Rare pistol made by a genius

[Erzulis boat]

Traditions Kentucky pistol kit poorly assembled. Gunshow in Ventura, California.

The pistol had a large diameter cable running through the triggerguard with a substantial padlock joining assorted wares.

Price tag? $1000.00 no joke. I asked about it and was told this line...."Have you ever seen the movie Tombstone?" "No, is it some old sci-fi flick?" I reply. "This pistol was built by one of the actors in Tombstone, and he is an artist and a genius." (He actually said genius)

I told him that it was a Traditions kit, and asked to inspect barrel on the backside. He told me to be extremely careful.....sure as heck, where the "BP only" blurb was supposed to be was a deep crude dip done with a file, then cold blued to fake the funk. The screws were chongered with a kitchen screwdriver, and the lockpanel was criss-crossed at the rear point. I was with my shooting buddy at the show who is just getting into BP, and even he knew this was a joke.

I am still in a daze.

:rotf:

 

[soggy]

Soooooo! ,...............Did ya buy it?........ :rotf: :rotf:
Sorry just couldn't resist.

 

[jtmattison]

:rotf:

Which actor built it?

HD

 

[Stumpkiller]

P.T. Barnum would be proud.

 

[Tkendrick]

Ran into a similar incident at the Great Western in Phoenix a couple of years back. Dealer had a "matched pair of dueling pistols" in a very nice presentation box.

One was a CVA of some kind, very similar to my T/C mountain pistol, The other was an spanish import that was very similar in appearance. He hadn't even gone to the trouble of trying to remove the marks. One was flint, the other percussion, and if I recall correctly they weren't even the same caliber.

To add insult, they had both been fired at some time and never been cleaned. The accesories in the box were in similar condition.

I figured the box was worth a hundred bucks, and the two pistols and accesories were worth maybe $75 dollars.

Oh, did I mention the letter he had from "a reputable firearms historian" that linked these two pistols to Aaron Burr? :rotf:

Yep, I almost bought them, too.

He was only asking $15,000.

The sad thing is, I think he actually got some sucker to buy them. :shocked2: :barf:

 

[Maynerd62411]

This guy really needs to brush up on his history before selling that kind of tale. :nono:
Aaron Burr had the duel with Alexander Hamilton in 1804 . Burr died in 1836. The percussion lock wasn't introduced until around 1840, wasn't it?
'Sides, shouldn't they at least match? :surrender:

 

[BrownBear]

Sad to say, but the seller is a bigger genious than the maker, and whoever buys it will be the biggest genious of all. Trouble is, there's probably someone out there who will buy both- the story and the gun.

 

[tnlonghunter]

If I had one of those Traditions, I'd be really tempted to go home and get it, then bring it back and ask if he was interested in giving me $500 for it to make it a matched pair of it's own. :bull:

 

[2172]

Some people will buy the story...any story. When I was first starting in bp, about 1969, I bought a kit from Dixie for $14.95...ols bbl found in somw warehouse, new wood, old lock with new hammer, new wood. I got it together and was really proud...decided I should shoot it...had no idea about sizes for perc caps so I took the nipple out and took it with me to the store, and bought some #11's...putting the nipple back in, I crossed the threads...trying to get it out with a lockjaw pliers I broke it off, getting the stump out of the opening I really buggered up all of it.
I put it in a consignment shop with a 3x5index card that said, "fowling piece. Guns such as this were used by the early settlers for the same purpose as modern shotguns. New wood..guaranteed not to shoot"...and it sold for $25 on the first Sunday. We were at a point where the average NYC person, out for a Sunday drive would turn around, and would try and bring some souvenier back from their trip to the wilds of New Jersey..I know the 3x5 card did the selling...Hank

 

[Erzulis boat]

:rotf:

Which actor built it?

HD

Some scrawled initials were near the breech on the top flat, and the name he stated I could not recognize. I checked the credits and found no name that rung a bell.

There was a flintlock pistol at another table that appeared to be quite old and somewhat ornate. The asking price was $12,000 and the crudely written tag said that it once belonged to the King of Morocco. It was set amongst a host of cheap pocket knives in a glass case. You are not allowed to bring cameras into the show, but next time the show comes, I will have to get snapshots of the pistols and the sellers. Now that I am into the old style arms, I have been actually checking the displays, and besides the bogus "Vietnam bringback" scams, the antique arms are out of control when it comes to pure BS.

Ventura California Gunshow, Building No. 1 central tables (these jokers always get the same tables) If you want to see this for yourself. I suspect that these pistols will be around for a while.....I hope.

 

[Walks Alone]

Fakes are common for anything of value. So are sellers with no scrupples - as are uninformed buyers. The latter two keep the fakers busy at their craft, the last one the crooked sellers at theirs. Buyers to lazy to do the research get what they deserve.

The no pictures thing never really bothered me much. The cameras in my cell phones take excellent pictures.

 

[Many Klatch]

I wonder why anyone would pay $1,500 for a replica? The world gets funnier and funnier.

Many Klatch