Frankenstarr's Monster! (A Starr prop gun of some sort...)

[SchmidtRubin]

I've been scratching my head for awhile. I know it started off as a Starr. I first thought it was someones home made Bang Flag gun but the spring pulls, it doesn't push anything. Pulling the trigger retracts the rod under the barrel well before the hammer trigger is touched. The spring can stretch the length of the barrel. The barrel isn't magnetic so it's probably made of copper or brass and nickle plated. Both the rod and the barrel can be removed like a bayonet socket.
The barrel and the frame (where it's milled flat) were stamped with a #2 which means there might be another Frankenstein's monster out there. There is a substantial amount of corrosion on the hammer and inside the faux cylinder which I don't understand. A cap would just fall out and there isn't much room for roll caps. A partial metal plate is affixed to the frame behind the faux cylinder which the hammer strikes...
I can only figure it was a stage, theater, magic, or circus prop and was probably made more than 50 years ago. How it was used I do not know. I'm hoping someone has seen something similar and could give me some insight.

 

[Thunderchicken]

Does it look like if you pushed something into the barrel and compressed the spring it might be intended to latch onto the end and release it when the trigger is pulled, propelling it out of the barrel? The rod might be the means to transmit the trigger force to the latch, which would mean there’d have to be a hole under the barrel someplace. I have no knowledge, just thinking out loud based on your photos and text.

No clues from the source of the item, I suppose?

 

[SchmidtRubin]

Though it compresses some the spring wasn't made to compress. It's compression probably comes from being overstretched.
I was thinking there might be some sort of latch the rod released and it's missing. I can't visualize what type of latch it was. Certainly you wouldn't want it to go flying off.
The breach end of the cylinder inside near the hammer does allow light to pass through so it's open but mostly obstructed by the spring and pin that holds it.
I kind of thought it might have been like a calcium carbide cannon if not a flag gun but no. That's another cool thing it's not...

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

It looks like a comedy prop gun and may not be complete.

Retraction of the rod under the barrel may have been a release mechanism for something in or on the muzzle of the barrel, allowing some feature to operate. It may, for example, be part of a release mechanism for the coiled spring in the barrel, which activated a feature when it contracted, snapping back down the barrel away from the muzzle.

 

[tinhorn]

Sure hope you bought it. Heckuva wallhanger.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Whatever it was for I bet you'd be a big hit carrying it at a Steampunk event.

 

[Meeks36]

Is that the gun the joker shot Batman’s whatever it was out of the sky?

 

[230RN]

There were crazy people even back in the 1800s, you know.

 

[230RN]

I remember when I had my machine shop and my hands were hungry for something to do, I'd just play around putting things together to satisfy the gazinta complex, or I'd chuck up a random hunk of metal and turn it to random weird shapes...I remember calling them my chipmaking "episodes."

One time I was "fondling" a brake cylinder from an MG car and ended up buildng a steam engine out of it. Just from diddlyfarting around with it for a couple of weeks.

-- Anomolous poster, 230RN

 

[tark]

Welcome to the monkey house, anyway. That certainly is unlike anything I've ever seen!

 

[desidog]

Is there a flag that says BANG in the barrel?

 

[SchmidtRubin]

Sure hope you bought it. Heckuva wallhanger.

Yup, I bought it. I figured I could at the very least beat inflation for what I paid. More so if I can figure out what it is. Bonus points if I find the origin of this particular prop. Like a vintage picture of someone holding it.

Also it was worth it as a wallhanger.

Is there a flag that says BANG in the barrel?

No. What you see is what I got. A flag gun seems unlikely.

 

[codytrucker]

Seems like I've seen one like that where a bouquet of flowers came out the end . Someone who knows something about play and movie props might know .

 

[Coyote3855]

Too bad whoever messed up an original Starr. They were the third most purchased handgun by the Union in the Civil War after Colts and Remingtons. The museum where I volunteer has a couple. One is an original .36 caliber percussion, the other is a .44 that was sent to Belgium and converted to a five shot .45 Colt. Both were missing the pin that is removed to allow the frame to hinge forward. I was able to find original pins to replace the missing ones.

 

[TRX]

Yeah... but it's like someone in 2230 complaining about someone in 2022 messing up a rare collectible Hi-Point.

There was no shortage of Starrs back in the day, and then they were obsolete and cheap; the 1800s version of tackle-box or truck guns. Who cared about some old junker when there were exciting new designs to be had?