Revolvers take a break!

forward observer · Jan 18, 2022

Ugly Sauce said:
Oh no. The 1842 is another I'd really like to have, I would have to settle for reproduction of course. I am a "shoot any antique" type of guy, but yeah messing with the frizzen might not be something to do lightly. However, there are lots of flintlock parts on the market, finding a frizzen that's close enough to the original would be possible, and then fit it to the gun for shooting and set the original one aside.

Having said that, I have a rifle made pre-1846, that was with the Donner party when it first set out, and I had some restoration work done on it so we could shoot it. And it's a good shooter. Still accurate. And I have taken it for walks in the woods. As it is a family heirloom it will never be sold, in my lifetime, any reduction in value that caused is of no concern.

Wow those flinglock pistols, I see several I'd love to have. Nice.

Thanks for the comments. Oddly, no company has ever tried to reproduce either the M1842 or M1836. I guess they figured there wouldn't be enough demand. One can find the M1842's quite often in shooting condition and they used to even have a smoothbore shooting category for them at the North-South Skirmish Association annual national shoots.

There was a time when you could find one in decent shooting condition for under $300 or $400 but those days are long gone. The barrels on them have quite thick walls
so having them bored out and relined was a way to get them back into action for the smoothbore competition.

I have found a place that sells some reproduction parts for the M1836 and they do have a roughcast repro of the frizzen for $32. It doesn't even have the mounting hole drilled but I may order one just to do as you mentioned. However, I'm not sure it would be worth it now since I don't get out and shoot as much as I used to when I still had young eyes.

Cheers

webrx · Jan 19, 2022

I have a rifle made pre-1846, that was with the Donner party when it first set out, and I had some restoration work done on it so we could shoot it. And it's a good shooter. Still accurate. And I have taken it for walks in the woods. As it is a family heirloom it will never be sold, in my lifetime

Being in Reno, and near Donner Pass, I am curious since this is a family heirloom if there is a story that goes with it?

d

woodnbow · Jan 19, 2022

forward observer said:
I had vowed not to acquire any more new firearms for a while, but then I just sort of won this one by accident this past weekend in a live online auction. It's an M1842 Martial pistol by Henry Aston with a lock and barrel date of 1848 (54. cal smoothbore) I put a fixed maximum amount pre-bid in on it well below what I thought it would go for with the idea that I couldn't win it at that price but if I did I'd be getting a deal. Then I just signed out and left it to my luck since I had no intention of being involved in live bidding. I already have one that's a shooter but it's not nearly as nice as this one appears to be. Damn if the bidding didn't stop right at my maximum amount. These are a couple of auction pictures. The only thing I intend to do is get rid of the horrible shiny varnish and take the wood back to its original military-style linseed oil satin finish.
View attachment 1053146
Almost perfect cartouches showing little to no sanding for stocks. Over all pretty nice for a 174 year old pistol
View attachment 1053147

Here's my other two martial pistols--another M1842 made in 1847 and a really nice M1836 made in 1842 that has escaped being converted to percussion. I've shot the M1842 but not the M1836 since I would have to have the frizzen rehardened. I'm hesitant to mess with a 180 year old antique
View attachment 1053148

Here are most of my flintlock single shots with one large percussion plus the two small commemorative percussion Deringers. I've snagged four of five more since this shot was taken but have been too lazy to get them out to photograph or even shoot.
View attachment 1053149

“Won by accident” I thought I was the only guy who used that line!

Acorn Mush · Jan 19, 2022

Forward Observer, Have you given Dixie Gun Works a call? They might be of help in providing or locating a frizzen for your M1836 martial pistol.

VERY nice display by the way. Thanks for the eye candy.

Ugly Sauce · Jan 20, 2022

webrx said:
Being in Reno, and near Donner Pass, I am curious since this is a family heirloom if there is a story that goes with it?

d

There is so much story, it came down through the wife's family, and many diaries have survived. Just for a taste, !!! it was also in action after the Whitman "Massacre". One of the ancestors was in the militia that chased the Indians around for a year, or almost a year or something like that. She's been "fired in anger". But as you know, that so called "Indian war" just involved some skirmishes as far as I know.

It also went on a trip to escort Joe Meeks (right spelling/right first name?) the somewhat famous mountain man back to Independence for the purpose of him going on to Washington DC. So yeah there is some stories. We have the documentation, but it is highly un-organized. And if anyone doubts my tales, that's okay, I understand. ! I also have it's original powder horn and antler tip powder measure. (which throws 25 grains). It is .38" caliber.

Thanks for asking!

forward observer · Jan 20, 2022

Acorn Mush said:
Forward Observer, Have you given Dixie Gun Works a call? They might be of help in providing or locating a frizzen for your M1836 martial pistol.

VERY nice display by the way. Thanks for the eye candy.

Yes, I checked Dixie back when I purchased the pistol because the threads on the cock/hammer screw were stripped and it wouldn't tighten up properly. Dixie had the screw so I got that from them. However, no frizzens. The place I found the roughcast frizzen is S & S firearms which I've been buying from since the mid-1970s. I've been buying stuff from both S&S and Dixie since around the same time. Back then both stocked mostly original parts but those have long been depleted and replaced by repro parts if replaced at all.

Cheers

webrx · Jan 20, 2022

Ugly Sauce said:
There is so much story, it came down through the wife's family, and many diaries have survived. Just for a taste, !!! it was also in action after the Whitman "Massacre". One of the ancestors was in the militia that chased the Indians around for a year, or almost a year or something like that. She's been "fired in anger". But as you know, that so called "Indian war" just involved some skirmishes as far as I know.

It also went on a trip to escort Joe Meeks (right spelling/right first name?) the somewhat famous mountain man back to Independence for the purpose of him going on to Washington DC. So yeah there is some stories. We have the documentation, but it is highly un-organized. And if anyone doubts my tales, that's okay, I understand. ! I also have it's original powder horn and antler tip powder measure. (which throws 25 grains). It is .38" caliber.

Thanks for asking!

So Cool to have family history on an old time firearm! thanks for sharing.

d

Revolvers take a break!

forward observer

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Ugly Sauce

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forward observer

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webrx

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