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Ethan Allen by Hoppe's ¿ Que es?

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tom deinek

40 Cal.
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Found pistol I hid in topmost shelf of library in 1989. Figured daughter would never find it there. Must have been a good hiding place.

Marked as above. Bushnell/Hoppe's can't identify it but sugggest it's .36 cal. Shiny bluing on 4" barrel & hammer, flat black elsewhere, brown wooden grips. Single shot, looks like .45-50 to me but Hoppe's doubts that.

What is it, what cal & what load? Any help appreciated. Cheapie but I 'd like to shoot it again.

Kid, now finishing college & NCAA athlete, admits always knowing it was hidden there. TIA
 
I suspect what you hid away looks like this
Ethen4.jpg


This pistol was produced back in the 1980's in both finished and kit form.
Dixie Gunworks 1987 catalog shows an asking price of $83.00 for the kit and $108.00 for the finished gun.

The pistol is almost an exact copy of the Allen & Thurber Sidehammer Target Pistol as is shown on page 53 of Flaydermans Guide, 9th Ed.

The original guns were offered in .31, .41 and .45 caliber. but the Hoppe's gun was only available in .45 caliber.
The original's were made in the 1840-1850 time period.

Ethan Allen (the company went thru several name changes) was most famous for his pepperboxes but he made underhammer rifles and pistols as well as revolvers.

Hoppe's also sold an Ethan Allan double barrel pistol in .36 caliber thru Dixie.

If you want to shoot your pistol be prepared for some mis-fires.

The problem is due to the size of the hole that connects the bore with the flame channel from the nipple.
The flame channel is an extension of the forward threaded hole that holds on the sideplate.
While this threaded hole is large enough, the company drilled a very small connecting hole in the bottom of the bore. Too small for any of the powder charge to pass thru.

If you are fortunate (and don't mind doing a bit of drilling) you can find an "Aircraft Length" 1/8 inch diameter drill at Ace Hardware.
This drill bit is long enough to reach down thru the bore and drill out this small connecting hole to a usable size that will reliably fire the gun.
If you do this remember, you only want to drill thru the one wall. If you drill too deeply the drill will break out inside the frame. If that happens it will have to be welded shut from the inside of the frame.
You should also notice that this little connecting hole is not centered with the bore. It is below center at about the 6:15 o'clock position to align with the crossing screw hole.
Also, when you finish drilling out this little hole be sure to select a drill bit that slips easily into the threaded hole and run it in until it stops under the nipple. This will remove any burrs that were caused by drilling out the barrel's hole.

Speaking of nipples, this gun uses a special nipple. It is not available from anyone so be careful and don't loose or damage it.
 
After digging into this deeper I find that a replacement nipple is available for this pistol.

I pulled the nipple and found that it is threaded with a 1/4-28 thread.

Now, that thread in a pistol nipple is somewhat unusual but Dixie Gunworks shows it is available for the Walker. They also show a M6 X .9 nipple for the Walker.

Being curious I removed a M6 X .9 nipple from my Italian Walker and tried it. It fit the threads in the Hoppes very nicely except the cone is a bit too long.

I'm sure that filing the end of the cone off a bit and perhaps filing the cones diameter down so it would fit a #11 cap would solve the problem with nipple replacement.
 
Have the same pistol. Drilling out the channel makes a big difference.

Mine likes a tight patch. For targets and plinking, 15 gns of FFF 777 under a .445 ball/.015 oxyoke lubed patch is very accurate. Seen 25 gns fff listed as abt max
 
I bought one of these at a gun show a few years back, 45 cal. It never fired reliably for me either. My problem is that the caps will not POP. I would have to fire at least twice to get ignition.
The first drop of the hammer seemed to form the cap to the nipple, the next snap would fire. When it did fire the cap, the main charge fired fine. I set it aside as I cant shoot my working guns enuff to waste time on one that dont work.

Another note on this piece-- it is used in "Quigley Down Under". The ticket clerk holds one on Quigley while selling his return ticket to the U S of A. It shows up clearly, even the scroll work on the receiver, just like mine.

HOSS
 
Yep, that is also a problem, they have a very short hammer throw and a frinkly S shaped mainspring, it just doesn't give the cap a hard blow. The design flaws are unfortunate because it really is a nice, light, compact little pistol, easy to carry, accurate and powerful for its size.
 
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