Brace of SXS Pistols~~~HOWDAH~~~

I've shot a Howdah pistol made by Rodda of Calcutta, and actually converted from a P53 rifled musket. Very tastefully done, using the original woodwork which was a nice piece of walnut, the barrel was around fifteen inches long and retained a cut-down ramrod. The load was the issue 2.5 drams of FRP and the standard Minié bullet, a load that would definitely have caught the attention of any tiger at the distance at which it was recommended to shoot - 'arm's length', to be exact. One shot was interesting, two was painful, and three was something I'd only do for a large amount of money.

Incidentally, they were used principally in India, hence the term Howdah, and, of course, there is a marked lack of lions in India.

tac
 
I own a .65 calibre sxs muzzleloading pistol of similar howdah persuasion.
Advice, if you intend to shoot them, first get a nipple wrench that fits correctly. Number two, much like hammer shotguns, do not get into the habit of bringing to full #### both hammers, when firing one barrel and then the other. One is apt to make the second lock discharge upon firing the first barrel, when you did not intend for this to happen.

Much like Mooncoon said previously here, 30 grains of BP was a real weak sister in my pistol too.
On a really warm summer day and 50 grains of FFG the right barrel had quite a audible ring to it upon firing a patched roundball.
Henceforth I now top out at 47 grains of FFG with a .625 RB and a lubricated patch. (7.5 inches of barrel)

just my own personal experiences here
 
I have had the pleasure of traveling and shooting with Garry James (the author who has written so many historical gun articles, mostly published in "Guns & Ammo" magazine) who has a gorgeous cased breech-loading double Rodda of Calcutta Howdah pistol chambered in .577 Snider (the rifle cartridge, not the much stubbier .577 pistol cartridge!) I don't have a photo of me firing it (which I have done) but here is Garry shooting it at a Grand Army of the Frontier Muster we attended together in 2014 -

GarryJamesandhowdahpistol_RobertThompson_sm_zpsa4b a4850.jpg


Better yet, here is a three minute video (made a few years ago) showing it being fired -

[video]http://www.gunsandammo.com/video/howdah-pistol/[/video]

For the heck of it, here's Garry and I at the Saturday evening banquet at the 2014 event -

f5aa5596-457b-4830-8877-001051cc42d6_zpsttecy2c5.jpg
 
mooncoon said:
it seemed to me that the Wikipedia description partially contradicted itself. It began by saying the pistols were made for protection against lions and tigers but by the end of the article said that howdah pistols were replaced by more practical guns such as the 455 Webley revolvers. I would not consider the 455 Webley to be of much use against a lion or tiger. The trade off comes with the question of how effective were the original howdah pistols to start with. The unquestioned guns that I have seen were rifled 58 caliber percussion and with those in mind, my impression is that they probably were not very effective unless loaded with a heavy charge of powder; say 60 or more grains of 3F powder. I remember pressing the muzzle of a 58 cal pocket pistol against a piece of 2x2" cedar and firing it. With 30 grains of powder, the ball only penetrated 1/2 ball deep and stuck there with half of the ball outside the wood. Howdah pistols had longer barrels that my pocket pistol but I wonder how heavy a load could they shoot without simply blowing unburnt powder out of the barrel

cheers mooncoon
Click to expand...

Is it possible the men using the Howdah would have known the optimum patch thickness to allow the powder to burn more effectively. (Uber tight loads, but not too tight.;))
 
plinker 777 said:
Is it possible the men using the Howdah would have known the optimum patch thickness to allow the powder to burn more effectively. (Uber tight loads, but not too tight.;))
Click to expand...

The patch thickness has little to do with muzzle velocity / energy. The howdah pistols I have seen had barrels around 7 or 8 inches at a guess and the question is how much powder can be burnt in that length of barrel. Tac's 15 inch barreled gun could burn a lot more powder than a 7 inch one.

Just to nitpick a bit, while they are almost extinct now (perhaps may be extinct) there are asian lions in the top left corner of the Indian continent and more correctly either in or just west of Pakistan. In recent times I think they have been pushed out by a lack of habitat. I don't know how far east and south of their current range they once existed

cheers mooncoon
 
mooncoon said:
Just to nitpick a bit, while they are almost extinct now (perhaps may be extinct) there are asian lions in the top left corner of the Indian continent and more correctly either in or just west of Pakistan. In recent times I think they have been pushed out by a lack of habitat. I don't know how far east and south of their current range they once existed
cheers mooncoon
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I didn't say that there weren't any, I remarked that there was a distinct lack of them. Shikars, with elephants carrying the hunters, were a feature of Southern India, not the mountains of the north, as are the tigers that were hunted.

tac
 
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