Very small caplock pistol…thoughts?

[Skinflint]

Hi all,

I recently obtained this piece at an estate sale and curious to learn more about it.

Much appreciate any thoughts you wish to share.

Thanks

S

 

[bpd303]

I believe they were called a Ladies Muff Pistol. A quick google search should show a lot of them.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I recently obtained this piece at an estate sale and curious to learn more about it.


S

Ah a screw-barrel pistol. You'd unscrew the barrel, and fill the chamber completely with 3fg. Place the ball on top to close the chamber, then screw the barrel down over top of the ball, until the barrel was flush with the rest of the assembly. Simply add a cap, and be sure the pistol was on half-cock, and it could be carried in the waistcoat pocket or as mentioned in a lady's hand-muff.

Because of the design, the ball would swage itself onto the rifling in the barrel, thus developing pretty good pressure, and very good ballistic results, for its era. Since most civilian pistol combat was at 10 feet distant or closer, the punch received by an assailant from such a small handgun was rather respectable, and could be quite lethal.

LD

 

[OLUT]

Loyalist Dave's excellent response succinctly describes the loading of this type of pistol. Having fired a few of my "screw-off"type pistols, I can attest that when they are loaded correctly, they are really a handful when they go off! ... not very accurate, but across a poker table, they would be lethal. Your unmarked pistol looks like a knock-off copy of an Allen-type pocket pistol (similar to, but different, from typical Allen & Thurber, Allen & Wheelock, etc). What's interesting is that a virtually identical gun was sold in England of all places by Andrew Bottomly.

 

[TFoley]

Loyalist Dave's excellent response succinctly describes the loading of this type of pistol. Having fired a few of my "screw-off"type pistols, I can attest that when they are loaded correctly, they are really a handful when they go off! ... not very accurate, but across a poker table, they would be lethal. Your unmarked pistol looks like a knock-off copy of an Allen-type pocket pistol (similar to, but different, from typical Allen & Thurber, Allen & Wheelock, etc). What's interesting is that a virtually identical gun was sold in England of all places by Andrew Bottomly.


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Why does this come as a surprise to you? As a contemporary copy of an antique pistol, this little pistol, like any other antique muzzleloading firearm, can be bought by anybody over the age of 18 in the UK.

It is only modern replicas that are subject to the UK's rather odd take on gun ownership, or if you want to actually shoot it.......

BTW, Andrew spells his surname with an -ey.

 

[OLUT]

The surprise to me was that this diminutive, unassuming antique pistol made it to England, not on the ability to sell it there. Sorry for the poor spelling, but at age 83, that's the least of my problems.... Yes, Bottomley has explicit and detailed comments on the salability of such guns, so no surprise on the item beyond the price (high to me, but obviously not excessive for the winning bidder).

 

[TFoley]

Thanks for your explication. Mr Bottomley and many other similar dealers of militaria, arms and armour, while not exactly overloaded with American-made firearms, are nevertheless well-stocked. A local to me dealer has a number of very interesting ACW-era handguns and even a cased English-made Colt. Expect to pay a minimum of $1750 for a nice NMA - and upwards.

The price you posted is typical of the expectations of the vendor - nothing is cheap here, as you may have noticed over the years. I would have said that half-that would be more appropriate, but Mr B has well-known high expectations for his wares. However, it's painful to see that I could buy a Parker-Hale P53 for less funds in the USA than I could here.

Take a look at the M J Noble website - Mike publishes a monthly catalogue with some fine stuff in it, including a few US-made percussion pistols from the ACW era.