Looking for info on a pistol

[Owen]

Hi.

Help have been given this to "repair" or restore or leave as is. Would like to find more/any info first. It has been used as a stage prop for many years so hasnt had an easy life.It has a hidden trigger that pops out when you cock the hammer. Bore is in ok condition aprox 45 to 50cal, Length of barrel is 3" and is 7.5" over all. Makers marks are a E L G or C with a small star in a circle. With a small crown mark next to a P on the barrel that unscrews. Damascus? barrel as well.

Thanks
Owen.

 

[Robert an saa fan]

The E L G marking means Belgian.

Nice looking little pistol. Not my area of experience, but if it were mine, preservation is all that would be done.

Other members will have more information.

 

[Tinker2]

What is to "repair" ?





Tinker2

 

[Don]

I see these pistols on auction sites all the time. I'd like to own one that is shootable. I would think that pedersoli would make a wider variety of these pistols for sale as they are simple and fun to shoot. These pistols were known as boxlock or bag handle pistols. People carried them in their pocket, boot or muff for personal protection when traveling or walking through the rough side of town. Loaded properly they can be very potent at close range. Yours looks like it is in pretty good shape. Given its age and the fact that it has a demascus barrel it's probably best to just keep it as nice as it is and not shoot it. If you were to shoot it use a light load no more than 15 grains of powder.

Don

 

[bingo1952]

Since it is a screw barrel even 15 grains is going to be a potent load given the resistance these little pistols provide to retard ball movement and elevate breech pressure.

 

[Don]

You're right, ten grains should be plenty if it loads from the breech and not the muzzle.

Don

 

[SAJones]

Can't see what needs to be repaired, maybe some internals. I would tend to leave "as is", for it is an antique pistol more suitable for a collector than a shooter. Any marks or changes to the pistol would hurt it's value. I have worked on a brace of Wilson Queen Anne turn barrel pistols for the local museum, but even w/ my slew of screwdriver bits, I still had to grind to fit some screws. All I did was clean them up & put Renaisance Wax on them. BTW, the powder chamber held 18.8 gr of 4FG.

 

[Don]

Yeah, 18 grains of 4f in a modern replica of a pistol like that priced around $200 and I'd buy it in a heartbeat. 18 grains would give some real power.

Don

 

[Zonie]

If this is a screw barrel pistol, as many of them were, it will already be calibrated for the powder load.

At the risk of boring those who already know, to load these screw barrel pistols you unscrew the barrel. Then drop the proper sized ball into the breech. It will stop on the rifling. Fill the remaining space with powder and screw the barrel back onto the receiver and cap the nipple with a percussion cap.

I doubt that the gun was made to be loaded with 4F powder. Most pistols were loaded with 3Fg.

As for shooting it, I would be very cautious.
If it truly is a Damascus barrel, characterized by a spiral pattern on the barrel that doesn't seem to show up in the photos, it may or may not be shootable.
These Damascus barrels are known to develop flaws in the welds between the layers of steel ribbon they are made of.
This is especially true if the gun was fired with black powder and not cleaned as stage props often are.

This Belgian pistols Damascus barrel actually has a small area in the bore where a small piece of the material either rusted away or rusted and then fell out leaving a small void.

It was very popular with guns made in Belgium to apply acids to etch a Damascus pattern on the less expensive pistols they produced however this barrel clearly shows the Damascus pattern which was varified by acid etching.

The unrusted area was covered by the stock wood and the browned area is Patina created by approx 160 years of existence.