Ramrods needed made-up for pr. of m/l pistols

[See The Elephant]

I have a pair of 58cal smoothbore pistols made by Booth (Phila) for "E.W. du Val - Arkansa". The single existing trumpet-shaped ramrod is 8.5" long x 50cal, tapering to 1/4". I'd like to have someone make a few high quality hardwood ramrods to duplicate the original. Can anyone suggest where I could have these made? T.I.A.
Gary

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Welcome to the site - you have come to the right place.  And a great pair of pistols if I may say so!  There are at least a dozen here that can and likely will do that work for you.  Where are you?  That could make a difference on who would be best to help you out.

[See The Elephant]

Welcome to the site - you have come to the right place.  And a great pair of pistols if I may say so!  There are at least a dozen here that can and likely will do that work for you.  Where are you?  That could make a difference on who would be best to help you out.

Thank you !
I am from Massachusetts and would welcome a chance, regardless of geography, for someone to come forward and befit these nice pistols with an equally nice set of hardwood ramrods. BTW - the original owner, Maj. Edward duVal, was a U.S. "Indian Agent" for the Western Cherokee Nation during the 1820's and was a signed witness to the Peace Treaty leading to the "Trail of Tears" tragedy.
Gary

[Artificer]

Absolutely gorgeous pistols.

Gus

[See The Elephant]

Absolutely gorgeous pistols.
Gus

You bet ! No Chinese imports for Maj. duVal !
I especially like the feature which locks both the hammer and the frizzen into safety, thereby preventing a nasty mishap while either horseback riding or stuffing the pistol into one's sash.

[Artificer]

Thanks for posting that.  I had never seen that done that way.  I'm truly in awe of the person/persons who made that brace of pistols.

Gus

[Pete G.]

Beautiful set of pistols. Thank you for posting. I am a little confused at what we are seeing here. The peg for locking the frizzen seems to be part of the fence. How is it engaged/disengaged?

[See The Elephant]

Beautiful set of pistols. Thank you for posting. I am a little confused at what we are seeing here. The peg for locking the frizzen seems to be part of the fence. How is it engaged/disengaged?

The peg poking through the fence is actually part of a transfer bar located behind the cock which, when slid forward, locks it at half, and moves the peg into a hole in the frizzen face . Neat.

[davec2]

Would it be possible for you to remove the lock and post pictures of the inner workings of the safety / transfer bar?  I would love to see how these parts are made.

Dave C

[See The Elephant]

Would it be possible for you to remove the lock and post pictures of the inner workings of the safety / transfer bar?  I would love to see how these parts are made. Dave C

clarity not good here, but you can get the idea ... also, see the bridle where the transfer bar actually engages the tumbler, and not the cock. Good stuff.

[Dean D.]

Those pistols are fantastic historical treasures.  The internal works of the lock are pure artistry!!! 

Thank you for sharing these pics.

[smart dog]

Hi See the Elephant,
Beautiful pistols after my own heart.  Below is a picture showing ramrods for a brace of dueling pistols that I built.  They are turned from rosewood and tipped with Gemsbok horn.  The worms are hand forged from steel wire and fitted into turned brass ferrules. I suspect they may be similar to the ones used in your pistols.



Of course, there were probably many different styles but I think they usually had steel worms attached to the ends.  I mention this simply because I doubt the rods are simple tapered dowels and replacements will require a little more work than turning a piece of wood and fitting a tip.  They also may be made of an exotic like Indian rosewood.  I live too far away and am not in business as a gunmaker or restorer.  I posted this message to give other makers who could easily make your rods an idea of what they might be required to do.

dave

[smart dog]

Hi Gary,
After reading my post I realize that I did not include my main point, which is I wonder if the the existing ramrod is the original.  Usually pistols of that quality and style had rods made like the ones I show in the photo above.

dave

[See The Elephant]

Hi Gary,
After reading my post I realize that I did not include my main point, which is I wonder if the the existing ramrod is the original.  Usually pistols of that quality and style had rods made like the ones I show in the photo above. dave

Hi Dave, your ramrods are truly beautiful. The single ramrod I have is no more than a flared length of hickory ... nothing fancy. Jim from Muzzleloaders Etcetera in MN contacted me about providing ramrods to be made by his masterful hand. I told him that his work is some of the finest I've seen, but that due to more than one bad experience I've suffered from The Shipping Gorillas, my reluctance for mailing the pistols to The Frozen Tundra for fitting prohibits my doing so. Too bad, but maybe I'll gain more courage later. I think that they would have been perfect.

[Joey R]

S.T.E., This is just a suggestion but if the existing ramrod you have fits both pistols and I don't know that it does, couldn't you just ship the ramrod only and have two duplicates reproduced? I can understand your reluctance to shipping the pistols for when I ship any firearm I suffer from lack of sleep until news of a safe arrival. Good Luck!!

[See The Elephant]

S.T.E., This is just a suggestion but if the existing ramrod you have fits both pistols and I don't know that it does, couldn't you just ship the ramrod only and have two duplicates reproduced? I can understand your reluctance to shipping the pistols for when I ship any firearm I suffer from lack of sleep until news of a safe arrival. Good Luck!!

I think that'd be a good idea ordinarily, but if a Master takes on a job, even a small one like this one, and if the ramrods don't fit, or look wrong, his "name" and reputatuion are on the the line, along with whatever else that suffers. I'm thinking that for now, I may just try fitting or have fit simple copies of the one I have ..... they must have worked for at least one former owner.

[keweenaw]

One really has to have the pistols in hand to make the ramrods.  The holes in the stocks might be to different depths, etc.  You would also need to look really carefully at the one rod to decide if it was original.  Dave is correct that on English pistol pairs one rod frequently has a worm on it while the other has a metal ferrule which is threaded internally.  One would also want to do some serious research on American made pistols of that period regarding the wood to use.  English pistols typically had a dark tropical wood like rosewood, but rosewood was only sparingly used in the early US for any purpose.  There are probably some Booth pistols in collections, some of which have original rods.  Your pistols are so nice that one really wants it to be done correctly.

Tom

[Joey R]

That is why I stated "if" the existing rod fits both pistols you could reproduce rods off of that "blueprint". Again, nice pistols and good luck!