Model 1842 Haston Pistol

[btech]

Anybody know where I can get replacement parts for this pistol? Specifically a hammer and swivel ramrod holder. Think I can get it for a good price.

 

[btech]

I found that the Rifle Shoppe carries parts for this pistol but after reading feedback about this guy on this forum I'm very skeptical.

 

[FishDFly]

Dixie would be a good place to start, TOW or Muzzle Loaders Builders Supply.

 

[Artificer]

Dixie doesn't list the parts, but you might give them a call.

Here are repro parts:
http://www.ssfirearms.com/products.asp?cat=120

If you want originals, then you will have to check places like EBay and Gun Trader.

Gus

 

[Artificer]

Sorry,I meant "Gun Broker," not Gun Trader.
Gus

 

[Artificer]

Lodgewood doesn't have any parts on their website, but you might try calling them for original parts.
http://www.lodgewood.com/

Gus

 

[btech]

S&S has the just the parts I need. Thanks. Now its all up to what happens in the auction.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Henry Aston & Ira N. Johnson, both of Middletown, Connecticut, and the Palmetto Armory of Columbia, South Carolina, all made M.1842 pistols from 1945 to 1852. Yours, obviously, is a H. Aston marked piece. Dixie has a replacement swivel ramrod but not the hammer currently listed in their catalog. A call might get you more info. S&S is also a good possibility, as might be others. The parts might be new castings that would require shaping, fitting and finishing to match but these old guns deserve a little TLC. Best of luck with your project, it's worth undertaking! :thumbsup:

 

[btech]

I want to apologize for my topic title. I copied and pasted the ignorant sellers description without looking at it. It is an H. Aston pistol, not a Haston pistol. These guys have no idea what they sell.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Not a problem...had to look myself. Lock and barrel stampings sometimes lead us astray! :wink:

 

[btech]

Just won my pistol in auction! Can't wait to fix it up and shoot it!!!

 

[bpd303]

Congratulations...
Should be fun to bring her back to life. More pictures when you get it and have brought her back. I love the old guns.

 

[btech]

Probably gonna commit some cardinal sins. I want a gun that looks good and shoots good.

 

[cynthialee]

I know that feeling! :grin:
Have fun fixing it up and making it yours.

Don't worry about making it pretty in the eyes of others, make it pretty to you. :thumbsup:

 

[desi23]

Hopefully you'll be able to get it up and shooting without too much trouble. I have one of those I got a few years ago and it's a good shooting gun. I got mine fairly reasonable because someone had dovetailed a rear sight onto it and replaced the swivel ramrod with a standard ramrod. Probably done years ago. It's relly a fun gun to shoot!

 

[Artificer]

Probably gonna commit some cardinal sins. I want a gun that looks good and shoots good.

Ooooh, yes, no matter what you do with it there is most likely going to be someone who disputes what you may do. There is one wing of the collecting fraternity who firmly states one should do nothing more than keep the gun in the condition it is and just preserve it from further deterioration. Bottom line, though, it is now your pistol and you are the one who decides on what will be done.

About 3 years ago I was handed a shoe box by a good friend and fellow traveler who asked if I could complete the reconversion of an M1836 Johnson Pistol, which was the immediate predecessor of your "new" pistol. The Widow of another traveler asked if my friend could find someone to finish it as her husband worked on it for many years and never completed it before his passing. She wanted to frame it in remembrance of her husband.

The mainspring was gone, the sear tip was completed busted off, the screw for the butt cap was missing, the stock had major cracks, the previous owner or someone else had "cleaned" off about 3/4 of the original surface metal of the barrel and most of the stock finish, just to name some of the things I ran into. So I wasn't doing a restoration or reconversion as much as the job turned out to be a rescue.

I buy antique gun parts to use later and fortunately I had purchased two original butt cap screws about two years earlier that were either for the M1836 or M1842 series of pistols. Either would have worked very nicely, but one was an almost perfect fit. I just happened to go to a Civil War Collector's show and found three original sears for these pistols. One worked great without modification so that's the one that went in. Dixie had a repro mainspring that BARELY was long enough for the rear end of the spring to stay on the tumbler when the lock was cocked, but it was long enough. Though I normally don't like to use Cold Blue on originals, Brownell's Oxpho Blue and some "adjustment" of it evened out the metal finish on the barrel without doing more serious damage to the original metal. I used Renaissance Wax on stock with some real refined linseed oil There were other things I had to fix as I went along, but I won't bore folks with the details.

When it was finished, it was a working pistol that looked a whole lot better than it did when it came to me. I returned the broken original parts and pieces and suggested the Widow keep those in the "shadow box" she made for the pistol. Her joy to see the pistol completed to honor her husband, more than made up for the far reduced price I charged her for the work.

So good luck in your restoration as I know how rewarding it can be.
Gus

 

[btech]

This one needs a lot but I didn't pay much for it. Gonna have to be a lot of repro parts.

 

[Artificer]

That pistol looks much, MUCH better than the M1836 I worked on. Just out of curiosity, please let us know the condition of the lock parts. If they are good, you have a great pistol to restore.

Gus

 

[Artificer]

Oh, P.S. Not sure if you want to try to bend the bashed in trigger guard back out. Not sure if I would want to do it without looking REALLY carefully at it and I may not if the trigger still works because even bending it cold, it could crack and make things worse. If you heat the trigger guard to soften it, it would ruin the original patina. Just some thoughts and I'm certainly not trying to tell you what to do with your pistol
Gus

 

[Artificer]

Ooops, I am not sure if what I wrote above makes sense. To bend brass, you do it when the metal is cold. You heat brass that has been work hardened to soften it, but you allow it to cool to room temperature before bending it. I would use Babette Metal (slightly harder than pure lead) drifts and forms to bend it, if I decided to try to rebend it. OK, I think that makes more sense.
Gus