Grantham dueling pistols inquiry

[alannajd]

I would like to know some information about this pair of grantham dueling pistols please.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

So those are a pair of box-lock, screw barrel, pocket pistols. I doubt they were used for dueling, There are no sights, and the screw barrels were rifled, I'm pretty sure. They may even have been made in Belgium. Those would've been carried as a pair by a man, for self defense. The way they were loaded, the barrel unscrewed from the rest of the pistol. The small metal "tab" on the side of the barrel is where the loading wrench gripped the barrel to unscrew it. The chamber was loaded, then covered by a round ball, and the barrel was then screwed back on. What this did was built up some pressure when the pistol was fired, and forced the ball onto the grooves of the rifling in the barrel, making for a pretty good punch for the size of the handgun. They were often sold in pairs, as carrying one if you had a misfire, you were "done". Some people think all screw barrels were "muff pistols" meaning small pistols for women to conceal in their hand-muff, but normally those are very short screw barrel pistols, while yours are the longer barrel, version. Some versions, more expensive, had a trigger without a guard that dropped down when the pistol was cocked. Pedersoli makes replicas today, although they call them "Liegi Derringers" which is not correct.


Liegi Replica Pistols

LD

 

[alannajd]

So those are a pair of box-lock, screw barrel, pocket pistols. I doubt they were used for dueling, There are no sights, and the screw barrels were rifled, I'm pretty sure. They may even have been made in Belgium. Those would've been carried as a pair by a man, for self defense. The way they were loaded, the barrel unscrewed from the rest of the pistol. The small metal "tab" on the side of the barrel is where the loading wrench gripped the barrel to unscrew it. The chamber was loaded, then covered by a round ball, and the barrel was then screwed back on. What this did was built up some pressure when the pistol was fired, and forced the ball onto the grooves of the rifling in the barrel, making for a pretty good punch for the size of the handgun. They were often sold in pairs, as carrying one if you had a misfire, you were "done". Some people think all screw barrels were "muff pistols" meaning small pistols for women to conceal in their hand-muff, but normally those are very short screw barrel pistols, while yours are the longer barrel, version. Some versions, more expensive, had a trigger without a guard that dropped down when the pistol was cocked. Pedersoli makes replicas today, although they call them "Liegi Derringers" which is not correct.


Liegi Replica Pistols

LD

Fabulous. Thank you for the info. Any idea on value?

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Fabulous. Thank you for the info. Any idea on value?

Naw and I might be wrong on origin
Best to have them appraised and by a person who knows guns. Most auction houses DON'T know guns.

LD