Farmhouse gun

[skateandcreate]

hey guys since i've tried posting previously with no avail i'll keep it short and sweet. found at an 1830's farmhouse at about five inches. have my doubts of being real or a toy. O.D.? stamped on right side. any help is appreciated

 

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[skateandcreate]

sorry about the cell pic . will use a real camera tomorrow

 

[traderoftreasures]

welcome to t'net. i'm not sure but i think toy guns are not iron?

 

[kuger]

welcome to t'net. i'm not sure but i think toy guns are not iron?

Some of the older ones are

 

[Noodle]

Can someone with more knowledge/ability than me make this pic smaller? Thanks in advance!

 

[DigginThePast]

Looks like a toy. I re-sized the pic.

Welcome to T-Net.


edit to add: Sorry it took so long to re-size Noodle.

 

[skateandcreate]

thanks guys. i'll have some more for you soon

 

[Noodle]

Diggin... you so bad!

 

[Breezie]

What is the length of the gun, and are there any other markings you can see other than on O-D? Breezie

 

[Monty]

A bit of electrolysis would help a bunch. If a real gun it might be some brand of small bore revolver, if a toy it has the right shape for the many I wore out and lost as a kid. Monty

 

[skateandcreate]

i was leaning toward the elecrolysis also but for fear of destroying it, hadn't yet. i'll get those measurements for you when i get off work breezie. and at this point the od is all i can make out

 

[skateandcreate]

have a couple more pictures for you guys. if you note the barrel hole, correct cut-through for trigger/hammer/ect. the cylinder kinda looks like it might be loaded? and a closeup of the stamp partial. and for breezie it is aprox. 7 1/4" X 3 1/2"

 

[Shortstack]

I would guess it's real. All of the metal toy guns I had and saw as a kid were made of a pot metal that would corrode in a chalkish, grayish kind of material. This piece is corroded in straight forward iron oxide. As you are trying to clean it, treat it as if it IS loaded. No matter how old black powder is, if it's dry, it will explode with just as much force TODAY as it would have 100 years ago.

 

[skateandcreate]

you bring up a good point stack. would electrolysis have any " " effect on the powder if it is loaded

 

[Shortstack]

The main thing that would make black powder go boom, is a spark of some kind. The low current used in electrolysis shouldn't disturb it. The next thing is an open flame, which you won't be using. Don't be using a battery charger as a power source. You HAVE to use low current source such as an A/C to D.C. converter with an output of around the 600 mA range. Hook the object up to the positive and a stainless steel piece such as a large spoon to the negative side and then plug in the transformer. Some folks use a salt solution for the electrolysis juice; others us something else. Whatever you use; mix it in warm to hot water. It starts to work faster.

Of course, others will have their own ideas on what to do.

 

[skateandcreate]

thanks for the advice.

 

[Breezie]

What you have is a cast iron RODEO Cap Gun, which was made by Hubley in 1938. The pics are not very good because I made them from my book, which is a xerox copy of Cast Iron Toy Pistols by Charles W. Best. (This book sells between $85.00 - $200.00, hence my copy; lol) I thought it was a Rodeo, but needed to know the length to confirm. If you look carefully, you can see the R-O-D letters. Very few cast iron cap guns from the 20's and 30's had plastic grips; most were cast iron like the guns. Hubley continued making the Rodeo during the 1950's, and they were made of pot metal with chrome and/or nickel finishes. Breezie

 

[skateandcreate]

Thanks breezie.. your the best!

 

[Noodle]

Still do some electrolysis on it to get it a little clearer. When you do that, it just goes by degrees... no... by pixels. It's a slow process and you can watch it over an hour's time. It's really interesting. You will get closer to the real thing and watch as it's doing it. Just a thought... Nothing's going to blow up on you. It's a bubbly process...

 

[Shortstack]

Noodle's mention of the "bubbly" action reminds me of something I didn't mention in my post. Those bubbles are made by hydrogen cracking out of the water. It's flamable so be careful of doing this around any flame producing item. For instance, don't do it close to a gas powered hot water heater in the garage. A little bit of air circulation will go a long way for safety.

Breezy:
That looks like it would have been a costly toy. That's probably why I'd not seen them as a kid. We couldn't have afforded one.