unknown underhammer

[enfield]

Sometimes it takes a bit of luck, patience and forists , who drew my attention to this underhammer pistol in an auction .

It was described as a “Belgian underhammer pistol from around 1850” which, with the exception of the type and the date of manufacture, cannot be correct because it would then at least have to bear Belgian proof marks .

According to the overall design I strongly assume that this pistol, which unfortunately has no stamp, let alone signature, has American origin .

As the pictures unfortunately do not show so well , the pistol is in mechanically perfect condition with largely preserved browning of all steel parts , only the ( not rifled ) inside of the barrel is slightly rough .


Similar to the design patented by the Ruggles brothers in 1827 , this pistol also has only four moving parts :

Trigger , hammer , trigger guard , which is also the hammer spring , and surprisingly a small coil spring behind the trigger for the same .

The pistol is extremely light and slim , is 27 cm long and has the caliber .41 .

The “trigger guard spring” is adjusted so that it has only minimal tension when the hammer rests on the piston and therefore exerts only very little pressure on a set primer, but still cannot “go off” by itself.



The extremely flat trigger is, I call it “getting used to”, this pistol was certainly not built for precise shooting! (It's funny that it has a rear sight but no front sight and never had one! )

In any case, I have once again been able to add something apparently really rare to my small collection - not even the book by H. Logan mentions this design!

In practical use, however, I would prefer the Ruggles construction simply because of the safety catch - but that doesn't detract from my joy about my new toy!

If anyone here knows more about this pistol, I would be very happy to learn more.


Thanks for reading along and for any comments



Your's , enfield

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

 

[Sam squanch]

These simple pistols could have been made by anyone, if there are no marks on it at all, probably a small town gunsmith made it . Who knows?

 

[enfield]

But even such a highly educated and trained tinkerer or backyard gunsmith of yesteryear seems to me to have not built but one ( this entire ) pistol !
Never before , I've seen such a system , but I think and hope , there should be more survivors of this kind .
Metal- and wood analysis tell , that my pistol was made between 1830 and 1860 .

If anyone of You should know more , please share Your knowledge !

 

[hawkeye2]

The pistol displays a high level of craftsmanship and also a working knowledge of firearms. Far more skill and planning went into this than you would see from a kitchen table gunsmith. Do you own it now?

 

[morehops52]

simplicity at its best. nice find.

 

[nhmoose]

Looks like a Bangor ME pistol to me. But that's me. Called a boot gun.

 

[enfield]

@hawkeye2 : Yes , it's mine and I'm already in progress , trying to build a ( slightly bigger ) copy of it .






@nhmoose : Could You please explain , what You do mean with Bangor ME pistol ?

 

[nhmoose]

Flandermans book has a section on them. From memory they were made in Bangor and Brewer ME

 

[enfield]

Is it possible to post this section here since I can't find anything like this in the net ?

Meanwhile , I've managed to tinker a hammer and installed a nipple , but since I don't like the odd shape of the original hammer , I shaped mine somewhat like the hammers of the late Ruggles - patent pistols of the late 1830s .



One of the reasons why I try to copy such artefacts is to learn to understand , why they were built exactly the way they were built and how they should work .

First thing which I learned with copying this entire pistol is the reason for the extremely flat angle of the trigger :


Since the sear acts nearly perpendicular , it's absolute necessary to be moved straight upwards when pulling the trigger , which could only be reached with this flat trigger angle which is meant to slip off the trigger finger upwards when pulling it , and then disengages from the notch of the hammer.

Ingenious !

Well , I don't think that my remake will therefore never ever be a target pistol , but I will try to hold on to bring my remake to a ( working ) end ...

Dear moderators : Since my post here seems ( once again ) to slip off to another thread , I'd be glad , if You could place it to the adequate theme . Thank You .

But anyway : If someone of You should know more about this pistol , not only I would be glad to read it here ! Thank You for Your help !

 

[hawkeye2]

The hot spot for underhammers was New England with a lot coming from Maine. Demerit's book "Maine Made Guns and Their Makers" lists a number of Maine smiths making underhammers.

 

[enfield]

Unfortunately , this book only seems to be offered in the US and sending it to Germany would triple the price ... ( which I unfortunately can't afford )
If You should have it , I'd be more than glad , if You could send me a scan of the pages which cover this pistol .
Thank You for Your help !

 

[CyrusP]

I was just reading about the tragic deaths of the brothers Ruggles. Quite tragic! One brother killed with his own gun by the guy who pick-pocketed it? The other brother killed by an employee test firing a pistol out the window he was walking by.

 

[RobertIN]

I was just reading about the tragic deaths of the brothers Ruggles. Quite tragic! One brother killed with his own gun by the guy who pick-pocketed it? The other brother killed by an employee test firing a pistol out the window he was walking by.

Well if that ain't unfortunate timing.