Queen Anne pistol

[dave_person]

HI,
Here is a nice one by Eric von Aschwege.
http://www.vonaschwegeflintlocks.com/queen-anne-pistol.html

He got the historical details just about right.

dave

 

[Rudyard]

Mr Russell Your article just read Most useful . What you or the video called no doubt correctly the' Pug' .We always jocularly reffered to as 'Harold Wilsons' .Since that Prime Minister somewhat resembles the pug and polititions are always fair game for humourists . Regards Rudyard

 

[WRussell]

HI,
Here is a nice one by Eric von Aschwege.
http://www.vonaschwegeflintlocks.com/queen-anne-pistol.html

He got the historical details just about right.

dave

Dave - I found vonaschwegeflintlocks.com very interesting. Thanks. I admit to using a milling machine, which was unavailable to flintlock gunsmiths, but hand work is my main interest; it's kind of an homage, I suppose, to those long gone masters.

 

[WRussell]

Mr Russell Your article just read Most useful . What you or the video called no doubt correctly the' Pug' .We always jocularly reffered to as 'Harold Wilsons' .Since that Prime Minister somewhat resembles the pug and polititions are always fair game for humourists . Regards Rudyard

I hadn't heard of the Harold Wilson connection - I'll pass that on to the author of an article in Arms Heritage magazine on butt masks, Peter Bower.

 

[Commodore Swab]

Not to drift too far but if nock guns interest you maybe you know a little more about this piece? I found this picture but never found any other information to go with it. Of course they were around before nock as well.

 

[Rudyard]

The first picture Ide guess was Colonel Thorntons double 7 brl sporting gun , Viz 14 shot By Dupe laying in a Belgium museum . The other is some new or perhaps continental piece , Pure guess. I once made a second contract volley gun , too heavy. But commercial ones such a Col Thorntons where favoured by some sportsmen primarily for wild fowl I believe. Rudyard

 

[WRussell]

Not to drift too far but if nock guns interest you maybe you know a little more about this piece? I found this picture but never found any other information to go with it. Of course they were around before nock as well.

That double volley gun must have been brutal. Dupe, of Oxford, was an excellent gunmaker; he seems to have fallen in love with barrel making and started a business making steel barrels, but went broke.
Nock is famous for his breech, which revolutionized fowlers by making it practical to shoot birds on the wing with a flintlock - he did what is done today by using a coned touch-hole liner; he made the small diameter part of the touch-hole very short to speed up ignition. I've read that the Germans had been doing that for many years before Nock. I've been looking for a Queen Anne with the touch hole opened up inside but have never found one.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
Nock's breech was a bit more complicated. He had a powder chamber like other patent or chambered breeches, and then he added a small antechamber perpendicular to the bore behind the powder chamber and connected by a channel. the antechamber spanned the width of the breech. At one end of the antechamber was the touch hole and the other end had a screw plug that could be removed for cleaning. The best resources I've found for turn-off pistols is John Burgoyne's book "The Queen Anne Pistol" and Norman Dixon's "Georgian Pistols".

dave

 

[Zonie]

Nock's Patent Breech.
The arrows show the antechambers.

 

[Rudyard]

While I suppose in a single barrel you might perhaps want to remove the anti chamber plug .It cant be done on a double nor need it be . Most all the single flint shotguns I've made had Nocks patent pretty much as depicted I believe his thinking was to have the contained powder in the anti chamber to effectivley blast a jet of burning gas though the main charge of powder . affecting a more instant ignition of it all . There where many subsequent 'Patent Breeches ' But I believe Nocks was the leader. There where preceeding' Chamber plugs' . But the Nocks are hard to match for shotguns at least. Being thought ill suited for a rifled gun .patched round ball at least by giving the ball too fast a start. Many seem to call the hook breach a patent breach but I doubt its anyone's patent the part remaining in the stock on dissembly is called the False Breech .
Rudyard

 

[WRussell]

I read that the Germans coned their touch-holes in two ways: by going in through the breech with an egg-beater drill that had a right-angle drive on the end (small, fragile gears - sounds like a maintenance headache) or by using a small chisel through the touch-hole. This small chisel would just be a graver, and today we have powered engraving tools which would make relatively short work of enlarging the inside of the touch-hole.
One could put a touch-hole liner in a Queen Anne by going in at an angle. Making a right-angle cutter to fit in the small diameter chamber would be a bit over the top, but a graver could be used to open out at least the bottom and the back of the inside of the touch-hole. All one has to do is get some of the main charge close to the pan. Of course cleaning up the inside, whatever method is used, would also be a bit of work, but it's all doable.

