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Ingrham Underhammer

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Whitehouse

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Hello all, was wandering if anyone could give me some information on a very interesting jewel I acquired the other day.

Im thinking it's a Wade Ingrham Underhammer and I believe it's a .45 that's stamped on the top of the barrel but not sure what the 40 that is stamped on the bottom is about.

I have no history or knowledge of the gun or what it's worth. I do know it is very simple and a jewel in my eyes and can't wait to shoot it.

Thanks for anything you can tell me.
 

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I don't find any American gun maker named Ingrham listed in, "American Gun Makers", by Arcadi Gluckman, © THE STACKPOLE COMPANY, one of the most complete listings of gun builders.

This usually means the gun was built in modern times but because the pistol is so very close to the arms made in the mid 19th century I'll leave it in the Firearms Identification section of the forum.

Another thing that imply's the pistol is a modern gun is the use of a coil spring as a mainspring. Although coil springs date back hundreds of years, they are very rarely used as a firearms mainspring until very recent times.
 
Wade Ingrham Underhammer's was a search I found and it was showing him in 2009 at which time he was 87 and he shooting a BP rifle he built and modified. Not sure if that meant built or put together. Although his name was spelled Ingrham and the article sounded like he built guns and it was saying his son was not going to continue his love for weapons. I have found another subject that has a frame but not the entire gun the information he gave was that it was possibly built around late 70s or early 80s which would fit. He also had no history on his or what it would be worth.
Thank you for the information you have given it's closer than I was.
 
Ingraham pistols were very well thought of. He was a contemporary builder and about 2014 at the NMLRA Championship matches three of them came up for sale. I bought one of them which was an unfired 32 caliber GM barrel. All three of them were equipped with his standard grip pattern. The grip was totally uncomfortable for me and I made a new grip to fit my hand. Here are some pictures of the before, frame and the grip I made for it. A very accurate pistol.
 

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Wade Inghram built under hammer rifles, pistols and shotguns and did make one under hammer flint lock pistol that I saw in his shop.. He lived in Midland, TX. In Texas he had a following and his pistols were the preferred pistol.

I made numerous trips to see him in Midland.

Your pistol is his boot pistol, caliber is .45. The 40 on the hammer and barrel is the serial number. He marked the barrels and hammers with the same number for some reason. Value, I put $200 on mine.

I have numerous pistols of his and non of them are alike, he did things different at times for some reason.

I have one of his boot pistols which he gave to me, the serial number is my birth date, 41. The grips on it are of some type plastic.

The .32 you sold me, Lou has it now.

The last rifle he built was for me, It is a .45 with a Montana barrel which he said was his last one in stock. The barrel is an octagon to round and the rifle tips the scales at 5 lbs. I have rifles in .32 and .36.

Somewhere I have a write up on how to build one of his pistols, it is very detailed.

Somewhere also I have a write up on him from the Underhammer Society after he died.
 
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Yes, last Sept. at Friendship Lou showed me the pistol came back east! If you can find the article on his pistol build how-to I would be interested in taking a look at it. I took notes on the pistol but there were a few questions I had as to why he did a couple of things. Can you post a picture of on of the rifles? I have in mind of building one but have not decided on which type of underhammer action to make. I have two underhammers one Billinghurst type and the other is the old Numrich type.
 
Yes, last Sept. at Friendship Lou showed me the pistol came back east! If you can find the article on his pistol build how-to I would be interested in taking a look at it. I took notes on the pistol but there were a few questions I had as to why he did a couple of things. Can you post a picture of on of the rifles? I have in mind of building one but have not decided on which type of underhammer action to make. I have two underhammers one Billinghurst type and the other is the old Numrich type.

I will look for both, will be next week.

There are some tricks to his rifles, He used T/C trigger guards and you have to unscrew the trigger guard screw and rotate the guard 90 degrees to get at the action., I never would have figured it out if he had not shown me how to do it.
 
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