Howdah Pistol

[Jim McDougall]

Hi Bill,
Its great to see you here! and what an absolutely gorgeous 'howdah'!!!
Thank you for all the colorful detail as well, I feel like I'm on a safari just in reading your post. I can't help thinking how perfect this pistol fits in your museum, as I recall the howdah pistol carried by Michael Douglas in "The Ghost and the Darkness" and the Tsavo lion you have.

I've heard of these fantastic guns, but never really have seen one. It seems if I understand correctly that some of the earlier examples were made from cut down rifles, but Purdey was producing a large smoothbore double barrel 'howdah' gun (about 16 guage) in the early part of 19th c.

I always think of the tiger hunts in the Raj, with the large carraige type howdahs, with pith helmeted hunters and rifles bristling atop huge elephants.
It seems quite logical to have a powerful pistol with two barrels if you are aboard one of these and suddenly have your prey, the tiger, join you in these cramped quarters! No time for a misfire!

It seems that some British officers carried these with them on campaign occasionally, and cannot resist thinking of Dirty Harry describing his .44 Magnum, 'the most powerful handgun in the world' to the unfortunate criminal he has in his sights, uttering the memorable lines, "...youve got to ask yourself one question, do I feel lucky?"

Thank you so much for the adventure, and sharing this beautiful example here.

All the best,
Jim