Please help identify this pistol?

[birdsbeaks]

Hello everyone!,

This pistol was acquired by my sister at a garage sale for literally "a couple dollars". It served as a prop for her pirate costume on Halloween, and was about to be discarded. When I noticed it's authentic mother of pearl inlays, and what appears to be quality wood on the "stock???", I salvaged it from the trash for a closer look. This pistol is in terrible condition - broken stock, broken and pieces missing firing mechanism, missing/cracked inlays. It has engravings of a crown on it's right side, a floral motif on the bottom of the trigger guard, and some minor work on top of barrel. I'm more interested in the historical origins and significance of this piece, but any ballpark assessment of worth would also be appreciated, along with any reccomendation on what could be/should be done as far as possible restoration or preservation. On another site's forum, their was some speculation that it could be british, french, belgian, or other european country, I decided my best bet would be to come ask the muzzleloading pros. Any information would be very much appreciated. Pics or links to pics following:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

can't help with an ID but when in good shape that was a expensive pistol, a caplock so 1830 and later. French maybe?

 

[birdsbeaks]

Someone on another site mentioned that they saw some evidence that this was a flintlock that was at some point converted to fire percussion caps.

Any thoughts?

 

I think Blackbeard carried one just like that!

Seriously nice old wall hanger, wish I new more to help you but its an interesting piece, just think of where its been and enjoy it.

 

[George Holton]

Are there any marking on the bottom of the barrel, they will give all sorts of info. and a good shot of the whole lock plate would give clues as to a former flint lock Bob

 

[birdsbeaks]

didn't notice any distinct markings on bottom of barrel, will look again tonight and try to include more photos tomorrow.

Besides the lock plate; any other areas I could photograph that would help with an I.D.?

edit:forgot that i had some other images of this piece. here goes...

 

[oldwolf]

It looks like a Dueling pistol of some kind? :hmm:

 

[Harddog]

Someone on another site mentioned that they saw some evidence that this was a flintlock that was at some point converted to fire percussion caps.

Any thoughts?

BB,

It looks like there are a couple of extra holes in the forward part of the lock plate that would have been there for mounting a frizzen. Looks to me like at least the lock was a flintlock at one time and has been converted to percussion. I would suspect that this pistol was originally flint and was converted by adding the snail and converting the lock.

Randy Hedden

 

[Zonie]

birdsbeaks:

The grip looks like a English or French Dueling style.
The striping at first glance looks like Curly Maple which was seldom used on European guns but, I've also seen walnut with curly stripes so that may be misleading.
Curly Maple is a closed grain wood that doesn't have much in the way of surface "pores" while Walnut is an open grain wood that has many little dark pores on its surface. Often these pores are filled with the varnish or surface coatings used on the wood. Does the wood seem to have these small pores?

The lock does have two features that look like it may have once been a Flintlock.
Just ahead of the nipple bolster there is a hole that could have been for the frizzen screw and below that on the side of the lockplate is another hole that could have been for the frizzen spring screw.

If this once was a Flintlock dueling pistol it probably dates to 1820-1840?

Are there any marks on the bottom of the barrel covered by the stock? The proof marks, if they exist could be there towards the rear of the barrel.
Proofing guns and marking the proof mark signifying that it passed the test has been a required practice in all European countries for over 200 years and because each country has their own marks this could lead us to the country where your pistol was made.

 

[RedFeather]

Could be something like French manufacture for near-east trade like to Turkey. The inlays remind me of that area. The butt cap with the lanyard ring suggests it might have been a cavalry sidearm.

 

[birdsbeaks]

I thought the wood looked like curly maple too. Definitely no pores like on walnut.