Pistol

This Victorian purse gun was designed by Oscar Frankenau from Nuremberg and patented in both the UK and the US in 1876.

Chris Wynne dedicated his collecting energies to early guns by a London maker that became an international brand

A pair of ornate presentation flintlock pistols made in London and later owned by an American patriot sold for $55,000 (£46,200) at a US saleroom.

The sales at Stride & Son (21.6% buyer’s premium inc VAT) in Chichester on September 1-2 included a trio of avidly contested items, each a rarity in three highly specialised collecting areas.

This cased pair of English flintlock duelling pistols by Joseph Gulley, London, c.1810-15, sold for £8600 at Halls (20/12% buyer’s premium) in a timed online sale that ended on August 2.

A composite German full armour, c.1500-10, from a European Collection was one of the highlights of Thomas Del Mar’s (25% buyer’s premium) sale of Fine Antique Arms, Armour & Militaria held at Olympia Auctions on June 29.

For 19th century sahibs in tiger country and bwanas dealing with charging lions, howdah pistols like the one offered at West Sussex gun specialist Gavin Gardiner (25% buyer’s premium) were the preferred sidearm.

The government has reminded owners of certain old firearms that they will need to obtain a licence following a change in the law from September 22.

Three pistol lots came to the fore at a recent sale at Bonhams (27.5/25/20/14.5% buyer’s premium) in London.

A premium-inclusive total of £1.5m was achieved at Holts’ (25/20% buyer’s premium) summer auction in Norfolk, the third consecutive sale held with no one bidding in the room because of Covid restrictions.

Two lots from the March 30 live online auction held by Antony Cribb (22% buyer’s premium) of Newbury are shown here.

London-made flintlocks with a solid provenance to Alexander Hamilton took to the stage at US sale

Very soon after the gun was invented men were trying to find ways of speeding up the process of reloading powder and shot to obtain a superior rate of fire.

Weapons proved a highlight of the Lockdales (18% buyer’s premium) Coins, Medals & Militaria auction on January 23-24 held during the third lockdown.

Two iconic Colt pistols were the big money-earners from both sides of the Atlantic in the pre-Christmas arms and armour sales.

Nicolas-Noel Boutet and Anton Vincent Lebeda pistols star at two London auctions.

Firearms curiosa have long been a fascinating avenue for the collector to explore and this intriguing combined flintlock and lamp of c.1800 made €8500 (£7800) at Czerny (20% buyer’s premium) on September 19.

Two eye-catching but very different armours, one suited to royal palace style and the other more to purist taste, captured bidders’ attention at a London sale.

A mid-16th century 54-bore south German breech-loading wheel-lock holster pistol trebled its top estimate to take £75,000 at a recent sale held by Thomas Del Mar.