Anyone know what this is?

Over_Kill

Over_Kill

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Friend of mine told me his buddy want's to get rid of (sell) an old pistol he has. Neither my friend, nor his buddy (the owner of the pistol) know what it is. He snapped 2 pics using his cell phone, not the greatest quality.

Can anyone identify what this might be? And if so, can you put a value on it? Looks pretty pitted to me....

unknown1.jpg


unknown2.jpg


Thanks!
OverKill
 
Guess I should have done some google-fu myself before posting. :)

The marking is ELG, which from what I found, means this is a Belgium gun. Found this:

7 mm pinfire revolver made in the city of Liège in Belgium .
ELG is proof mark of this city from 1811 until January 1893
You must also have a letter on the cylindre , if this letter is with a crown above your revolver was made between 1853 and January 1877. If the letter is with a star above its after 1877


Interesting and helpful I guess, but I'd still like to know what I should offer him if I want to buy it.

Thanks again!
OverKill
 
That is a nice little pin fire pistol. I have a couple pin fires and they are fun little toys. I have to make my own ammo to use them- but I enjoy that sort of thing.

Not many collect these little babies because of the ammo required to shoot them, this brings the value down on the general market.They were popular during the mid 1800s- when the ammo was readily available. I very much enjoy mine and one of the reasons I enjoy them is because I can get them cheap. I am a Scot after all. I also enjoy making the ammo and shooting them.
janice

ps Use light loads, they were not built very robust.
j.
 
It does not look in spectacular condition cosmetically. I think locally it would go for around $100 perhaps less. For the smaller revolvers, my experience with home made shells is that the hammer spring is not strong enough to fire an upside down cap in a round cavity. What I have yet to try is making a shell with a square recess for the cap and suspect that may allow a soft hammer to fire the caps. If the gun is 7mm that is too small to use the (I think) french made reloadable shells with a flat bottomed insert for the cap

cheers mooncoon
 
A friend in Vancouver uses actual caps but says he has a fair number of misfires,Mooncoon it sounds like you are using number 11s, have you thought of small pistol primers? The anvil is built in.

Mine are 44 cal and so the room to maneuver the cap is good. Not so sure about the smaller calibers.

I take 45 auto and shave of the base a bit on the lath, then use a very short piece of brass to rivet the primer hole closed, drill a small hole in the side of the shell - put a pistol primer inside held down with finger nail polish. Position the firing pin in place through the hole drilled previously and hold together with finger nail polish. Let dry , load, and store for use.
janice
 
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I have made shells for 3 -16 guage shotguns, a 53 caliber pistol and tried making shells for 2 or 3 roughly 7mm pistols. Two of the shotguns and the 53 pistol worked well with no problem with ignition. Those 3 guns all had strong hammers. The third shotgun had a fairly soft hammer fall and the caps would only fire with a flat bottomed insert to hold the #11 cap. None of the 7 mm pistols would fire a cap. I think the problem with a weak hammer and the cap in a round recess is that squishing the cap into the recess uses up energy. For a strong hammer that is not a problem but with a weak hammer, there is not enough energy left. On the larger shells, I have turned them or their bases out of solid brass and milled a 5/16 recess in the base to hold the cap. My thought with the small shells is to drill a round hole in the base and file that square then soft solder a thin base plate on to cover up the hole. Also it is important to use copper or brass pins with strong hammers or you will damage the hammer face and or the tumbler (from experience)

I think the problem with a boxer primer is that it would be awkward to hold it in place. Instead of nail polish I do cement the pin in place after priming and before loading, using airplane glue. I found that if the pin comes the slightest bit loose and you push it back in, the primer will not fire although I am not sure why

cheers mooncoon
 
I have a very similar 7mm pinfire,I paid about $150 and it came with the original holster, the weak springs and erratic indexing make this a "wallhanger" for me but I wanted an example of a pinfire for my collection.

 
Yep - you've already found most of the info on it - post 1870's pre 1893, pinfire. I'd say $75-$100 is fair - they're mostly novelties and you will have to make everything to shoot it. On the plus side, if you have basic technical skill and hand tools you can probably put something together that'll work. That said, keep pressures down - these aren't terribly sturdy guns :p
 
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