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Dandy Shooting Stick

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Hi all,

I am looking for some advice on this rather dandy walking stick that has found its way to me. I suspect mid-19th century, and possibly a custom job based off a traditional percussion cap pistol. There are some curiosities about it...it appears too finely engraved to be for poaching, so perhaps it was for a gentleman to clear a path through riff raff on the thoroughfare or for protection when visiting parlour rooms.

As you can see, it looks like a gun cane. But the handle has a feature that I suspect is to attach a stock. This is why I was thinking a poachers gun. Then the engraved part of the barrel is too fine for that, and looks like a standard percussion pistol. Normally I would expect the barrel to unscrew yet it does not. I believe it is welded and do not want to force it to find out. The long barrel or "cane" is not engraved, so I was thinking a frankenstein creature...that a threaded pipe was shoved into the original pistol barrel and this cane was a later attachment. Yet it appears not to be, as body, barrel and cane are all engraved with number "6" or "9" in the same font depending on perspective. The cane part is also slightly tapered so would be used for pellets rather than a ball? Or tapered on the outside but consistent bore on the inside? Top of pistol has a "5", a "54" in an oval, and a factory stamp that is hard to discern. Any idea what I am looking at? A custom cane for a well heeled dandy to blast ruffians, a freakish experiment, or a poachers gun?
 

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A percussion cane gun with provision to attach a shoulder stock. While not exactly an everyday find they are not uncommon and Remington even made one commercially. I would assume it's a smoothbore and the bore would be of consistent diameter for its entire length. What's the overall length of yours?
 
Thank you for the response Hawkeye. I just grabbed the tape and calipers, here are the measurements.

The cane part of the barrel does indeed taper. The wide end, that attaches to the pistol barrel is 22mm external, 17mm internal, the later measuring the threaded area.

The dangerous end is 17.8mm external and 14.2 internal. The length from tip to start of square part of of pistol body is 71.5mm exact. The cane piece of barrel on its own is 61.7mm length.

The bore is smooth but does have some concentric rings - I have attached a picture. I never knew Remington made a commercial cane gun. Any idea what the stamp is on top of barrel?

I am presuming this one is not Remington? It is located in Europe. Who would have purchased such a thing? A rich fellow to blast some manners onto street urchins, rapscallions, scallywags and other assorted scoundrels?
 

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Hi DoubleDeuce. The trigger does indeed drop out when cocked, much like on the old Belgian or French percussion cap pistols. This is why I am leaning toward the origin being one of these countries, as the stamp is rendered hard to read by the engraving. I wonder could it be an oval ELG stamp next to the "54".

Also, is it not unusual to have percussion cap as a cane? The vibrations and tapping would surely loosen up the shot? And why have a stock for a cane which would surely be for self defense? Unless, it was some fellow unsteady on his feet with a large amount of land who like to attach a stock to his walking stick and have a pot shot at something now and then when out on a daily constitutional.

Any further ideas or thoughts - I am stumped.

Here a couple of images of the trigger mechanism.
 

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Poacher’s gun; the extension barrel is of a different twist to the pistol barrel, and I’d guess that it was made up by the local blacksmith or a low end gunsmith as the work appears a bit rough.
The pistol hammer appears to have had the cocking piece cut off and welded in a new position, also the ‘damascus’ twist on the pistol barrel looks like roll engraving.
 
Thank you for the reply Colonial Boy. Would you guess French or Belgian? Do you think it was originally a pistol that was modified? So it is not a cane, but something that can be disassembled and hid in a jacket? This item would be mid 1800s?

Finally - the tapering barrel from the cane section, would it have been loaded with shot to take out fowl, rather than a ball?

What is a damascus twist?
 
Maybe you could take a piece of paper and lay it over the stamped marking near the 54. Then make a pencil rubbing of the location. That might make it easier to read the stamp. :dunno:
 
Shooty,
My apologies for not answering sooner, truth is I lost track.
I’d guess Belgian as there appears to be part of a Belgian proof mark, and I’’d say that it would have been loaded with shot mainly, particularly if it was used for poaching.
Could be anywhere from the mid 1800s up till the end of the percussion era or even a bit beyond; the typical poacher that I’ve read about only took one shot then hightailed it.

Damascus is iron and steel twisted and welded into a flat strip and then spirally welded to form a tube, which ends up as a barrel; there’s lots on YouTube and Google.
 
Poachers gun ? , it seems too well made , in those days poachers , when caught , could face deportation to New South Wales in Australia or jail or even hanging . A poacher had to be prepared to throw the gun away and run ,A better quality gun like this could have been part of a Game keeper's outfit for training pups or whatever .
The rings in the bore are an echo of the rings on the outside .
The 54 could be a date mark , Percussion was well in use by then
The take down barrel makes it easier to reload with a short rod and conceal everything under a coat equipped with special pockets for the stock , barrel , action , loading components and game , The 6's could have been used as witness marks to align everything up , or the user may have one in each side of his coat and the numbers made sure the correct parts went together . I guess it could be used as a pistol if needed .
I think it is too obviously a gun to be used as a walking stick .
It is Victorian and Victorians were into all sorts of gimmicky devices and entertainments , it could be something for the owner to pull out after dinner to impress his friends .
BTW a Shooting Stick is a type of walking stick which has a fold out seat on top and a spike and a disc to at the other end to stop it sinking into the ground while the shooter sat and waited for some birds to be driven over him .
 
I've seen it said that these were many times used by folks with dust shot to take birds for taxidermy hobbies.
 
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