Carrying Flintlock Pistols

[smoothshooter]

I did something very stupid once and cut a hunting trip short to respond to a family emergency and ended up storing away a loaded trade gun, (prime was dumped and frizzen stored open. Still a dumb thing to do. Pulled the gun out of the safe two years later and went out in the back yard and ran a patch to wipe the oil out of the bore and then realized it was loaded. I primed and it shot just fine. not even a hang fire. Never again let myself get side tracked about whether a gun is loaded.

You forgot about it for two years ?
How does that happen?

 

[rickystl]

This was my tView attachment 80795View attachment 80794View attachment 80794View attachment 80795ake on a holster. I wanted to be able to carry on the strap of my shooting bag or on a belt. The second photo shows the attachment which handles either situation.

WOW!! That dark colored one looks just like the original saddle "buckets" Great work.

Rick

 

[rickystl]

what goes in the pouch?

In mine, extra flints.

Rick

 

[rickystl]

the pistols look to be original? caliber? have you shot them?

Hi Toot

Both pistols are originals. Both have new Hoyt barrel liners in .55 caliber. Both pistols fully functional.

Rick

 

[rickystl]

Here's a bucket I came up with for shoulder carrying the big wheellock and other early 1600's horse pistols. The bucket positions on the back. Cover flap is genuine black bear skin. Interior lined with dyed black sheepskin. Shoulder buckle is from original 19th Century horse bridle. Light carving throughout. Something different, but useful.

Rick

 

[ChuckJonesWagon]

Last year I was considering taking my flintlock pistol along with my rifle during the flintlock deer season. I have many holsters for other firearms but not one specific for a flintlock pistol.

So, I pulled out a few Simply Rugged leather holsters I have, and to my surprise, the holster that I ordered for my S&W 357 7 shot airlite actually held the flintlock pistol. Now, yes the bottom is protruding, but so what.

For me a holster is good if it does one or the other: It should either completely envelope the trigger, or have a strap that secures (DA revolver) the hammer so it can't be cocked IF the trigger is pulled while in the holster.

So, the first pic is the flintlock at half cock before it's completely shoved in the holster. The second pic is the flint pistol completely in the holster. Yes, the trigger is exposed, but the hammer is completely covered.

BTW, I never did take it along....but I figured I had the option to.

 

[springfield art]

Wasn't of great use if it was not ready to fire. I would think the owner would periodically check the prime.

That's also why swords and bladed weapons petered out with the coming of more reliable cartridge guns. As long as there were Flintlocks, there were side-swords, hangars, etc.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

You forgot about it for two years ?
How does that happen?

Yeah easy to do when You race to the hospital and spend most waking hours at the hospital with an aging loved one, then the hassles of nursing homes, hospice funeral etc. The prime was dumped so I could drive home when I drove home then and the gun put in the safe when I changed to go to to hospital. I normally shoot the load out but didn't want to ruin my buddy's hunt since he was staying out there.

 

[smoothshooter]

Yeah easy to do when You race to the hospital and spend most waking hours at the hospital with an aging loved one, then the hassles of nursing homes, hospice funeral etc. The prime was dumped so I could drive home when I drove home then and the gun put in the safe when I changed to go to to hospital. I normally shoot the load out but didn't want to ruin my buddy's hunt since he was staying out there.

I think that qualifies as a good excuse.
Have been thru that sort of thing myself. Had a younger brother, sister, mother-in-law, and father-in-law pass away in a 9 month period. Mother-in-law and brother and sister died in a 30 day time frame. All were long term (2 years or more) suffering.
2016 was a very bad year.

 

[rickystl]

LOL. Hi Chuck. Who would have guessed the S&W holster would work with your flint pistol. If the goal was to simply carry the pistol on your hip, that looks like it would work. What a discovery.

Here is a photo I kept of an original holster. It's for a single shot percussion pistol, which would likely be easier to make than for a flintlock. I just post this photo here because I thought it was a cool looking rig and it's so rare to find original leather designed for a single shot pistol.

Rick