Check it Out! John Bull Pistol on Contemporary Makers

[RobertS]

There is a John Bull pistol on contemporary makers website that is quite interesting.  Double set triggers, silver mounted (I assume), and the front sight has a unique appearance that  I can't quite figure out.  The base of the front sight appears to be "pinched" in the dovetail, and I can only imagine how complicated it might have been to do it this way.  Check it out, it's worth the look!  http://www.contemporarymakers.blogspot.com/

[G-Man]

That is a super pistol and is the one referred to that was on display at the Norris show a few weeks ago.  A great example of a fine Tennessee pistol by one of the great southern gunsmiths.

The mounts are silver.  The guard looks to made from three pieces and the silver sheet from which it was made was very delicate. It looks Bull chose to add the third piece at the front of the guard to give it more support, rather than simply bending the front piece to form the finial.

Guy

[WElliott]

The John Bull pistol pictured on the Contemporary Makers blog and a fabulous silver-mounted pistol by John's brother, Elisha, are two of the most exciting American flintlock pistols I have seen in 50 years of collecting.  The Bull brothers were great craftsmen who made very distinctive furniture, whether working in iron, brass or silver.  Those two Bull pistols (which were on display at the Tennessee Kentucky Rifle Show at the Museum of Appalachia last month) are, to my knowledge, the only two known to still exist.  They are certainly worthy of study.
Wayne

[LynnC]

Beautiful Southern Pistol - What a treat to see it - Thanks for the heads up.  Till now I'd only seen pics of the Silver mounted Bean.  There are Others...................Lynn

[B Shipman]

LOVE the rear pipe. The round tang.

[Rolf]

Beautiful pistol!!Does anybody know the length and size of the barrel on the John Bull pistol?I've never seen any of the other pistols mention in this thread. Where can I find pictures of them?


Best regards

Rolfkt

[Ken G]

http://contemporarymakers.blogspot.com/

You will need to scroll down a little to see it.
Ken

[Ken G]

man, what a great pistol and a privilege to have such high quality pictures. 
Wonder why the silver barrel plate wasn't signed? 
Is the 3 piece trigger guard like that common on southern pistols?
Ken

[RobertS]

I wondered the same things, Ken, and still can't figure out the front sight.  Any thoughts about how that was done?

[Don Getz]

If you look closely at that front sight I think it just a straight doevetail.  Appears to have two little engraved lines in the
base on each side of the blade, but I think there is just some discoloration, or crud, on the base.  Nontheless, it is a real
neat job on the sight, and the whole gun....love it.  Great architecture........Don