172 Years Young! (M1842 Horse Pistol)

[JayFramer]

Got my M1842 Aston horseman’s pistol to the range today, made in 1847:

Shoots great! Works as good as the day it was made. I had the bore relined as it was rather pitted and replaced the nipple with a new one. Pretty accurate too, smoothbore:

Not too often you see a gun that was considered obsolete during the Civil War, much less shooting it! These are U.S. military pistols and cavalrymen carried two of them in saddle holsters. This one dates to the Mexican American War, and may well have rode on down there to do battle:

This guns got a lot of service left in it! Tough old guns, you can find these Model 1842s for pretty good prices and they’re built like a tank. Very reliable and even though it’s just one shot, it’s a BIG shot (.54 caliber!) and I wouldn’t feel unarmed with one. Notice the brass buttcap? After you fire your one shot, the gun can be used as a club to whop an enemy over the head!

Neat old guns that saw lots of action in the Mexican American War, early Indian battles, and even into the Civil War to supplement the lack of revolvers early in the conflict, especially in the South. Thanks for looking guys!

-Jay

 

[Chukar60]

Cool old gun Jay!
So is “whop” a technical term?
Have not heard that one in ages.
Thanks for sharing

 

[Bob L]

Thanks for the history lesson Jay and the range report plus the pictures. It looks like a really neat pistol to have and shoot!

 

[smoothshooter]

What distance?

 

[ameridaddy]

Cool old gun Jay!
So is “whop” a technical term?
Have not heard that one in ages.
Thanks for sharing

acronym: WHOP
- Whack Hard On Pate, a phrase in common usage during Mexican-American War era, but faded into disuse early in the advent of multi-shot arms.
(running for bunker now)

 

[ameridaddy]

Got my M1842 Aston horseman’s pistol to the range today, made in 1847:...

Shoots great! Works as good as the day it was made. I had the bore relined as it was rather pitted and replaced the nipple with a new one. Pretty accurate too, smoothbore:
-Jay

Neat old gun, probably the oldest I've seen that was fired in recent times.
Who relined the barrel, and how is that done? A heated barrel, frozen liner shrink fit, then bored to size?

 

[JayFramer]

Neat old gun, probably the oldest I've seen that was fired in recent times.
Who relined the barrel, and how is that done? A heated barrel, frozen liner shrink fit, then bored to size?

The work was done by Robert Hoyt, his work is excellent. I am not entirely sure how it is done, but the old bore is reamed out and a thin liner is put in, giving the guns a brand-new bore. The original bore was rusty and pitted. Would have been perfectly safe but accuracy wouldn’t have been great and cleaning and loading would have been a chore due to the roughness.

 

[JayFramer]

What distance?

10 yards offhand. Not bad at all considering it’s a smoothbore.

 

[eveled]

That captured ramrod is a neat feature. Especially for someone on a horse. Thanks for sharing.

 

[JayFramer]

Here’s some better pictures of the gun:

Guys on this Veteran’s Day, don’t forget about the ones who fought back when these guns were state of the art. It’s because of these early soldiers and their sacrifice that we enjoy the country and freedoms we have today! They (and all veterans) shall not be forgotten!!

 

[Muddyboot]

What powder, and how many grains are you loading?

 

[robertrwalsh]

Good fine. It is my understanding that they have often lost their ram rods and you did well to find one fully intact. CONGRATS big time.

 

[JayFramer]

Just got back from a Veteran’s Day shoot:

Starting to get the load and sight picture dialed in. I stepped up the powder charge to 35 grains of 2Fg Graf’s black powder and switched to thicker .015” patching. It’s grouping a bit better but still lots of load development needed, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing considering how fun it is to shoot!

Then it got dark...

The muzzle flash is incredible! Shoots a massive fireball and sparks everywhere. Awesome!! I also took a “first person” photo and captured the flash from the shooter’s perspective:

I don’t think I own a gun that I’m enjoying more than this horse pistol!!

 

[CptCurl]

That's a fantastic pistol! It's great you are having so much fun with it.

Here are its older brothers:

These are English officer's pistols from about 1815-1820 or so - the late flintlock era. They are .75 "military" caliber, same as the Brown Bess, and shot the same ball. Like yours, they were meant to be carried in saddle holsters, one on each side of the horse's withers.

I haven't had the courage to shoot mine, though. I must say, you are having a lot more fun!

Mine were shown in an old thread here: Brace of Joseph Egg Officer's Pistols

Curl

 

[loc n load]

Great thread. I am also an admirer of the “horse pistol”. I have owned this one since the mid 80’s. I have not shot mine, but is quite interesting to see one shot.