My, what a LITTLE pistol you have...

And now for the very small...

This little guy standing next to the standard U.S. Quarter is a single shot, breech loading .22 caliber (short, not long rifle) "vest pocket" pistol. It is unmarked except for a serial number, and the barrel is not rifled. The frame is brass and the grips look like rosewood.

Based on the frame design and the push-button plunger opening mechanism, this piece is probably a Marlin (although copies of this design abounded). If it's a Marlin, it would have been made between 1863 and 1867, according to Flayderman.

I've actually shot this piece (I know, I know...but it's mine and I'll do with it what I like). Even though it's so tiny, there's no recoil just because of the diminutive size of the shot and load. There's a short list of what a .22 short round will punch through, and human flesh is on it. A piece of 1/4" plywood is on it too, although a piece of 1/2" plywood is not. Pages 1 - 89 of a hardcover book are on it, but pages 80 - 345 are not. Anyway, the bottom line is that this piece could hurt someone (you'll put an eye out with that thing!) but is not likely to be lethal...unless it's 1865 and you've never heard about the germ theory of disease. In fact, due to the state of medicine, back then this pistol was probably a lot scarier and potentially dangerous in the Civil War than it is today.

I always imagine the original owner of this pistol was a prostitute or showgirl who kept it tucked into her garter. She'd probably be able to put down an over-rowdy client with it "real-quick like" given her proximity to his hurty bits...

My, what a BIG pistol you have...

OK. Now that I've warmed up with two WWII items, lets go back in time a bit...

This old flintlock measures in at nearly 20 inches. There are no maker's marks visible, although there is some embossed ornamentation on the barrel itself. The tip of the ramrod is bone or ivory, the butt cap and ramrod furniture appear to be silver, and the trigger guard is brass. The caliber is about 0.75 (these big calibers crop up on old muzzleloading weapons for reasons that are probably obvious - more on which in a later post).

My love for old flintlocks probably stems from my interest in pirates - I was obsessed with them back before ol' Johnny Depp was running around on Jump Street, so I cast something of a disapproving eye at all these young pirate posers we see running around these days.

In any case, this piece is not a pirate pistol, and likely never would have been. It's much too long, see?

On sailing ships or in shady seaside ports, long-barreled pistols would have been something of an encumbrance, even if accuracy is improved by the longer sight radius। More than likely, this is what was known as a horse pistol, where the constraints of concealment and discretion are not so important. Plus, the longer barrel would tend to steady the shot on a bouncing horse, as the expense of rapid movement (you trap and skeet folks know about this barrel length effect).

Anyhow, this gem is most likely from the Caucuses region - there is some Arabesque influence on the butt cap, but I think the wood carving on the stock show definite European influences.

If anyone has any thoughts on the origins of this one, I'd love to hear from you.


Oh, and in a couple of posts, we'll get to some pirate stuff. Honest.

The SPRA

What, pray tell, is a SPRA? Well, it's none other than Schermuly's Pistol Rocket Apparatus. OK, I know it's not a weapon per se, but it's a ROCKET LAUNCHER! This device was used in various capacities to launch line (that's rope to you lubbers) between two ships, between ships and shore, from shore to wrecked ships, etc. The model pictured here includes the brass launcher and an inert Smith and Wesson rescue rocket with wooden float attachment. Also pictured is an unopened box of the original line that came with the launcher. To use, one would simply open the box, clip on the line (making damned sure that the OTHER end was attached to something!), and fire the rocket.

The many uses of this versatile life-saving device are well documented on this interesting site.





Evidently, this device (or similar) was also used to fire flares and grapnel hooks used for clearing beach defenses before landing (e.g. concertina wire).

Of course, I will always remember the day I brought this thing home, burst through the door brandishing the SPRA, and said to the missus, "Ha ha ha, now I have a ROCKET LAUNCHER!".

She was not as impressed as I was...

Flintlock's Arsenal is here

The purpose of this blog is to document one unusual, unique, antique, or otherwise interesting weapon or weapon-like item from my personal collection per day, for as long as i can. I reserve the right to miss a few days here and there with the promise to catch up!

My initail a priori assumption was that I'd have enough goodies to do this for a year...but after a count, I don't think it'll happen. So I'll go as long as long as I can keep coming up with interesting pieces, or longer if I hit the lottery and go into acquisition mode!

In the process, I will tell you what I know (or think I know) about each piece. I'd love to have viewer comments correcting or augmenting what I think I know about these pieces...and I sincerely hope that this becomes a two-way learning street.

Additionally, many (if not all) of the pieces shown here could be available for purchase if you contact me with heartfelt interest and we can agree upon terms and conditions. I don't part with my treasures lightly, so please don't contact me about buying unless you are serious.

Lastly, and by way of preview, this blog will feature knives, guns, swords, axes, and other military or related equipment ranging in age for hundreds of years. However, my first piece (today's in fact) is neither particularly old or unique: it's a World War II era, British Fairbairn-Sykes style fighting knife (see picture) with a Sheffield stamp above the hilt. The handle is brass, and the double-edged blade shows signs of repeated sharpening.

The reason it is my favorite is two-fold. First, it was given to me by my late grandfather, a Pacific theater veteran and my number-one personal hero (I sure do miss him). He and I actually made the pictured replacement sheath out of one of his old belts - it took hours.

Second, the knife comes with a (probably apocryphal) story of how he acquired it. According to legend, when my grandfather was stationed in New Guinea, he and his mates from his PBY 5A Catalina crew (Black Cats) got pretty chopped up in a local watering hole. Supposedly, this British soldier was at the bar, and Grandpa's mates got the limey passed-out drunk. Legend has it that they dragged the poor slob down to the local tattoo parlor and got an American Flag and the phrase "God Bless America" tattooed on this poor bastard's chest. Then they rolled him for valuables.

This is probably a made-up story, but I so associate it with the knife that I consider it true for sentimental reasons.

By the way, if you're a British WWII vet with a similar tattoo and a missing knife - I am a fiction writer living in California and this story never really happened ;-)