British Brass

[celtan]

FYP

English 19th C. Percussion Boxlock

[FenrisWolf]

Great little pistol! I especially love the baby, spring-mounted bayonet. I agree with the diagnosis as a lady's concealed carry weapon....

[Rick]

That is a nifty little feature .
No need to aim .
Ouch!
Bang!

[fernando]

Very nice pistol; so good it still has the bayonet on its place ... and what looks to be an original (or period) ram rod.
Have you a record on this gunmaker, Manolo?
Philip Bond, 45 Cornhill from 1800 to 1816.
Why a lady's gun and not a men's piece ? Can you indicate its dimensions ?.
BTW, wouldn't you like to controll your pictures dimensions, like 800x600? They would fit better in here. Haven't you got this very simple image resizing program?
http://www.toggle.com/lv/group/view/...ge_Resizer.htm
... this if you have Windows XP

Un saludo
Fernando

[Atlantia]

What a lovely example.
Although (as has been stated) these boxlock 'pocket' pistols are often thought of as lady’s carriage pistols, even sometimes generically referred to as ‘muff pistols’, they were popular with men, ’gentlemen’ and especially military officers. I agree with Fernando, this one is a mans gun, it looks very ‘navy’ officer to me.
Nelson famously carried a 'ducks foot' made by Nock.
As Rick has already infered, I would suggest that the short bayonet is to 'fix' or rather 'transfix' your target to be sure your shot is on-target.
No lady who could afford such a weapon would use it in such a way (IMHO)

Here are a couple of more standard types. The top is a Nock, the lower was made by 'Smith' of London.

I notice that your beautiful pistol also has the sliding safety catch behind the cock, I've always really liked that feature. On my Nock it engages a pin that locks the frizzen closed.

[celtan]

Yep, it's a guys pistol. 8.5" long sans bayonet, w bay 11.5".
The niftiest feature is that when you pull the trigger's casing, the spring-loaded bayonet jumps forward and locks in place. So, besides as a gun, it can be used as a blade, or as a impact weapon.
The only thing that I don't know how to fix: the brass catch below the muzzle is so worn down, that it wont engage firmly the friction clip on the blade, and the bayonet doesn't stay in place for long...
Otherwise its completely functional.

Fer, thanks for the info. I use the large pics on purpose. That way we can see the details better, although I realize it's a lil'bit upsetting.

Atlantia: tomorrow I may publish pics of my H. Nock boxlock. It' missing the upper jaw and screw of the hammer. If anyone knows where I can get a copy of them, I'm all ears. (BTW: Atlanteo used to be my nom-de-guerre at another forum. Good choice for a name! : ) )

Best

Manuel

[Atlantia]

Hi Manuel,

'Atlanteo'! we share a liking for names and little guns as well! :-)

I would think that a good clock repairer/restorer would have the skill (and a small gas torch) needed to add a little metal to the catch via gas brazing. It looks like its really the bottom of the 'loop' and around the hole that needs a bit more added, shouldn't be much of a repair, just melt a little fine brass rod onto it and shape it with a dremel and needle-files afterwards.

Regards
Gene

[fernando]

Mine are of the small type ... and humble; no makers marks.
The flint one must be English. It also has the safety catch with the pin locking the frizzen; only that its lever push/pull tip is broken ... but the mechanism still works, though.
The percussion one is Belgium, judging by the Liege proof mark. It's got some nice silver wire decoration plus a little estucheon, on the stock.
It has a turn off barrel but, as so often with specimens of this type (so i read), there is no way to unscrew it.
Fernando

[Atlantia]

Originally Posted by fernando

Mine are of the small type ... and humble; no makers marks.
The flint one must be English. It also has the safety catch with the pin locking the frizzen; only that its lever push/pull tip is broken ... but the mechanism still works, though.
The percussion one is Belgium, judging by the Liege proof mark. It's got some nice silver wire decoration plus a little estucheon, on the stock.
It has a turn off barrel but, as so often with specimens of this type (so i read), there is no way to unscrew it.
Fernando

Not humble at all Fernando!
In fact, both are very nice. Love the carved butt on the Belgium one! Very pretty.
I wouldn't want to use enough force to unscrew the barrels on these things after all these years.
Mine have carved grips, I should go and get a pic. :-)

Edit:
Pictures added.

[celtan]

Hola!

[Atlantia]

Hi manuel,

Thats a beauty! I'm really quite envious.
Send me a PM with your email address, I'll hunt out some pictures/info on how you might be able to get a near perfect replacement for the top jaws and screw.

Regards
Gene