Description:One of a pair of excellent quality, cased, boxlock, screw-barrelled, flintlock pocket pistols, made at Birmingham c.1810-1820.
This type of pistol was sold for self-defence at close quarters, and was in effect an anti-mugging or anti-rape weapon. Burglers in the home or highwaymen usually required a longer barrelled 'overcoat' or travelling pistol with a barrel length around six inches.
Screw-barrelled pistols, as their name implies, were not muzzle-loaders but breech loaders. To load, the weapon the barrel is unscrewed with a small 'ring-spanner' or barrel key provided. The breech thus exposed was a cup-shaped depression, with a wide hole, ultimately communicating with the flashpan by way of the touch-hole. The hole was filled with gunpowder from a powder flask (missing from the case), and a lead pistol ball was placed in the cap. The barrel was then screwed back into place. The pistol ball was larger than the bore of the barrel so that it did not fall out. As a result, the lead of the ball created a very tight gas seal and thus the pistol developed a high breech pressure on firing, forcing the soft lead ball through the barrel, producing a particularly hard-hitting shot. The term 'boxlock' refers to the lock mechanism being contained within the box-like, metal body of the pistol, rather than a seperate lockplate.
This pistol has a folding trigger which folds down as the pistol is cocked by the thumb. The folding trigger avoids the possibility of the pistol snagging on the user's pocket as it is being withdrawn, possibly in a hurry! These pistols have a 'three-way' safety catch. Pushing the catch forward when the pistol is at half-cock, the latter itself a safety provision, inserts a hook shaped projection under the tip, preventing it from any further compression. Thus if the pistol was dropped, the cock could not jolt backwards enough for it to escape from half-cock and fire. The safety catch also pushes a sliding bolt into the rear face of the cock, and slides a bolt forward engaging in a hole in the face of the frizzen, preventing it from opening. The frizzen also has twin rollers on its spring, designed to reduce friction on firing. This is a very unusual feature.
The pistol has a walnut, slab-sided butt with fine chequering on the upper and underside with a silver escutcheon plate.