How do I clean the wooden grip?

Leave the wood alone if it just has a dark patina. You can apply a light coat of microcrystalline wax with a soft cloth to protect the surface. Never use modern spray polishes or harsh solvents. These strip the historic finish and seep into the grain, causing the wood to swell against the metalwork.

I inherited this old percussion pistol from my grandfather and the lock mechanism feels stiff when I try to pull the hammer back, should I oil it?

A few drops of light mineral oil on the moving parts won't hurt. Antique mechanisms dry out over decades of storage, and dried grease often binds the tumbler and sear inside the lock. Don't force the hammer if it refuses to move after oiling. The internal mainspring is under high tension and brittle. Snapping a historic spring turns a functional lock into a broken one. Have a gunsmith dismantle the lock if the stiffness persists. They use proper turnscrews that fit the narrow slots of antique fasteners without burring the metal.

What calibre is my flintlock?

Calibre varies in early firearms because makers built them to custom specifications. Military patterns generally followed standard bores, like the carbine bore used for British cavalry pistols. You measure the internal diameter of the muzzle to find the gauge. Dealers use callipers for this, but historic lead balls were often cast slightly smaller than the bore to allow for the paper patch. Don't rely on the bore size alone to identify a civilian piece. Gunsmiths bored barrels to whatever size suited the customer or whatever mandrels they had to hand.

There are some strange letters stamped on the metal part of the barrel underneath the wood, do these tell you where it was made or who owned it?

Those stamps are proof marks. The proof house struck them into the barrel after testing it with an overcharged load of powder to ensure it wouldn't burst in use. They tell you the country and often the city of manufacture. London and Birmingham had different proof marks, and the specific symbols changed over the decades as regulations updated. They rarely point to the individual owner. Occasionally a maker's mark sits alongside the proof stamps, giving you the initials of the barrel forger.

Home > Miscellaneous > Pistols > Page 3

Antique Pistols in London

← Page 3 of 3 →

Handheld firearms designed for personal defence or duelling, antique pistols range from heavy flintlock cavalry horse-pistols to pocket-sized percussion weapons, built with a wooden stock housing a steel barrel and an external firing mechanism.