home made bp pistol????

[OH_Spartan]

I was at a gun show this weekend and a guy was selling a .36 cal black powder pistol. The barrel was stainless steel and it had a side-cock hammer to fire a percussion cap. overall length was about the size of a derringer, but it was definitely not the derringer style. Sticker price $75.

Here is the interesting thing...the barrel unscrewed from the handle. When I held the barrel in my hand it had been turned down and threaded. Has anyone out here seen a gun like this? It didn't have any markings on it that would give any clues to its manufacture or identity.

The seller simply told me he got it "as part of a trade, and can't find any information on it." I put it back down on the table because something didn't feel right. I wish I had taken a few pics of it to post here, but I didn't.

Is it possible this is a home-made firearm? If so, would a gun like this be safe to shoot?

My gut says no, but I don't have any experience with the rupture strength steel and its ability to tolerate potential defects from an amateur gun maker.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Even in the flintlock days there were single shot pistols that were loaded by unscrewing the barrel. Screw barrels were also made in the percussion era. Perhaps this is a modern version of those guns?

 

[OH_Spartan]

Do you know of a manufacturer that I could look up to compare pictures and styles? If it really was a modern replica, I may have missed a bargain on a back-yard shooter.

 

[BCRider]

Even if it were home made that doesn't make it a bad gun automatically. I'd have taken my cues from how the gun was built and attention to detail. Anyone that makes such a thing will be consistent from beginning to end. A nice trigger and stuff that doesn't wobble and a nicely shaped and match grips to the frame all say "skill and quality" if done right and "RUN AWAY!" if done in a poor slipshod manner.

Besides you can always strap it securely to a big block of wood and use a heavy "proof test" charge from 50 feet away and behind a berm. A string to the trigger completes the "circuit". If it does OK with that then shoot the usual 15 to 20 gns typically found behind a .36cal ball.

 

[Ron James]

Research Classic Arms

 

[cane]

Here's one: http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_92_187_189&products_id=995