An old? beast from my Grandfather's estate

It looks decorative not authentic. The old timers didn't have the extra cash to pay for ornamentation for the sake of it. The fancy pieces do look the part.
 
Brander & Potts Flintlock Pistol, lots of reproductions out there, cool find. an original from 1810 is likely worth somewhere around $1600, a good conditioned reproduction, a couple hundred. .75 caliber round balls should be pretty fun to shoot at water jugs

what you have there is a clean example of a reproduction
 
FYI - is not unknown to discover an old muzzle loader that still is loaded - powder and ball still in there - so is worth your while to verify that - likely by inserting a small diameter dowel down into the muzzle and seeing if it goes all the way to rear end of the barrel. Until you know, you do not.
 
This reminds me of a time years ago when a local auction advertised that amongst other things they had a percussion Sharps rifle and carbine for sale.I attended the auction and when it was time for the viewing prior to the sale I checked out the Sharps only to find that they were pot metal non firing replicas.When I put them down another guy quickly picked them up and I could see he was just about drooling over them and I made a comment too bad they are not real.Well this guy gave me a dirty look basically telling me to mind my own business which I found funny because all he had to do was open the action and he could see that there was no chamber in the breech besides the fact that it was obvious the gun was made of pot metal.Anyway guess who bought both the rifle and carbine and guess who showed up at the next gun show trying to sell them for big money and guess who was just about laughed out of the place.This guy actually spent the next 3 years showing up at Gun shows, antique shows and advertising in the local paper trying to sell these guns for originals
 
over and above believing it is a reproduction,based on the quality and style of the engraving, I would be very hesitant to try shooting it. Also in addition to checking with a magnet, look and see if there is a vent hole

cheers mooncoon
 
When you look under a degree of magnification, you can see that 'engraving' has rounded edges, this is what leads the eye to the 'softness' that can be detected. This is because it is cast and not engraved.

It's a nice wall-hanger, from a distance at which wall-hangers are viewed - close-up, it's a clear frawk.
 
Interesting to note the distinctive "Cross of Castile" on top of the breech that has shown up on real pieces made around Ripoll in Spain by local gunmakers in the late 1700's. I did find in an antique shop in Barcelona two pistols with locks by Potts in like new condition except the stocks were made of Fir - not walnut - so obviously modern made with some found locks.
 
As Zuke said, what does the barrel / bore look like , the barrel will tell the story.
I think a nice repo.
Open the lock up and have a look.
But nice socks
 
marshall said:
As Zuke said, what does the barrel / bore look like , the barrel will tell the story.
I think a nice repo.
Open the lock up and have a look.
But nice socks
Click to expand...

I think it is decorative wallhangers and as I said earlier, I would be very hesitant to try to shoot it. Olne telling feature is whether or not it has a flash hole and where that is in relative to the breach plug. If you look at the photos, the flash hole if present would have to be awfully close to the back of the barrel.

cheers mooncoon
 
If it was made of pot metal a flint put in the jaws and dry fired probably wouldn’t t take long for the #### or the frizzen or both to break
 
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If you look at how the frizzen fits the pan, defiinitely a non firing repro. No original would have a gap like that. I agree with everything else everyone said. Soft engraving, etc.
 
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