Flintlock pistol - More Pictures Added

[gibster]

I picked up a (new to me) flintlock pocket pistol yesterday at the Tulsa show. I showed it to a few folks that I know there and they seemed to think that it is American and I can't see anything that would make me disagree with them. It has the initials J A on the barrel and the lock. Not 100% sure that it is a J or another letter. Your thoughts are appreciated. The barrel is 3 1/2 inches long and is about .45 caliber with no sights. The barrel is octagon to round with a nice wedding band between.  The wood looks to be Walnut but could be Cherry that has turned dark.  All the furniture is iron. The ram rod looks to be a replacement. I think it is possible that it has had several ram rods in it's lifetime as when I bought it, I put it into my pocket. When I pulled it out of my pocket later, the ram rod was gone. It came out while I had it in my pocket. Thankfully it was still in there. I'm sure that I'm not the first one to have it come out.  Any thoughts on where it may have been made and timeframe would be appreciated. Also, any educated guesses on the initials.

[ntqlvr1948]

  It looks French to me

[gibster]

That was my initial thought as well. There are no proof marks on the barrel which is why the ones I showed it to thought American.  The lock to me looks French or maybe German, but I am no expert which is why I am asking.  But the lock could have been imported.

[LynnC]

Initials could be SA if that means anything to anyone.

I wish it were John Armstrong but alas there is zero resemblance to his work.
Still a cool little pistol.
Lynn

[gibster]

Thanks for the thoughts Lynn. It would be great if it were Armstrong's work, but it's not. I did pull up some pictures of a Jacob Albright where he carved his initials behind the cheek rest and it's actually fairly close. But again, wishful thinking.
I guess it could be a S, but to me, it looks more like a J..

[gibster]

I decided to pull the lock to see what markings, if any may be there. The lock bolts are definitely gunsmith made and from looking at the inside of the lock, I would say that it was as well.  I pulled the barrel as well to see if there were any proof markings or maybe a barrel makers mark of some kind. There weren't any proof marks or other markings under the barrel either.  I'm leaning more to this being an American product and not something that may have been imported or brought back from the war in a duffle bag. With the iron mounts, I'm thinking it may be southern as well. And with the rounded lock plate face and hammer, may be fairly early.  There are a lot of folks on here that are way more knowledgeable than I am on these things. Let me know your thoughts. Educate me because I want to learn.

[rich pierce]

Cool lock bolts. I’m thinking round-faced pistol locks are not typical for being forged “here” (not typical but there are many examples, just a fraction of flat-faced locks). It may be recycled, even meant for the African trade. Can you check and see if the tumbler is hard? It looks galled where the rough mainspring hook rides on the toe. Just making wild guesses here.

[JV Puleo]

I don't know where it came from but I see nothing about it that says "American". Lack of proof marks means absolutely nothing.

[gusd]

I also think it's  SA

[gibster]

Rich - I pulled the lock out again this morning to check to see if the tumbler is hardened.  I didn't disassemble the lock but was able to check it with a small file. The tumbler seems to be fairly hard as the file would skate over it for the most part. But it did catch a time or to, so I don't think it is as hard as it probably should be. I haven't thought about it possibly being made for African trade. I guess that could be a possibility.  The internals of the lock don't seem to be real good quality as it's pretty rough.

JV Puleo - I appreciate your comments. When I bought it, I didn't think it was American either. I was thinking French or maybe German. I showed it to another collector that was at the show and he seemed to think American.  I have no idea which is why I posted it. The workmanship of the pistol itself is pretty nice. All the hardware and the barrel look to be decent quality. But the internals of the lock, while looking hand made, aren't that great.

Gusd - I appreciate your opinion on the initials.