Queen Anne's Twist off Cannon Barrel Pistol

[twines]

I know a bit about this little pistol. It is pretty typical of Queen Anne's pistol The the center hammer seems to be a bit uncommon. I am guessing it is about 1750 to 1780. The stocks are about 80% with several small fiberglass patches. Who ever did it, matched the color pretty well so the repairs don't jump out at you. The lock is tight and functions perfectly and the bore is pretty good. Two of the proofs are London. The main thing I am looking for is identification of the mark between the London proofs. It appears to be a capital F but I can't make heads or tails of the marking above the F. One reference I found indicated the F means foreign. I am speculating that indicates a gun that was made somewhere other than England. I am try to appraise several guns for a friend who lost his brother. So ball park values will be appreciated. I will be posting a couple more muzzle guns as I get them photographed. Please feel free to make suggestion. What I don't know about these could fill a book.

Thanks

Tom

 

[bpd303]

I believe that is a French proof mark 1897 F is for Finished Black Powder Guns. I've seen a similar butt cap on French pistols. Could be imported in from England.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
The crown over "F" indicates the maker was a "foreigner" but that does not mean from another country. It simply means he was not made "free" of the City of London by the London gun maker's guild to proof his barrels at their facility. He had to pay extra for that service and have his barrels stamped with the F. British provincial gun makers and those not members of the guild often chose that route to get their barrels proofed in London. Benjamin Griffin is a famous example of a successful London maker who was not a formal guild member and had his barrels marked with the F.
dave

 

[Commodore Swab]

Typically this would be refered to as an early boxlock rather than a queen anne. The difference being the lock is "boxed" between the sides with a center cock. The qa will have an integrated lock on the side.

 

[twines]

Hi,
The crown over "F" indicates the maker was a "foreigner" but that does not mean from another country. It simply means he was not made "free" of the City of London by the London gun maker's guild to proof his barrels at their facility. He had to pay extra for that service and have his barrels stamped with the F. British provincial gun makers and those not members of the guild often chose that route to get their barrels proofed in London. Benjamin Griffin is a famous example of a successful London maker who was not a formal guild member and had his barrels marked with the F.
dave

Thanks for the clarification on the lock and the F. Is there any way to identify the maker? I started to remove the stocks but they are so delicate with the repairs I stopped. I look at the the side plate and wasn't sure what might fly out and stopped. There are no other marks. on the exterior. Also does the box lock style date the pistol. Thank for the help.

Tom

 

[Commodore Swab]

In general the Queen Anne (yes I know it's before her reign) style dates back to the mid 1600's and evolved into the squared boxlock of the late 1700's early 1800's. The first evolution was nicely rounded like the queen Anne's so to answer your question yes it does date it.

On a side note I believe sparrow (potc) had a similar boxlock as his second gun.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
Unfortunately, they were probably heavily corroded and the maker's name was lost when the metal was aggressively cleaned up. There usually would be the name on the lock side of the action. That there is no engraving showing on the action suggests again that it was aggressively cleaned up. Also, there does not appear to be any hallmarks on the butt cap assuming it is silver. The silver wire inlay is excellent and makes it even more unfortunate that there is no surviving engraving. They likely date from the 1760s-1770s and their value is seriously compromised by the heavy cleaning.

dave