Another Firearms Curiosa piece
 

I have been sent these pictures of what seems to be a gun / bowie knife combination in the hope I could recognise it , well I have no idea whatsoever what it is or how it operates , but maybe it will make sense to another member .

looks a very interesting piece of work
well finished as well so i would think it came from a proper skilled manufacturer.
looks like there is some sort of slide and a hammer the pommel end
does the bullet come out where the modern piece of metal is
I would need it in hand to figure out what is happening
I would love to see more pictures

Thanks

Ken

Hi Ken ... unfortunately I have not had it in my hands either but the owner is of the opinion that the bullet comes out of the hole near the ricasso of the knife and that the 'shiny' part is a cocking piece ( and a modern replacement part )

Hi
It looks very tight between the cylinder and the ricasso for a round to fit into the chamber. The small hold in the handle I presume is for when cartridges blow out.
Why the grove is in the cylinder is confusing as well.
One thing to consider is that in my youth when making .22 guns is that you can set off a rim fire on crushing it from the front of the rim. This might explain the detonation method.
The slide bit with the bar protruding might be the firing pin that the hammer propels forward or Maybe this was cocked back, held by the hammer device and then flew forward to strike the rim of the round
I will try and take a picture f the picture and make some sketch.
R3gards
Ken

My idea

Excellent Ken ... you seem to have a grasp of what is going on in this curious piece .

Hi
Guess work all the way
Do you have an opportunity to see and play around with or purchase?
I would love to know the full story
Regards
Ken

Brilliant and you are most likely correct . I cant access the actual item it is in Eastern Europe and I dont think it would be looked on favourably if sent through the post to the UK ! I can put you in touch with the guy if you wish .

Okay this has got to be one of the single most fascinating pieces I've ever seen. What it looks like is a knife that one flips around to be used as a revolver. My thought is that it's a late 1830's-40's one-off prototype weapon of some gunsmith attempting to capitalize on both colt revolver action and the popularity of the Bowie knife after the sandbar fight. There was a lot of crazy stuff like this and odd ideas floated around that time. Including pieces that were actually produced and used to some extant which are not entirely dissimilar to this. Such as the Elgin Cutlass pistol.

Interesting ideas similar to pieces in 'Firearms Curiosa' ... I think you are right that this is a 'one off' . Thanks for your input .

CAVEAT EMPTOR.

To me it looks like a mid-20th c. put-together, lot of highly machined parts.