Single shot percussion "boot pistol" from the 1850s period

Woodland Detectors

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Single shot percussion "boot pistol" from the 1850's period

:hello2: :hello2: :hello2: :hello2: :hello2: :hello2: :headbang:

This is one of my better CW relics for our collection to be donated soon!
I still can't believe this.

I set off in the early AM hours Tuesday to see if I could dig a few Civil War relics where I have found both Union and Confederate items in the past. Have you ever had those days where you don't just feel like detecting AFTER you drove a good distance? Yeah, it started like that. It was rough around the ole house after Tennessee took a whoopen from the Gators last weekend. :laughing9: Maggie loves college football, and her team is the TN. Volunteers. :D Having went to school there and graduating with 2 degrees, she will tell you blood pumps orange in her veins. :D

So, Just on the outside of the North Carolina border into South Carolina, I drove to one of last years favorite fields. The corn that was standing had just been cut recently, so I was pretty stoked in anticipation of what the day might bring. Yawning and groggy still, I attached my gear, chose my coil to start with and sipping the remainder of the coffee from my old Coleman thermos. As I watched in awe, the neon red glow of the sun just coming up, burning the fog, and warming my face, giving me a good feeling and the pep needed to start hunting. I noticed in the corner of the field, a real nice Whitetail buck who had obviously been scoping me out for quite a while. As we stared at each other for a minute or so, he wiggled his white flag tail, put his head down, and continued grazing, as if he knew I wasn't there to harm him or fill my freezer that day. :D I pressed the power on the new GPX5000 I did a quick noise cancel and ground balance and started to rhythmically sweep the dirt, listening to the symphony of musical tones bouncing around my Grey Ghost NDT's . It wasn't long before I got my first real good solid tone, that I dug a really interesting looking roman button/attachment. I slipped it in my keepers side of my Orvis fishing vest and continued on. After digging several civilian buttons and some dropped and fired lead, I got this tone, this really, really sweet tone. I thought, "whoa, what is this?" As I carefully dug my plug from the hard red S.C clay, a strange brass object laid right at the bottom. I couldn't believe what I was looking at, or what I had thought I was looking at. I thought, " Man, that looks like a gun barrel" "Could it be"? I gently put it soft side of my finds vest and continued on gridding. It was so hard to concentrate , I couldn't stand it any more. I shut down the Etrac, and took the miniature cannon looking object out and observed it a little more closely. I thought again, "oh man, I think this is a boot pistol!!" Still, reluctant to take my clothes of and do cart wheels in my very religious farming buddies field, :laughing9: I thought, "how can I get this ID'd out here?" I thought of calling my wife Maggie, but I knew she was out of the office. One name came to mind, Quindy, Vol1226-X I called up my Tennesee buddy, and after us two "old schoolers" figured out how to send a picture off the phone, I snapped a couple, and sent them in to Quin. Of course I did it wrong, and they never got there, thank God, because if I would have donr the cartwheels I spoke of earlier, I probably wouldn't be welcome there again... EVER! :laughing9: Just kidding of course. So When I got home I sent some pics via internet to Sir Quindy, the I.D expert. It wasn't long at all when Quin called me and authenticated it was indeed a Boot Pistol! :hello2: :hello2: :hello2: :hello2: :hello2: :headbang: This is such a historic find for the American Civil War archives and enthusiast's. A pistol, from a fallen soldier, seriously? fighting for his side of the woods. The pistol would have been used as a back up fire arm. Maybe he was using it when he fell. :-\ If this doesn't send you imagination into a frenzy, nothing will. This is an artifact all of us passionate American, Military relic hunters dream about.
I'm proud to say that this and other relics like it will, be donated to a museum in the area it was found, so history can be taught, remembered accurately.


Other finds were a full, intact 1781 Carolus lll Reale!! :hello2: Last week I dug a cut version. This one is in fantastic shape. Another find was an 1808 Sheldon American large cent. Looks like the rare version from what I can see of the back!
Lead pistol and rifle rounds, buttons and a real nice American Native broad head point.

The pistol is a single shot percussion boot pistol from 1852-55 it is a Leige.

Thanks Quindy and Buckleboy for your help on the ID!


Thank you for looking
Mike Post
 

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Upvote 4

Bigcypresshunter

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shaun7

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Re: Single shot percussion "boot pistol" from the 1830's period

I managed to miss this post Mike :icon_scratch:

That was a good day and well worth the drive. I love the gun and the silver :icon_thumleft:
 

silverfreak

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Re: Single shot percussion "boot pistol" from the 1830's period

What an AWESOME display of finds :icon_thumleft: WOW :headbang:
 

Mr.T

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Re: Single shot percussion "boot pistol" from the 1830's period

tresurenet seems to be going through a heap of great finds!

Yours is definitely one of them. (The pistol)

Luck

rory
 

theseeker

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Re: Single shot percussion "boot pistol" from the 1830's period

WOW! What an awesome day you had. The boot pistol is amazing and anyone of your other finds would make it a good day of hunting on any given day! Congrats !!!
 

cntrydncr1

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Re: Single shot percussion "boot pistol" from the 1830's period

congrats on the exciting and awesome finds Mike!
 

marinedad

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Re: Single shot percussion "boot pistol" from the 1830's period

fantastic finds mike, how about a pic of what the boot pistol may have looked like.
 

OP
OP
Woodland Detectors

Woodland Detectors

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Re: Single shot percussion "boot pistol" from the 1830's period

:icon_thumleft:
 

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cuse

Greenie
Oct 31, 2010
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Re: Single shot percussion "boot pistol" from the 1830's period

Mike, can you tell me what the clip is in pics 0026 and 0027? I have one but don't know what it is...

Thanks!

mark
 

Bigcypresshunter

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JDug

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Nice finds. I found almost the same pistol on May 23 2012 boot.jpeg boot1.jpeg boot3.jpeg boot4.jpeg boot5.jpeg boot6.jpeg
 

whammy

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Those are some super nice finds. I just joined the forum today because I had to comment on your boot pistol. I found the exact pistol here two years ago. It was in the middle of my grandfathers corn field here in central New York. I took the barrel to a local gunsmith and he found marks indicating it was made in Belgium in the early part of 1850. As an after thought in the same field I also found spanish reales and some musket balls.
 

JDug

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whammy said:
Those are some super nice finds. I just joined the forum today because I had to comment on your boot pistol. I found the exact pistol here two years ago. It was in the middle of my grandfathers corn field here in central New York. I took the barrel to a local gunsmith and he found marks indicating it was made in Belgium in the early part of 1850. As an after thought in the same field I also found spanish reales and some musket balls.

Mine was on a homestead, between where the stone laid where the front door would of been and the root cellar. I also found 140+ buttons ,11 large cents, 2 US box plates, 1 breast plate, 10 mini balls , and lots of household items. 250+ items all together. The Belgium boot pistol was my favorite though.
Welcome to treasure net.
 

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