Jamestown Scottish Pistol

[MacRob46]

In 2006 the folks at Jamestown, Virginia found a pistol at the bottom of an old well. The well still had water in it and the lack of oxygen in the water actually preserved the wood stock of the gun. Based on the ball trigger, brass barrel and style of snaphaunce lock, they decided that it was Scottish, although I have my doubts. The pistol is still be conserved and I do not think it is on display yet. Anyone who knows differently, please correct me. John Buck of Callands, Virginia has been making replicas of the pistol based on information he has gotten from the folks at Jamestown. I bought one almost two years ago.

I have attached some photos of my gun. There are not many photos of the original but it appears from what I have seen that John probably deviated a bit from the stock architecture of the original. But, it is an interesting piece and I thought I would share some photos. Feel free to ask questions about it.

Sorry...something happened to the pictures. Will have to try again later.

 

[nchawkeye]

I've seen the photos of the original gun...I believe it was on here a few years back when it was originally discovered...

 

[Claude Mathis]

 

[MacRob46]

I have seen those too. My photos, which are in photobucket, were distorted when I downloaded them. I will retry as soon as I can.

 

[MacRob46]

Trying this again. Sorry about the large area outside the object but for some reason I could not edit the photos in Photobucket without distorting the entire photo. In future I will edit before putting them in Photobucket as I did with the Scottish rilfe posted elsewhere.

Any way, comments are welcome. I think the architecture of the reproduction is probably not the original stock architecture but cannot tell for sure from the photos I have seen of the original, one of which is above. The buttstock of my pistol looks more like that of a Spanish Escopeta than a early 17th c. Scottish pistol. At some point I will make the long journey to Jamestown to see if they have finished the restoration and hopefully get a better look at it. My friend Gulielmus Smith steered me to a photo in Pistols of the World of an English pistol configured very much like this one. If this turns out to be Scottish then it will be among the earliest known, complete pistols. Scottish style locks have been found in Jamestown prior to 2006 and elsewhere in the US as well, so there were Scottish firearms here in very early colonial times.

 

[BillinOregon]

MacRob, I think that's one of the handsomest firearms I have seen in a long time. Just love the lines of it!

 

[MacRob46]

MacRob, I think that's one of the handsomest firearms I have seen in a long time. Just love the lines of it!

Well, I like it too but I am not satisfied that it comes close to duplicating the original or that it is actually Scottish. The overall effect is nice, however and it gets a lot of attention wherever I take it. The barrel according to the builder, is made from an L. C. Smith shotgun barrel. He made most of the lock components. The frizzen, which he certainly made himself, is not the same as the frizzen on his other guns, which came from the Rifle Shop. I think we all know how long it can take to get a part from those guys and, since I waited 14 months for the gun as it was, I believe he decided to go ahead and make it himself rather than wait for them to provide it. The lock is, of course, representative of a snaphaunce lock but with the pan cover removed, holes filled, etc. It works pretty well. The barrel on the original was brass.

 

[MSW]

way cool ! tanks for the post!

 

[MacRob46]

Sorry to resurrect such an old post but I did want to report that I went to Jamestown on Sunday in hopes of seeing the original pistol dredged up from the well. Unfortunately it is not on display and I could not find anyone who knew when it would be or even IF it would be. I talked to one gent at the front desk of Preservation Virginia, which is the group which actually excavated the well, and he gave me brief hope that he knew something about the pistol. However, he did not know that it had a brass barrel so we were apparently talking about two different guns. Some items from the well excavation were on display and I also saw two Scottish style snaphaunce locks (so identified) in one case. It was an interesting trip but I did not find out any more about it than I already knew. Will try again later.

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

I think it is a great find. I like your 'new' one also. :thumbsup:

 

[rickystl]

Rob: Thanks for the super interesting Thread. Sure hope we get to see up-dated photos of the original at some point in the future.

The overall look of your new pistol sure looks Scottish to me. :haha: Really like it.
Have you ever noticed that pre-1680 pistols all have that somewhat "experimental" look about them? :haha:

Again, thanks for Posting. Rick. :hatsoff:

 

[MacRob46]

Thanks for the responses.

No photography is allowed in the Preservation Virginia Museum so if the pistol ever appears there I doubt I will be able to photograph it.

I did find a bit of information in a 2011 issue of PVA's newsletter. They were testing pieces of the pistol's stock to determine what type of wood was used. They think it is cherry. If it turns out to be cherry then I have to question if it is Scottish. I have seen Scottish guns of the period with stocks made of three different woods - walnut, Brazil wood and rosewood. That does not mean they did not use other woods of course but I think cherry would be highly unusual.

Ricky...Scottish pistols were certainly different from what you would expect, but the English also made similar pieces. Architecture does not always determine origin of course.