Need Help w Old Hand Gun Piece

[cambria09]

Hello All. Dug this with Btoots at an old long gone home site we believe dates from the 1880's or 1890's.

At first I thought it was a toy gun but it looks like nickel plated brass and seems like it broke down at the breech. The only engraving is a "P" on one side at the bottom of the handle and a serial number. I am guessing it was small caliber and it was made to be concealed or for a woman because it is kind of small in my hand.

Thanks for the view and let me know if you have some ideas on this thing. C9

 

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[NOLA_Ken]

It's the frame of an old spur trigger revolver, tracking down the maker won't be easy because there were literally hundreds of different types made. It was most likely in .22 short. I'll see if I can find one that looks close to what you have

edit : I looked at a few hundred on google images and didn't find an exact match, which really isn't surprising.. Yours looks to be a "tip up" type, but what makes it a bit unusual is that it hinged at the back of the cylinder.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Assuming the six-digit number stamped on the bottom of the pistol's brass grip frame is a serial number, with at least 102,996 of that model of pistol being manufactured, a complete one ought to show up in an antique pistols Reference-book or website somewhere.

 

[cambria09]

It's the frame of an old spur trigger revolver, tracking down the maker won't be easy because there were literally hundreds of different types made. It was most likely in .22 short. I'll see if I can find one that looks close to what you have

edit : I looked at a few hundred on google images and didn't find an exact match, which really isn't surprising.. Yours looks to be a "tip up" type, but what makes it a bit unusual is that it hinged at the back of the cylinder.

Hello NK Did not know what a "spur trigger revolver" was...but I am looking at them now.

Interesting that you believe it to be a .22 short...I have dug many .22 short empties on this site...I hate 'em, they're always hard to locate.

Thanks for the reply and ID info. Good Luck out there. C9

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Assuming the six-digit number stamped on the bottom of the pistol's brass grip frame is a serial number, with at least 102,996 of that model of pistol being manufactured, a complete one ought to show up in an antique pistols Reference-book or website somewhere.

It's a serial number for sure, but.... something I have learned over the years with these little guns, especially the small time makers, and the "hardware store guns" they almost never started out at zero. Using higher numbers would make it seem as though they had been making the guns for a lot longer than they really had, and is a marketing trick to make people assume they were better quality than they really were, after all, you'd think that with over 102,000 made, they must know what they are doing... but they could have started out at 102,000 and only made 1000 of them... I think this is likely to be the case here with this one.

Either way, I would have to agree with CannonballGuy, there has to be at least one other one out there like it, and probably more than a few so I'm sure a match would turn up somewhere.

 

[creskol]

Reckon it could be a pepperbox frame?

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Reckon it could be a pepperbox frame?

No, if you look above where the hammer would be, you can see a hole where a hinge pin went through that connected the front half of the gun, and you can see the notch on the bottom where it locked in place. I thought at first it might be a Merwyn and Hulbert, but I can't find a match to it

 

[Civil War Geek]

Looks a lot like a Smith and Wesson model 1, but the hinge appears to be in the wrong place.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Looks a lot like a Smith and Wesson model 1, but the hinge appears to be in the wrong place.

I have a feeling it might be Belgian made, but I still can't find a match. The closest I found so far with the hinge at the back are Spirlet revolvers, but I can't find any spur triggers or .22's like it yet.