18th/19th Century Pistol Parts?

[Keith123]

From the looks of it, I may have found what is left of an early pistol. Left side View (look closely and you can see a small symbol in the center)
Right side view
Top View (note the threaded hole sitting at a 45 degree angle towards the rusted piece)
Bottom View (square hole is where the trigger would be) (also note the trigger guard mounting holes on both sides of the square hole)
Rear view (stamped letters MD are centered between stamped 8 and 3)
Length

Either this is a pistol or I have one hell of an imagination. Any info regarding this item is appreciated! Thanks

 

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[BosnMate]

Very definitely a brass barreled cap lock pistol.



Here are a couple of pictures of pistols that would resemble yours before it was lost.

 

[Keith123]

Great thanks! I'll see if I can track down the time frame when they were used.

 

[BosnMate]

Percussion caps were invented in 1836, and cartridge pistols were introduced during the Civil War. Your find was probably a "Muff Pistol," carried by ladies for self defense. There were small single shot cartridge pistols in Sears catalogs in the late 1800's, replacing muzzle loaders. I suspect your pistol to date between 1840/45 to 1870/80. The bronze barrel would tend to make me think earlier rather than later in the time line.

 

[BuckleBoy]

The oval mark means the pistol was made at Liege Gun Works in Belgium.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Sweet pistol! One of those is still on my to do list.... Also as to date, I'd have to agree with BosnMate that it would likely be in the earlier part of the time frame he gave.

 

[ivan salis]

single shot --muff (for women) or boot pistol for men (hide out weapon) --for close up defense --miners and others carried them often to prevent being bush whacked and robbed while out on the claim..

 

[yaxthri]

Great find!

 

[ARC]

Bosnmates first pic is what you have...

I want to point out... tis what they call gun metal... there are very many alloys based on copper...
but gunmetal is similar to bell metal which sometimes contains silver
Bronze (copper and tin) or gunmetal is stronger than yellow brass (copper and zinc)
Now for the key to the identity of the maker...
possibly lies inside...

 

[Keith123]

Which means I would have to remove what's left of the rusted iron?

 

[ARC]

Well... it is like this...
I hate telling anyone what to do with stuff like this...
Because if something goes bad... heh
But I wil say this...
If it were mine...
yes I would attempt to remove...
I think you will be fine...

PS> Stellar find btw

 

[Keith123]

I just finished preserving the iron with paraffin wax haha

 

[ARC]

Well only one way to find out if I am correct...
Just take your time if you decide to do it...
Please post your new pic of interior mark if there is one.
I would be willing to bet there is.

 

[BosnMate]

If it was mine, I'd preserve the iron, and the patina on the bronze. We know it was made in Belgium, by whom? who cares -- it's a relic. I've been a gun collector, and I the golden rule of gun collecting is never, never, never mess with the patina on an old gun. There are ways to remove rust without messing up the patina, but your iron is too far gone to expect to be salvaged in any meaningful way. You could clean up and repair an old gun, re-blue the metal etc. and the value will be far less than if the gun had been left alone. Your find has very little value to most collectors, but it means way less to them cleaned up than as is. All that said, if the barrel was cleaned up, polished and all that, then I'd restore the gun, back to being functional, with parts from firms like Track of the Wolf, but the finished gun wouldn't have the extra collector value, it would be about the same as a modern reproduction as far as price goes, which means unless a super excellent job was done restoring the gun back to original condition, there would probably be no return on the labor, it could in fact end up worth less than the condition it's in. Gun collecting is opposite of coins collecting, coins have to be brand new, guns have to show patina that is only acquired by use and age. People try and fake that, but someone that knows will spot it.

 

[ARC]

If it was mine, I'd preserve the iron, and the patina on the bronze. We know it was made in Belgium, by whom? who cares -- it's a relic. I've been a gun collector, and I the golden rule of gun collecting is never, never, never mess with the patina on an old gun. There are ways to remove rust without messing up the patina, but your iron is too far gone to expect to be salvaged in any meaningful way. You could clean up and repair an old gun, re-blue the metal etc. and the value will be far less than if the gun had been left alone. Your find has very little value to most collectors, but it means way less to them cleaned up than as is. All that said, if the barrel was cleaned up, polished and all that, then I'd restore the gun, back to being functional, with parts from firms like Track of the Wolf, but the finished gun wouldn't have the extra collector value, it would be about the same as a modern reproduction as far as price goes, which means unless a super excellent job was done restoring the gun back to original condition, there would probably be no return on the labor, it could in fact end up worth less than the condition it's in. Gun collecting is opposite of coins collecting, coins have to be brand new, guns have to show patina that is only acquired by use and age. People try and fake that, but someone that knows will spot it.

No one said to remove anything other than the plate to get makers mark.
No shining or polishing of metals.

 

[Keith123]

Normally I would preserve iron by boiling in paraffin wax, but I'm unsure about brass... How would you go about preserving old gun parts where you had a mix of iron and brass? All while not messing up the patina?

 

[wainzoid]

Percussion caps were invented in 1836, and cartridge pistols were introduced during the Civil War. Your find was probably a "Muff Pistol," carried by ladies for self defense. There were small single shot cartridge pistols in Sears catalogs in the late 1800's, replacing muzzle loaders. I suspect your pistol to date between 1840/45 to 1870/80. The bronze barrel would tend to make me think earlier rather than later in the time line.

If a woman pointed one of those at you, and you had to dive for cover, would that be considered 'muff diving'?

 

[Keith123]

Haha

 

[NOLA_Ken]

I'd leave it as is, there's nothing to be gained from messing with it.