Belt Hooks On Pistols

[AtlatlMan]

Belt hooks are rather handy things and of course show up frequently on sea service pistols, but how often did they show up in land use, specifically more in civilian and frontier contexts? Did sea service pistols ever migrate inland?

 

[Kansas Jake]

Great question.

 

[CaptainVane]

Never heard of a belt hook, got pictures?

 

[Auldjin]

Scots all steel pistols had them.

 

[64Springer]

Never heard of a belt hook, got pictures?

 

[CaptainVane]

Oh, THAT belt hook. Wasnt there a cowboy show way back The Rebel with Nick Adams. Had a sawed off shotgun he wore that had one of those?

 

[Kansas Jake]

Picture looks like a CVA Mountain pistol. I have one I built from a kit but chose to not use the hook. I’m sure the hook is in a tool box somewhere around but I liked the look better without the hook.

 

[andy52]

OK, belt hooks really don't hold a pistol all that well. Every downward motion pushes the thing upwards and off the belt.

 

[45D]

Whitneyville Dragoon
From the "Colt Single Action" book by Dennis Adler

 

[Mcat]

Antique pistol I got at online auction with broken tumbler shaft and broken off belt hook. I got it up and running. Very accurate shooter.

 

[Kansas Jake]

Thanks Mcat. Nice to see an original.

 

[Red Owl]

I built a kit with a belt hook- just like in photo. I REALLY don't like them. I'm planning to take it out and make a plug to replace the mortise in the stock.

 

[Belleville]

Belt hooks. Have had or have some pistols with belt hooks. All were a joke, except the French marine pistol. And I had it come loose from my belt once. Belt hooks are generally too short. Had a Scots pistol drop off in the woods w/o realizing it (a friend found it, so I did recover it). So if you want one that actually works, make it long such as the marine hook from TRS. Some do show up in Canada with the government colonial navy troops stationed there.

 

[Relic shooter]

View attachment 232412

Whitneyville Dragoon
From the "Colt Single Action" book by Dennis Adler

Nice
Back in my rendezvous & hunting days I packed an original Remington NMA with a very similar attached belt hook setup.
Relic shooter

 

[springfield art]

Antique pistol I got at online auction with broken tumbler shaft and broken off belt hook. I got it up and running. Very accurate shooter.

Very appealing little pistol! That it now shoots is icing on the cake! Good job!

 

[rickystl]

The belt hook did appear to be relatively popular throughout Europe and North America during the period. Some pistols included a belt hook from the builder. Others seem to have been added to the pistol later by an owner. The Spanish seemed obsessed with belt hooks, both for military and civilian pistols. In fact, I've seen more original Spanish pistols with belt hooks than not.

As mentioned above, I found the belt hooks would be good to keep the pistol from being dropped from the belt. But the pistol tends to wiggle around on the belt during movement. Unless you wear a sash over the belt. Then the combination of the two seems to hold the pistol in place. That may also be the reason belt hooks did not appear popular with the Eastern market in the Ottoman Empire. Their common use of a wide sash and light weight pistols likely held their pistols firmly at the waist.

Here's some more examples of pistols with belt hooks:

Rick

 

[springfield art]

Very interesting post! Great illustrations, you're on the ball!

 

[Mcat]

Charleville French army flintlock usually had a belt hook.

 

[Mcat]

Very appealing little pistol! That it now shoots is icing on the cake! Good job!

Thanks. When I first got it I didn’t know what the broken piece by the lock bolt was all about. Searching on the web, I found the pictures below on a European auction site. The top pictures are of my pistol as I bought it.

 

[rickystl]

Thanks. When I first got it I didn’t know what the broken piece by the lock bolt was all about. Searching on the web, I found the pictures below on a European auction site. The top pictures are of my pistol as I bought it.

Hey Mcat: Your pistol and mine look like they could be brothers. LOL

Rick