Percussion - Forgotten Weapons

Lebeda 4.5mm Pocket Watch Gun

November 26, 2020 Ian McCollum 18

Made by one Francis Lebeda, this is an Elgin classic pocket watch with the internal mechanism removed and replaced with a single-shot pistol mechanism. It fires a 4.5mm BB using just a No.11 percussion cap, […]

Königliche Marine (Prussian Navy) Colt 1851 Rig

October 28, 2020 Ian McCollum 25

In 1855, Prussian customs officials discovered a shipment of 3,000 Colt 1851 Navy model revolvers (and their accouterments) hidden in bales of cotton being shipped from New York to Russia. Prussia was a neutral power […]

The Most Popular Percussion Colts: 1848 Baby Dragoon and 1849 Pocket

October 17, 2020 Ian McCollum 16

The most-produced Colt percussion revolver was not one of the big sexy Army models, but rather the humble 1849 Pocket. It was first introduced as the Model 1848 Baby Dragoon, in .31 caliber. By 1850, […]

Bilharz Hall & Co : A Crude Confederate Cavalry Carbine Copy

October 13, 2020 Ian McCollum 7

In 1863, the Bilharz, Hall, & Co firm of Pittsylvania Court House, Virginia (now Chatham VA) received a contract to make 1,000 examples of a simple percussion cavalry carbine modeled after the US Model 1855 […]

Hopkins & Allen XL Navy Rimfire .38 Service Revolver

August 18, 2020 Ian McCollum 14

Lot 3204 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. At the top end of Hopkins & Allen’s revolver line were the XL Navy, XL Police, and XL-8 Army. We covered the Army in a separate […]

A Mystifying 3-Barrel Percussion Shotgun

November 25, 2019 Ian McCollum 38

This is a three-barreled muzzleloading shotgun, with two pretty normal hammers on the top barrels and a rather unusual and simple under hammer for the bottom barrel. It has no markings at all, a hinged […]

Civil War Smith Carbine and its Rubber Cartridges

November 22, 2019 Ian McCollum 13

The US military experimented with a wide variety of breechloading carbines during the Civil War. One of these that got a bit of a head start on the others was the Smith carbine, patented in […]

Noël’s 10-Shot Pocket Turret Revolver

November 21, 2019 Ian McCollum 6

Designed by A. Noël in 1865 and manufactured by Gouery, Canat et Cie in Paris, this is a .28 caliber, 10-shot turret revolver. It has a folding double-action trigger, and is actually a remarkably svelte […]

Lindsay’s Two-Shot US Army Musket

August 26, 2019 Ian McCollum 12

Lot 1197 in the September 2019 RIA auction. John Parker Lindsay patented a superposed, 2-shot muzzleloading rifle action in 1860, and remarkably, was able to get a contract to sell them to the US Federal […]

Big Iron: Development of the Colt 1848 Dragoon Revolver

August 23, 2019 Ian McCollum 6

Selling in the September 2019 RIA auction. Walker, first variation, second variation, third variation, long barrel 3rd variation, and stocked 3rd variation. Sam Colt’s first foray into firearms manufacturing did not end well – after […]