Found pistol. Is it real or a toy ? Conclusion to story.

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Found this pic, it's a 7mm Belgian, other than the grip it looks identical

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I just spoke with the old fella (98) who still owns it. He found it on his property next to the river in the 1990's. He was digging up some shrubbery to plant a tree and the pistol was tangled in the roots in the soil. So it was under the ground level. The only other real interesting fact was it was within yards of the hanging tree that was used to hang guilty parties sentenced by Judge Begbie ( the hanging judge ). Yale at the time ( 1858-1880's) was a thriving city and was nearly chosen as the capitol city of B.C. loosing to New Westminster and later Victoria. The tree was cut down by the previous owner of that property. Thats what the old time locals reported. Thats it. The pistol will end up in the local Museum.
 
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MustangFrank said:
I will be going back to talk to the old timer to get as much of the story as possible. I think he is in his 90's but still has a sharp mind.

The age of the piece plus the fact that ammunition is not commonly available would render it an antique and a non firearm relic. Or something to that effect. It is not loaded.
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Just a FYI, availability of ammunition in itself is not a deciding factor in classifying an antique anymore. Great find!!
 
MustangFrank said:
I just spoke with the old fella (98) who still owns it. He found it on his property next to the river in the 1990's. He was digging up some shrubbery to plant a tree and the pistol was tangled in the roots in the soil. So it was under the ground level. The only other real interesting fact was it was within yards of the hanging tree that was used to hang guilty parties sentenced by Judge Begbie ( the hanging judge ). Yale at the time ( 1858-1880's) was a thriving city and was nearly chosen as the capitol city of B.C. loosing to New Westminster and later Victoria. The tree was cut down by the previous owner of that property. Thats what the old time locals reported. Thats it. The pistol will end up in the local Museum.
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That is fantastic. What a great find and the context there is really neat.
 
I'm not quoting anything in particular, but I think pinfire firearms stopped being produced entirely prior to 1898 (if not the late 1880's), so antique. Also relic condition likely would also make it a deact, though that would be a grey area.

Nice find anyhow. Seems to me the Yale and interior areas yield some pretty neat old gun finds. I was contacted a couple years ago by a fellow that had a trade gun he found in the BC interior... sadly never heard back on that one and lost his info :(
 
JakeRave said:
sweet find i have one just like it in way better shape the only problem is trying to find ammo so i can use it!
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There is a European source for reloadable pinfire cartridges. Clever priming system. They work, but you might experience a bit of sticker shock.

It is possible to make pinfire cases. Time consuming, but not impossible.
 
tiriaq said:
There is a European source for reloadable pinfire cartridges. Clever priming system. They work, but you might experience a bit of sticker shock.

It is possible to make pinfire cases. Time consuming, but not impossible.
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HC collection in France I believe sells them. They ship to Canada too!
 
I don't know why it always comes down to quoting the current laws to dispel all the myths.

antique firearm means

(a) any firearm manufactured before 1898 that was not designed to discharge rim-fire or centre-fire ammunition and that has not been redesigned to discharge such ammunition, or

(b) any firearm that is prescribed to be an antique firearm; (arme à feu historique)
 
I was just speaking with a RCMP representative about pinfire. He checked and only found a few listings for them in the system, most seem to be antique status but apparently one was considered prohibited.

Apparently their records indicate that Lefaucheux continued to manufacture some pinfire revolvers into the 20th century and in the one case of prohib it was said that their expert determined some features were of a modern nature and it was modeled after a 1906 design. I can't find any listings on when Lefaucheux went out of business or what 1906 model it might be but there's probably a 1/100,000 chance that it's not "antique" but nobody will ever put in the effort to prove it anyway given it's "deactivated" state.

Anyone else ever hear of a non antique European pinfire? I.e. other than novelty guns out of the US like the 2mm one?
 
MustangFrank said:
I don't know why it always comes down to quoting the current laws to dispel all the myths.

antique firearm means

(a) any firearm manufactured before 1898 that was not designed to discharge rim-fire or centre-fire ammunition and that has not been redesigned to discharge such ammunition, or

(b) any firearm that is prescribed to be an antique firearm; (arme à feu historique)
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That's only half the law, if you keep reading you'll see the rest of the statute that makes pretty much all pre 98 centerfires and, rimfires other than .22's, legal antiques except for those manufactured in certain calibers.
 
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