Old pistol

[Robby]

A fellow stopped by this morning with this pistol that was found in the ground at his family far in Franklinville, N.Y. and would like some information on it. I couldn't help him much and was hoping some of you here might be able to flesh it out a bit, and I will pass it on. The barrel is about 3" long and measures out at about .42 cal., but it appears to have shed some metal and may have been a .40 at one time. The metal is badly rusted and to my eye appears to be rusted like steel rather than iron, an oval stamp is barely visible on the bolster where the barrel screws in.
Robby

[Hungry Horse]

 These were sold by the boatload during the Civil War. They ranged in caliber from about .30 (I have one in this caliber) up to about .45. But smaller calibers are more common. Mine is not signed, but some are. Unfortunately the main purpose of these,  was to end your suffering on the battlefield if you were servilely wounded.

                      Hungry Horse

[smokinbuck]

A great many of these were made in England by ketland. The calibers did vary but we're mostly small , under .45. Most were used as muff pistols by the ladies and hideouts in general. They were the equivalent of today's concealed carry guns.
Mark

[RAT]

It's box lock screw barrel pocket pistol. I believe they were being made in England in flint at least as early as the 1760's. The percussion version came out around the 1830's. Alfred Jacob Miller shows one in one of his paintings. They were common and popular for a long time until pocket revolvers came on the scene.

Just and FYI... I asked one of the moderators a question once about this type of lock and was told that technically, because it's not a side hammer lock, it couldn't be discussed on this forum.

[Bob Roller]

I think it is a boot pistol,a concealable weapon hiding in the top of a boot and had a hammer
that pivoted in the center of the frame,a box lock I think it was called. I briefly had a nice one
years ago and sold it or traded it.

Bob Roller

[JV Puleo]

A cheap Belgian pocket pistol. It was made as percussion which pretty much disqualifies the Ketlands. There were tens of thousands of them and even in good condition wouldn't be worth much.

[Hungry Horse]

 The pistol I own has a frame cast into the action for the grips, instead of just an extension on the barrel, and trigger guard, to mount a wood grip. My gun is quite small, in actual size, and caliber. The black walnut grips, which still retain some finish, are held on with a plain wood screw, that goes clear through both grips, and is filed smooth on the pointed end. This gun is smooth bored in .30 cal. and is fully functional. I have seen one that was identical to mine in a little larger caliber, that had "Bottoms" stamped on the octagon section of its OTR barrel, but mine shows no signs of having ever been signed. There is no indication that this gun ever had any sights.

             Hungry Horse

[Robby]

Thank you all very much. I will pass on all this information. The man, about the age of most of us here, HAH, was not interested in value, he just wanted to know more about something found on his family farm during his youth. Thank you all again.
Robby