1850 Saloon & Zimmer

[arcticap]

I found the design of these Pedersoli 1850 Belgian "inline" pistols interesting. Does anyone know if there were any period rifles with similar actions made, and if not how come? Was the steel or the design too weak to withstand the heavier powder charges that rifles utilize? In some respects these pistols faintly resemble what a fantasy Colt pistol might look like as a single shot, minus the revolver cylinder. These designs must have been viewed as being radically different compared to the day's sidelock designs. Anyone ever shoot either of these small caliber .36 & 4.5mm (.177) Pedersoli pistols?

Saloon (1850)

Copy of a Belgian pistol with nipple positioned in order to assure an extremely fast ignition. The frame and hammer are colour case hardened. Front and rear sights are fixed.

[url] http://www.davide-pedersoli.com/ArmiCategoria.aspx?CategoriaId=128&lang=en[/url]

Zimmer (1850)

Reproduction of Belgian pistol that features an European walnut stock with traditional fluted grip, enriched with a typical metal buttcap. Front and rear sights are made of steel and fixed. It is produced with round barrel and colour case hardened frame.

[url] http://www.davide-pedersoli.com/ArmiCategoria.aspx?CategoriaId=127&lang=en[/quote[/url]]

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I've never seen any pistol of that type. Reminds me of an H&R shotgun - the 'Topper' model. bet they are accurate. sorry, I have no knowledge of any rifles with the design.

 

[F.G. Ford]

These particular guns are "Parlour" guns.
Designed to shoot light charges, or no charge at all.Some only used the energy of the cap to propel the projectile.
Way back when, these were shot at informal gatherings, mostly in Europe.
The hammer, is the only breech face holding the propellant gases from coming back to the shooter.
So you would not want a charge of a 100 grs. of powder in the barrel.
Best Regards
Old Ford

 

[mp510]

Zimmer is the German word for room (as in a room in a house). Zimmer Pistole would have been used during the winter months for indoor target practice. After the debut of conventional metallic cartridges, such pistols were commonly made for shooting calibers such as 6mm Flobert, et-al. Many of the cartridge pistols were made during the latter years of the 19th century. At that time, there were Parlour rifles were chambered for these extremely low powered rounds.

 

[Zonie]

IMO, most shooters would object to the fragments of the cap and powder gas flying at their face when a large powder charge is loaded in a gun with this design. That probably explains why it was limited to parlor guns which used little or no powder.

There were also parlor rifles.
Although they look at first glance to have a full length rifle barrel, on closer examination one will find that the real barrel is only about 4-6 inches long and is located at the muzzle end.
Although many have a conventional side lock, it actually hits a rod that runs forward to the real barrel to hit the primer.

Ah those cleaver Germans!!

zonie