Antique Black powder pistol. Hay field relic find.

Lazer4856

Lazer4856

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Hey guys, new to the forum, however I am apart of other military collecting forums. Im researching a pistol barrel found in my neighbors hay field for him. It was found while cultivating the ground meaning it was a few inches under the surface. Stamped London, although I cannot make out the other British makers marks. They almost appear to be crossed swords. Theres no Queens crown stamp. very unsure what this may be. Based on our location we do find alot of History that has traveled up from the States threw buffalo traders and trading posts on the Montana side, however I find it hard to believe this would have been coming up from the Americas. In my opinion I think it would be a Hudson Bay pistol. I hope the pictures work and hopefully someone has a little more info then myself when comes to these old relics.














 
I'm not seeing any source of ignition: no firing pin hole, no touch hole, no cap. You could muzzle load it, but how do you set it off? I don't know what it is, but it's not saying "firearm" to me.
I could be wrong though. That's been known to happen. :D
 
Thanks for the info guys, can a moderator move the thread to the antiques section? Steve I was puzzeled myself, but there did appear to be a small hole near the rear but it has been rusted and corroded over, looks more like an indent then anything.
 
Rust that's as heavy as this one will easily fill in the touch hole.

This looks like an excellent candidate for electrolysis rust removal. The rusting is already done but some amount of electrolysis removal will make the markings a lot more legible without removing too much of the patina that exists under the orange powder. Don't go crazy with it if you try this method. Just do it enough to remove the truly crusty portion of the oxidation.
 
Hey BCRider, thanks for the info. What kind of procedure does electrolysis rust removal involve? playing with a few old tools and such of my own I have tried the dipping in vinegar method, which seems to work sometimes, although hard to use it on something specific or accurate. usually takes a dipping of an entire item to get results I found. I would hate to wreck any patena or history to this barrel. If you have any ideas feel free to let me know what would be best
 
Lazer4856 said:
Hey BCRider, thanks for the info. What kind of procedure does electrolysis rust removal involve? playing with a few old tools and such of my own I have tried the dipping in vinegar method, which seems to work sometimes, although hard to use it on something specific or accurate. usually takes a dipping of an entire item to get results I found. I would hate to wreck any patena or history to this barrel. If you have any ideas feel free to let me know what would be best
Click to expand...

Another method is to have a NDT company test it with wet flourescent magnetic particle and have them take photos of it for you. You should find one that has what is called a wet bench. This method is common and used by the CSI group and aircraft industry. It uses a black light that is extremely sensitive.
 
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