Item Description
Original Item: One-of-a-kind. Such a shame, Mortimer of London, one of England's finest gunmakers and just look what has happened to this once lovely pistol! H.W. MORTIMER Gun Maker to His Majesty King George III, in his day one of the foremost and now most collectible of London Gun Makers.
This Percussion pistol dates from the 1840 to 1860 with saw handle grip like late model dueling pistols found in the basement of the Old Palace of Lagan Silikhanna in Kathmandu and just recently unpacked after 12 years. This is a testament as how not to treat fine firearms!
The lock is missing, the butt cap is absent as is the throat pipe for the ramrod. The wood is scruffy and has multiple chips and abrasions, the octagonal barrel and steel trigger guard are covered in rust and generally speaking the pistol could be described as a complete mess. However the barrel bears a silver inlaid oval escutcheon engraved: MORTIMER, LONDON and a silver band to breach and oval escutcheon, unmarked, on the wrist of the stock.
This was once a splendid weapon, undoubtedly one of a pair, that was probably purchased by the Prime Minister, JANG BAHADUR who ruled Nepal 1846-1877, on his celebrated 1851 State Visit to London and Queen Victoria when he ordered millions of percussion cap guns from JAMES PURDEY London's most renowned Shotgun Maker for over a 150 years. His affection for England was well known and in 1857 he sent 10,000 Gurkha Troops to assist the British East India Company in the great Sepoy Rebellion better known as the Indian mutiny and there are still Gurkha Regiments in the British Army today.
This pistol is a very old lady that has seen much better days but maybe now a restoration project for some worthy enthusiast.
- This product is not available for shipping in US state(s): New Jersey
This product is available for international shipping.
- IMA considers all of our antique guns as non-firing, inoperable and/or inert. Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 921(a)(16) defines antique firearms as all guns made prior to 1899. This law exempts antique firearms from any form of gun control or special engineering because they are not legally considered firearms. No FFL, C&R or any license is required to posses, transport, sell or trade Antique guns. All rifles and muskets sold by IMA that were manufactured prior to 1899 are considered Antiques by the US BATF (United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms). Therefore, all of IMA's Antique guns may be shipped to all US States and most nations around the world.
These antique guns are not sold in live condition. They are sold as collector’s items or as wall hangers. Any attempt at restoring an antique gun to be operational is strongly discouraged and is done so at the risk of the customer. By purchasing an antique gun from IMA you thereby release IMA, its employees and corporate officers from any and all liability associated with use of our Antique guns.
Pre-1899 Manufacture, no licenses required, allowed to ship to almost any deliverable address across the globe. Please note that for international shipping, these MUST be shipped using UPS WW Services.
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