Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Philip · 8th June 2010, 07:37 AM

The previous posts about the barrel proof-marks rule out French origin of that component, and with my copy of Jean Boudriot, ARMES A FEU FRANCAISES: MODELES REGLEMENTAIRES (Paris, 1981) in front of me, I'd like to add the following observations:
1. None of the regulation-pattern French military pistols of the pre-Franco-Prussian War era are stocked-up like this example. Note the bulbous brass buttcap with the slender extended langets or tangs on each side, a feature seen on none of the French models.
2. France officially switched to the percussion system in 1822, and the divers models of handguns and shoulder-fired weapons (fusils & mousquetons) were standardized mechanically into a unified "system" common to all. The System of 1822 was based on PERCUSSION locks of very similar design (albeit in different sizes for pistols and long-guns), which started out as conversions of the earlier flint locks, although later production runs used entirely new parts. Pistols in the System of 1822 comprised 3 basic configurations, those issued to the cavalry, the gendarmerie, and to all officers. The first two guns, which were issued up to the 1850s or so, had butts of "bird beak" shape, the metal caps having a single dorsal tang, not two lateral ones. The officers model had a simple "dome" buttcap.
3. The next major system to be adopted was that of 1842, and it included one pistol, the gendarme's model of 1842 which like the long guns had a "back-action" percussion lock (i.e. with the internal mainspring located BEHIND the hammer rather than in front as in the previous, flintlock-derived percussion conversions). There was also an officer's pistol, Mod. 1833, which was not associated with a full system, but again that had a back-action percussion lock and furniture clearly derived from civilian handguns.
4. The internal parts of the lock on the gun posted here are not identical to the workings of the System 1822 converted flintlocks (the conversion did not require changing anything inside the lockplate), and the quality of fit is noticeably inferior to the original French manufacture.

The gun that is posted on this thread looks to be an export model, manufactured long after the fact to be sold inexpensively, or traded for local commodities, by Europeans in Africa and parts of Asia and Latin America. Many of these were styled after well-known European military arms, which were themselves exported worldwide after they became obsolete at home, and the St. Etienne markings were undoubtedly put on to enhance the gun's marketability. Gun factories in Liege, Belgium, made boatloads of these weapons into the early 20th cent., although there was some manufacture in Britain and other European countries as well. The Belgian guns are a bit short on good looks but are sturdy and reliable; I've shot one or two in my time and they aren't at all bad.

German-made guns were sold in quantity in another "developing country", in this case the US of the first half of the 19th cent. According to a rather uncomplimentary review in THE AMERICAN SHOOTER'S MANUAL (1827), these products were "...low-priced and badly-made and it would be well could their importation be prohibited, as nineteen-twentieths of the guns which have bursted in this country were German or Dutch. ... they are tinselled off in such a manner as to be quite captivating; they are, however, in general nothing more than very dangerous man traps, and we should be glad to see their use entirely discontinued in this country." [passage quoted in Robert Held, THE AGE OF FIREARMS (NY: Harper and Row, 1957), p 157.]

8th June 2010, 07:37 AM	#7
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	there's nothing French about it The previous posts about the barrel proof-marks rule out French origin of that component, and with my copy of Jean Boudriot, ARMES A FEU FRANCAISES: MODELES REGLEMENTAIRES (Paris, 1981) in front of me, I'd like to add the following observations: 1. None of the regulation-pattern French military pistols of the pre-Franco-Prussian War era are stocked-up like this example. Note the bulbous brass buttcap with the slender extended langets or tangs on each side, a feature seen on none of the French models. 2. France officially switched to the percussion system in 1822, and the divers models of handguns and shoulder-fired weapons (fusils & mousquetons) were standardized mechanically into a unified "system" common to all. The System of 1822 was based on PERCUSSION locks of very similar design (albeit in different sizes for pistols and long-guns), which started out as conversions of the earlier flint locks, although later production runs used entirely new parts. Pistols in the System of 1822 comprised 3 basic configurations, those issued to the cavalry, the gendarmerie, and to all officers. The first two guns, which were issued up to the 1850s or so, had butts of "bird beak" shape, the metal caps having a single dorsal tang, not two lateral ones. The officers model had a simple "dome" buttcap. 3. The next major system to be adopted was that of 1842, and it included one pistol, the gendarme's model of 1842 which like the long guns had a "back-action" percussion lock (i.e. with the internal mainspring located BEHIND the hammer rather than in front as in the previous, flintlock-derived percussion conversions). There was also an officer's pistol, Mod. 1833, which was not associated with a full system, but again that had a back-action percussion lock and furniture clearly derived from civilian handguns. 4. The internal parts of the lock on the gun posted here are not identical to the workings of the System 1822 converted flintlocks (the conversion did not require changing anything inside the lockplate), and the quality of fit is noticeably inferior to the original French manufacture. The gun that is posted on this thread looks to be an export model, manufactured long after the fact to be sold inexpensively, or traded for local commodities, by Europeans in Africa and parts of Asia and Latin America. Many of these were styled after well-known European military arms, which were themselves exported worldwide after they became obsolete at home, and the St. Etienne markings were undoubtedly put on to enhance the gun's marketability. Gun factories in Liege, Belgium, made boatloads of these weapons into the early 20th cent., although there was some manufacture in Britain and other European countries as well. The Belgian guns are a bit short on good looks but are sturdy and reliable; I've shot one or two in my time and they aren't at all bad. German-made guns were sold in quantity in another "developing country", in this case the US of the first half of the 19th cent. According to a rather uncomplimentary review in THE AMERICAN SHOOTER'S MANUAL (1827), these products were "...low-priced and badly-made and it would be well could their importation be prohibited, as nineteen-twentieths of the guns which have bursted in this country were German or Dutch. ... they are tinselled off in such a manner as to be quite captivating; they are, however, in general nothing more than very dangerous man traps, and we should be glad to see their use entirely discontinued in this country." [passage quoted in Robert Held, THE AGE OF FIREARMS (NY: Harper and Row, 1957), p 157.]