Hi Folks:
Hope you all had a great holiday. Following are some photos of a pair of antique pistols that I would really like to know more about. I purchased these from an estate in Charleston, SC a couple of years back. The seller could not tell me anything about them other than they had been in this gentleman's collection for some time. The case is not original in my opinion, and there were no accessories included with them.
The guns appear identical, but that is not the case. All of the parts are particular to each gun. The engraving is very finely done, but on close examination, there are very minute differences between each gun in the patterns.
The barrels appear to be twist construction with poly-grooved rifling. They are about 9.5" long, and mic. to exactly .470 about 1/2" back from the muzzle. They are tapered from 15/16" at the breech to 7/8" at the muzzle. There are some stamps on the bottom of each, including a "B" with an arrow below it. Each barrel is stamped "631" just forward of the breech on the left side. They are hinged breech construction with a single key for the barrel.
The stocks appear to be walnut with fine-cut checkering on the grips. The base caps are engraved, as are the trigger guards. There is still a fair amount of case coloring on both guns. All screws are engraved to match the patterns on the locks and other hardware.
The back locks are very well made. Each is marked "IH" inside at the back end of the plate. There are half and full cock positions in the tumblers. The locks are secured with single screw. There are no side plates, but each gun has an inlet, engraved ring surrounding the lock screw. Everything functions perfectly on both guns and the bores are sharp and clean.
Hope the photos will tell you something. Thanks for the help. You folks are a terrific resource.
Jeff
