can anybody ID this?

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Hertzer

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Have a mystery pistol willed to me by a friend near 40 years ago (he had it for 60 to 70 years in his collection) and I have never been able to find much of anything about it so I'm hoping somebody here might recognize it. the bore measures 0.295, overall length 8.25", twisted steel barrel length of 3.50", only marking on it are on top of barrel FR: PFAFF I-B as the pictures show it is a pin locked tip up barrel with a removable percussion chamber. Any body have any information? fullsizeoutput_4bc0.jpeg fullsizeoutput_4bbf.jpeg fullsizeoutput_4bbe.jpeg fullsizeoutput_4bc1.jpeg
 
I agree with Jim Watson: very cool (and in great condition), and doesn't appear to be a one-off, homemade pistol.
 
Is that chamber loaded with powder in addition to the ball? Recognize that very old powder has been known to still fire.

Looks like a neat idea. Once could carry a couple of extra capped cylinders for a somewhat quick reload.
 
Couldn't find anything on Pfaff as an arms manufacturer. But looks like the percussion cap was invented in 1820 and the metallic cartridge was in use by the mid 1800's. So probably dates from the early to mid 1800's. I would assume Pfaff is German, or Prussian for that timeframe, but there should be a proof mark on the barrel somewhere, so maybe a prototype gun? Pfaff started making sewing machines in Germany in 1885, maybe he tried his hand at arms manufacturing before that
 
That is really cool. I can imagine an improved version where the nipple is fixed to the barrel and you can have multiple pre-loaded cartridges. The cartrides would just have to indexed so they can only go in when the flash holes are lined up.
 
That is really cool. I can imagine an improved version where the nipple is fixed to the barrel and you can have multiple pre-loaded cartridges. The cartrides would just have to indexed so they can only go in when the flash holes are lined up.

I think the idea might have been to have a preloaded and precapped cartridge for fast reloads.

I have seen this system illustrated before, I think in a flintlock, but I don't remember where.

IronHand
 
No powder in chamber ball there just for show and sewing machines are all I find as well. If it is a homemade it was done by a master gunmaker, the wood carvings, wood to metal fit, metal engraving, gold inlays, and twisted steel barrel are just to good. and the fact that I've had it near 40 years and Mr. F had it at lest 60 years or more he didn't remember when he got it. I see what your looking at Odd Job but the size difference makes me wonder, this is the size of a pocket/muff pistol. I don't see it being carried in a holster with the barrel lock pin sticking out the side of the frame.
 
I’m not nitpicking here, but in the photo from above, that screw on the grip looks almost too perfect, and modern. It’s a beauty.

.30 ish certainly seems small for a holster gun, and the pin seems out of place for a hidden piece, as does the grip swell. The beautiful engraving and inlay tells me it was for show. Then you get that 1-2 marking on top which makes me wonder if this gun doesn’t have a match somewhere as it may have been a dueling pistol.
 
Is the chamber end of the barrel free bored to accept the round ball protruding like that or just a round tube slightly larger that the ball.
The wood quality and engraving suggest a higher end "Gentleman's" pocket pistol.
 
Think he said the ball was just there for show. The gun looks really nice, a high quality, and the screws aren't buggered up. The oval head screw was used back then, and that's what it looks like to me. I personally think of it more as the OP said, that it had a chamber. To me it's more of a pre-runner to the cartridge guns. Americans were still building percussion cap revolvers in the late 1860s. Let us know if you find anything out about it - a very interesting gun.
 
It is a smoothbore and the ball seated in the chamber appears to engages the barrel evenly as best I can tell lighting and looking down the barrel and of the 7 screws in the pistol all have different head diameters photoed one of them see if you think it is modern machine made or not fullsizeoutput_4bcb.jpeg
 
The saga continues looking through old auction catalogs a friend has and found a Pfaff muff pistol that looks very similar nearly same length(1/2 inch shorter) and same caliber but a muzzle loader there description listed it as "... believed to be of German manufacture."
 
It is a smoothbore and the ball seated in the chamber appears to engages the barrel evenly as best I can tell lighting and looking down the barrel and of the 7 screws in the pistol all have different head diameters photoed one of them see if you think it is modern machine made or notView attachment 802127
I believe that screw may be machine made. The shoulder and head on the screw just throw up red flags for me. They are a little too perfect. However, it does have some age to it.

But the inconsistent spacing between the threads has me scratching my head.
 
In the book is a portion that begins:

A LIST OF GUN MAKERS, AMERICAN AND FOREIGN, WHOSE ARES WERE USED IN AMERICA BETWEEN 1600 AND 1800

Then further it lists:

GERMAN AND AUSTRIAN


(Approximately 1770-1800 or later)





Pfaff, Carsel



Pfaff, Posen

So it's post 1800 as it's caplock. It's very similar to smaller pistols, sometimes called muff-pistols, that used a key, and one removed the barrel, poured the powder into the chamber, sealed the chamber with a ball, then screwed on the barrel onto the gun which held everything in place, tight. They got very good velocity in a small package, since the ball was forced onto the rifling like a modern bullet and the gas was well sealed. The small versions normally used a "box lock" type of caplock, and this gun looks like an enlarged version.

LD
 
I believe that screw may be machine made. The shoulder and head on the screw just throw up red flags for me. They are a little too perfect. However, it does have some age to it.

But the inconsistent spacing between the threads has me scratching my head.
Me to that why I posted the picture, oh and most of the screw heads were engraved as well.
 
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