 

[Rudyard]

A dentists burr? the ball ended tools like a cherry to make ball moulds is sometimes useful .Lynton MacKenzie noted Engraver made a study of the opening out internally of vents he told us ( At one assembley of gun makers at one seminar session at Friendship ) That it was common practice. But putting from new a suitable bouche would be a simple option . I think such vents /'touch holes' if you like are worth while , but Ive had customers who specified just the plain hole .so that's what they got.
Ezekiel Baker never backward in coming forward, Stated 1/16" Part for rifles and one sixteenth and one 32nd part for muskets .In other words 3/32"nds . Though most survive larger as might be expected .Rudyard

 

[toot]

Not to drift too far but if nock guns interest you maybe you know a little more about this piece? I found this picture but never found any other information to go with it. Of course they were around before nock as well.

OH MY GOD who would have the coulouns, boy parts, to pull the trigger on these BAD BOYS?? hang on baby!!

 

[WRussell]

A Baker dueler's/officer's pistol of my acquaintance has a gold lined touch hole that now measures .07", so it probably started as 1/16 (.0625). Gold liners were screwed in, just as touch hole liners of today. It is in a "Nock's Form" breech, which was drilled cross-ways from the touch hole, then threaded for the touch hole liner. Easier and better than drilling in from the left side as shown in Nock's patent.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
Here are other nice ones by Benjamin and Joseph Griffin. Somewhat plain but with Griffin's nice carving. The photos give you a really good sense how the stocks are shaped and parts inlet.

dave
https://www.garthvincent.com/a-fine...stols-by-griffin-of-london,-circa-1760.-1788/
https://www.garthvincent.com/a.flintlock-queen-anne-pistol-by-griffin/

 

[Jared S]

Hi,
Enjoyed seeing your finished pistol and figured I’d post where I ended up, minus a few more coats of oil and drilling out the powder space and touch hole when I decided to make it fireable. Far from perfect, but happy with the result being my first attempt, I definitely learned a lot!

 

[Jared S]

Hi,
I have a question on this kit, what would you recommend in terms of drill size for the cavity for powder under where the ball goes, and how far in would/did you drill? I can’t seem to find any information on that and not many pictures show that portion of the gun. Also what drill size would you recommend for the touchhole?
thanks in advance!

 

[Jeff Kaufmann]

If I am remembering correctly I used a 7/16 bit to drill out the chamber. I will double check the measurements and get back to you though. The total volume I ended up with was right at 30 grains of 3fg which seems to be a good charge for this pistol. The vent hole I drilled out with a 1/16 cobalt drill bit. I cannot stress enough to get a high quality bit for this as it is hard steel that you are drilling with a very small bit. There may be nothing worse than a bit that snaps off and blocks the hole. Also properly block and clamp the receiver squarely and securely, use a drill press keep gentle even pressure, and oil the bit.

 

[Jared S]

Hi, I did a follow up project to my Queen Anne pistol I thought I’d share here. In all my research on originals they always showed up alongside their gun case, so here is my attempt at a recreation. I made it for a pair but only have the one. It was a fun build with a lot of learning along the way!
Hope you enjoy.

 

[dave_person]

Hi Jared,
Nice case! It looks like you used a nice nappy fabric for lining. Was it woolen baize? If the case were mine, I would add hooks and loops or studs on the front and a handle on top. With respect to lined wooden cases, they did not become popular until the late 1760s and 1770s. Most turn off pistols in those cases are later box lock types rather than the earlier side lock pistols. Most earlier style pistols, such as yours, would probably have been sold in a leather holster-like bag or in a woolen bag called a "shoddie".

dave