Lloyd
Mountaineer
Posts: 117
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Post by Lloyd on Jul 18, 2010 16:37:46 GMT -7
This is a pistol I made for a guy out here who does a fur trade impression. I thought it was a pretty good example....  |
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Post by sean on Jul 18, 2010 17:06:45 GMT -7
Nice job, Lloyd.
Sean
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Post by Steve Jajo on Jul 19, 2010 6:10:59 GMT -7
Nice looking pistol Lloyd. My Birthday is next month so if you get started right now you can send me one for a present ;D I'll go wait by my mailbox!!! ;D
Steve
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Post by Longarm on Jul 28, 2010 17:07:17 GMT -7
This is an original Ketland that I found a while back, had to replace the cock , numerous stock repairs, including reshaping the butt as it was flattened by using it as a hammer. The bore is in really good shape, I believe because it probably hadn't been shot much 'cause the frizzen ,which is the original was almost dead soft  |
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Post by sean on Sept 14, 2010 6:58:05 GMT -7
Given how common the import holster pistols like Longarm shows here were, I found it kind of interesting that they not really discussed much in Rex Norman's recent article of western fur trade pistolas in Muzzmag. I would wager that Belgian and English holster pistols like these outnumbered American made guns in the West by more than 2 to 1 throughout the period.
Sean
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Post by Rod on Sept 14, 2010 8:46:19 GMT -7
I've got to agree----most trade lists for the AFC feature pistols, and more than likely they were the cheap English holster style, made by the same companies producing the NW guns. Belgian knock-offs of the English pistols must have been pretty common, as well.
I've got a pair of repros that I use---one I built several years ago, using a .67 barrel from Numrich Arms, and a small Chambers lock. I styled it after pics of a Wheeler. I picked up another pistol a couple of years ago, a brass barreled Middlesex Village Ketland, one of their imports from India. Lock's a little crude, and required some work, and I completely reworked and refinished the stock, thinning it down significantly. Interestingly enough, I've seen photos on the web of an original Belgian copy of the English Ketland, and it's a dead ringer for my MVTC pistol---replete with crude lock and all. So, now I've got a pair of pistols, one English and one Belgian. Load 'em up with buckshot as Alexander MacKenzie notes in his book, and I'm ready for .....well, ready for something, anyway.
Rod
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Post by sean on Sept 14, 2010 18:12:40 GMT -7
Yeah, I think those MVTC trade pistols are actually pretty close, but the barrels are quite a bit thicker than the originals. From Larry's comments, the locks sound similar, too. The couple originals that I've seen the internals on had no bridle on the inside or out. They were about as cheap as they'd come and I doubt there was much of a quality difference between the English and Belgian versions.
Sean
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jeffp
Mountaineer
Posts: 48
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Post by jeffp on Oct 10, 2010 13:09:01 GMT -7
this is the pistol I carry; it's a 62. cal, smoothbore trade pistol made by Don Kaulitz of Camas Wa., originally the barrel was a few inches longer, but I got it off another friend who had bobbed the barrel off. The barrel and lock both have a sitting fox cartouche on them. I have my small shot pouch next to my pistol, it has a small brass shot measure inside, that doubles as the cap. Attachments:
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Post by whitebear on Feb 4, 2014 12:20:02 GMT -7
Load 'em up with buckshot as Alexander MacKenzie notes in his book, and I'm ready for .....well, ready for something, anyway. RodReady to make lots of little holes in something with only one shot. |
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Post by Rod on Feb 4, 2014 13:57:25 GMT -7
If nothing else, it'll work great on rattlesnakes!
Rod
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Mark
Mountaineer
Posts: 90 
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Post by Mark on Feb 27, 2014 7:59:20 GMT -7
Matt Denison, North Star West, offers a trade pistol (smoothbore)that is appropriate for the fur trade era. I know this because I am working on one at this time. I really like the style and feel of these pistols. One of these days I am going to shoot a smoothbore pistol and then shoot my rifled "Hawken" reproduction and see how they compare. My pistol shooting generally leaves a lot of room for improvement so I have not pursued this comparison with much celerity (to borrow a word from Mark Baker). Has anybody else tried this and what results did you have? Of course in the actual time and place, I believe the pistol was a last ditch weapon. If you had to use it, it was all that was left between you and a braining. Up close I do not suppose anyone worried about rifling or smoothbore.
Mention was made of AJ Miller's painting of Joseph Walker. There are two versions of this painting. If you look close he has two pistols in his belt and bear skin holsters for pistols on his saddle pommel. Definitely well armed.
Mark
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