we are interested in. Of course, we cannot be buying everything, but we can be buying certain specimens that are good and genuine representatives of our subject matter.