Key gun value

[castile]

I have a quittance I know that has this key gun. It was made by his grandfather and he wants to know value, and maybe wants to sell it. I have a few ideas but want to get some other input to see if I am in the ball park. Its an atypical type of thing so its not easy to put a value on it. If anyone has seen these before, were they kits? Or is it completely fabricated from scratch?

I remember many years ago that something like this was a kit you could buy and finish. Thanks for any help.

 

[ldlfh7]

I would never sell that - Especially if it was from my Grandfather. If he does want to sell it, I would be interested.

 

[Busyhands94]

I want one!!!

 

[Schwing]

I am, by no means, an expert on these but the only ones I have ever seen are quite old, early 1700s to mid 1800s. I don't know if this is true or not, but I have heard that these were originally made for jailers. they were actual cell keys. The jailer could use it as a key and, in a pinch, had a bullet at hand.

I couldn't even hazard a guess on monetary value but I would not part with this personally.

 

[BowerR64]

Wasnt there one of these on pawn stars? i could swear ive seen one before.

 

[4v50 Gary]

What Busyhands94 said. I want one. It's of no practical use, but a great novelty item.

 

[sltm1]

I found this one om GB several years ago. It's a non-firing repro, but I paid $80 for it just for the "cool" factor. How does yours work?