Found an old pistol

Hi all, I'll start by saying I'm not much of a thread maker, but thought I just share a nice little "wall find" I made the other day. A bit of background first. I live in a small Spanish village that was right in the middle of the heaviest fighting during the civil war, and a hotbed for the Maquis (resistance) after.Now seeing as how the Guardia Civil executed people on a whim,i.e.suspected of aiding the Maquis, or just to send a message, people tended to hide firearms in walls, trees, caves or wherever they could. I personally helped to locate and exhume 2 mass graves. 19 innocent men and women who were picked at random from the village, made to dig their own grave, and then executed just to send a message.Anyway, enough of that. I was renovating a house a couple of weeks ago, and came across this
little beauty.It's a pinfire, boxlock, can't tell the caliber, but it's just about finger size. A nice little feature is the retracting triggers which drop down when you cock the hammers.








Well, just thought I'd share it with you. To add a bit more, a few interesting finds made by others in village lately include: A pair of flintlock dueling pistols, a couple of Webley revolvers, a nice little .32 belgian auto no makers mark but with the longest extended mag I've
ever seen, and even a broomhandle Mauser. In fact, just the other day I buggered up a new chain on the Stihl sawing through what was left of a moisen-nagant hidden in a tree trunk.
ETA. Sorry if I don't reply straight away, it's fiesta night in the village, and I'm going out
to have a few whiskeys, listen to crappy music, and try not to get gored by the bulls...

That looks almost like a 4-10 shotgun size bore. I bet it packs a nice kick when you fire it, especially both barrels. Pretty awesome little find there.

Bank Robbers Dream...Nice find.

Now thats cool. I bet you with some high brass it would break your wrist. If it shoots shotgun shells. But cool looking gun. Def a keeper!

Hold the barrel tight with your free hand if you fire it.

Looks cool.

Question though, where the trigger in that first pic?

a reply to: Biigs

He mentioned in the post - they drop down when the hammers are cocked - pretty awesome find!
I'd love to know what it would go for in an auction.

a reply to: Biigs

The triggers are folded up. When you cock back the hammers they drop down under the pistol.

originally posted by: TheRisenPeople
a reply to: Biigs

He mentioned in the post - they drop down when the hammers are cocked - pretty awesome find!
I'd love to know what it would go for in an auction.

Ah i missed that, i though it might be something like that.

Its in pretty good condition, should clean up nice

Very cool find. I would clamp that in a vice and seek shelter the first time I fired it though. Who knows what condition the metal is in. If it holds the first few times, its probably ok. Nice one...

originally posted by: Vroomfondel
Very cool find. I would clamp that in a vice and seek shelter the first time I fired it though. Who knows what condition the metal is in. If it holds the first few times, its probably ok. Nice one...

Yeah, thats a very good idea, and pull the trigger with a long string too!!!

I wish we were allowed to own guns in the UK, im really good at fixing and cleaning, id love to have a go at a lovely old shotgun like that or a classic pistol.

a reply to: Vroomfondel

It actually looks in pretty good shape. The problem would be trying to find pinfire cartridges to suit.

Two separate hammers is very hard to find.

Especially in a breechloader.

No trigger guard !!!!!

a reply to: Biigs

I don't know much about gun laws in the UK, but aren't you allowed shotguns at least? With a permit of course.

a reply to: Flatcoat


Most likely Belgian in manufacture, late 19th to early 20th century. I dispute the term "boxlock" as that term is used for a hammerless action though more often in shotguns. There are some that are more liberal with the term. The caliber for these pistols is generally between .44 and .47, and of a pinfire type. I see this pistols from time to time on the auction circuit that I dabble in, but none in the condition you have there... It's a little gem!

On a side note, these pistols were made to carry as a backup gun (BUG) for dangerous game hunters.

that is an awesome find the hex barrel really make it special and worth alot more thats a 3-10k dollar gun in america depending on the barrel maker

a reply to: Mirthful Me

You're right, I just called it boxlock for the hammer configuration seeing as how they weren't side mounted.

originally posted by: Flatcoat
a reply to: Biigs

I don't know much about gun laws in the UK, but aren't you allowed shotguns at least? With a permit of course.

Yes, with land to shoot on and pests to shoot it with, with a gun safe to keep it in.

But only long shotguns, no swan offs or short barrel guns, there are some special cases where one is allowed but it usually requires additional parameters.. We are allowed some hunting rifles of sorts but they are heavily restricted like the short barrel guns.

Any gun under 30cm in barrel length is banned.

You can however own pretty much any gun if its been deactivated and can only fire blanks.

Center fire as opposed to rim fire isn't too big a deal. You should be able to locate the appropriate ammo once you determine the actual caliber. It looks to be a pretty big bore, not bashful at all. That's a boom-stick. And it will kick like a sore mule too. The charge behind a slug that big, with little weight and a short barrel...damn...that's gonna hurt. Hell, with a short enough barrel the muzzle flash will take your eyebrows off too...

if you can take pics of any stamps on the barrel we could find out more about it