Black Powder "magnum" pistol from England?

[cdg]

Hello everybody. I am still wanting to get into BP arms. First the background: I wake up in the morning, and in order to get my brain functioning, watch about 15 minutes of TV. Anyway a few weeks ago one morning, I was flipping channels when I found "Magnums" on Modern Marvels (the History channel). I saw only the beginning of the program, which detailed some of the first weapons designed for obscene loads. One of them was a Brittish made pistol. It was a large caliber, and carried I believe a 63 grain powder charge. It is my understanding that this is pretty huge.

So, now the questions begin:

1) What am I talking about? :grin: Can anybody give model, years built, and similar info.

2) Does anybody make a replica, or replica kit?

3) What about not loading it to its full potential? I am still somewhat ignorant of black powder arms, so please excuse me if this question is dumb. Obviously you don't want a squib load that may become lodged in the barrel... At the same time, when many pistols carry loads in the league of 25 grains.

4) Could this be something to start with into muzzleloading? I've never heard of it being a bad thing having a firearm that is way overbuilt for its actual purposes...


So I'm not too serious about such a firearm as my first BP gun, but it is an idea that I would entertain if the price was about right. I don't want to get some cheap piece of junk for a first muzzleloader, but I want to keep it on a reasonable budget... Mostly I am interested in discussing this above described mystery pistol. Your thoughts and comments are appreciated.

 

[Lone Carabiner]

Could have been a 'Howdah" pistol that was carried by tiger hunters in India, if memory serves hunters on elephant back carried them, seems that some were doubles also. Quite a weapon. :bull:

 

[cdg]

Yes, it appears to be an interesting type of handgun to say the least. I don't know how accurate this link is, but it seems pretty plausible, and has some nice pics:
[url] http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/mlexperiments/antique_guns/purdey_howdah/howdah.html[/url]


Now I'll have to start hunting around for some answers to my other questions about replicas and variations on design...

It is fairly evident from the descriptions I've been reading that these were very crude weapons, designed to pack a tremendous punch in an emergency situation...

 

[SAJones]

I've seen some of those hand cannon "Howdah" (spelling?) in collections. They were well made, but functional w/ little decoration. Some molding & I believe one had a touch of engraving. Ones I saw were single barrel, but I also believe doubles were made. Caliber, best I can recall, ranged from .60 to .72 (Brown bess size). Yeah, they packed a punch, but the 2 & 4 gauge rifles they carried were no pansy weapons either. I've never seen replicas of these, probably because it would be a limited market. There are other large caliber repros made, like the infamous "Tower" pistol, but ones I've seen are poor quality, I would say non-shootable.

 

[renovato]

If you're just getting started and want a big handful of "boom," I can't think of a better gun than the Walker revolver. You can get good quality ones in the $300 range or a bit less. They hold a 60 grain charge and were the king of the hill until the .357 magnum came along.

Later on, if you want even more boom, the folks at Big Iron Barrels can convert it to a 5 shot .58 caliber revolver with ballistics that make most .44 magnum loads jealous. If memory serves, it'll toss a 440 grain conical at 1200 fps for about 1400 ft./lbs. of energy. Now THAT is a handful of black powder gun!

 

[cdg]

Hell yeah! I like the way you think, Plink.

Well, we'll see. I might just build a meager .50 caliber kentucky pistol kit, or I might look into a Walker replica. The name certainly carries a legend with it (and I'm not talking about Chuck Norris!) :haha:

 

[spitfire]

Wow a 5 shot .58 now you giving me some food for thought! :hmmoes BIB have a website and can anyone comment on the quality?

 

[renovato]

They also convert 1858's and Rugers to 5 shot .50 cal, and ream chambers on 1858's to hold more powder. They do various accurizing and stuff. The work is very good quality for a fair price. I haven't seen or shot any of their big bore conversions yet. I can definately see that .58 in my future someday though!

I can't get a link to post correctly. Tried half a dozen times and gave up. I didn't have any trouble with it before.

 

[Smokin6Gun]

Owner's Name is Jules, here's the Site and forum site.[url] http://www.bigironbarrels.com/ http://www.bigironbarrels.com/forum/index.php[/url]

 

[vinnynj]

i had my ruger done by clemets now sports a 5.5 barrel new front sites to match adjustable rear ajax stag grips and depend chambers (holds 53 g 3f 777 ball and grease) she is a serious hand full and very accurate with full house loads

 

[faw3]

Cant get these to come up shows error, got a little more info please. Fred :hatsoff:

 

[jaxenro]

do a google on big iron barrels, should work

 

[Old Ironsights]

I've seen some of those hand cannon "Howdah" (spelling?) in collections. They were well made, but functional w/ little decoration. Some molding & I believe one had a touch of engraving. Ones I saw were single barrel, but I also believe doubles were made. Caliber, best I can recall, ranged from .60 to .72 (Brown bess size). Yeah, they packed a punch, but the 2 & 4 gauge rifles they carried were no pansy weapons either. I've never seen replicas of these, probably because it would be a limited market. There are other large caliber repros made, like the infamous "Tower" pistol, but ones I've seen are poor quality, I would say non-shootable.

Here's my Howda, (.73/12ga) made by Roy:

(those are 12ga sabot-slugs & 50gr charges - quite shootable (for me, a Casull shooter) but LOUD. Accuracy is Minute of Battleship at 10yds.)

In relation to my Rifle:

Dave Clement is working on my .50 ROA right now. Can't wait to get it.

 

[Bob Riegl]

:v Now that's my idea of an 17th Century Dirty Harry gun---right punk--- :grin:

 

[spitfire]

Sweet,thanks for posting the pictures :thumbsup: !

 

[faw3]

Did try, the name of shop and place (state ) would help, maybe even name of maker/owner. much thanks I wondered why someone hadnt done this a few years back. Fred :hatsoff:

 

[renovato]

Let's try the link thing again!

Link

Wow, I still can't get a link to work right. The URL is correct in the compose window, but changes after I submit it. Anyway it's big iron barrels (one word) dot com.

 

[faw3]

If your on AOL and going back more than 30 days it will do that on this forum , the bigironbarrels and . com , did work just fine. intresting stuff. Fred :hatsoff: thanks

 

[renovato]

Yeah I got the [censored] thing when I tried to type the name out as one word. The odd part is I'm not on AOL though.

 

[SAJones]

Yeah, I really like that there little pocket pistol; really should knock a tiger off the elephant's back. That's the original use for the Howdah pistol, kept dangerous critters from climbing in the little box on the elephant that the hunter sat in(the howdah).