Original Items. Only One Available. This is a very nice single shot double action pistol, perfect for a pocket during the mid 19th century. It is marked on the hammer with W. W. MARSTON, for British Immigrant William W. Marston, a famous firearms maker and designer based in New York. He received at least 6 patents over his career for advancements in firearms and ammunition design. It is also marked on the top of the barrel with the address and probably a patent date:

NEW YORK
1854

The pistol is very elegant in design, featuring a 3 1/4 inch half octagonal smoothbore barrel and lovely "bag" shaped grip, measuring a total length of 6 3/8 inches. The top of the action features a hammer very much like the "Tube Hammer" used by Allen, which works in double action only when the trigger is pulled. The pistol is marked with M 66 under the barrel, and has 66 stamped on many of the internal components, while the trigger guard is simply marked M. Under the grips, the frame is stamped 552, however we do not know if this is the real serial number, or just an assembly number.

The sides of the action have some lovely foliate engraving, which continues onto the back of the grip frame. The lock is fully functional, though action is a bit stiff. The walnut grip scales are in great shape, still retaining a lot of the original varnish.

A nice little pocket pistol by a very innovative U.S. firearms designer. Ready to research and display!

Specifications:
Year of Manufacture: circa 1854
Caliber: about .34 inches
Ammunition Type: Lead Ball & Powder with Percussion Cap
Barrel Length: 3 1/2 inches
Overall Length: 6 3/8 inches
Action: Top Double Action Percussion Lock
Feed System: Muzzle-Loaded

William W. Marston was born in England in 1822. He was the son of Stanhope W. Marston, who was a gunmaker that immigrated to America sometime prior to the 1840s. Stanhope established himself as a gunmaker in New York and produced percussion pepperboxes, as well as single and double barrel pistols, some with swivel breeches. He worked from 1844-1866 and during that time received two US patents (#7,887 in 1851 and #45,712 in 1865) for innovations in firearms design. His son William was naturalized as a citizen on April 8, 1843 and went into the family business, initially working for his father and then going out on his own. William worked from 1844 until he died in 1872, and during that time amassed at least 6 firearms related patents. These included #6,514 in 1849 for a lock design, #7,443 in 1850 for a breechloading firearm and #13,581 in 1855 for a pepperbox. He also received two patents for ammunition designs (#8,956 in 1852 and #40,490 in 1863), the latter of which was for a self-contained metallic cartridge.

Some of the most famous and intriguing of his firearms were his line of three-barrel rimfire cartridge pocket pistols. He produced them in both .22 and .32 rimfire, with the majority of the .22s being made with a sliding knife blade along the side of the 3 superimposed barrels. The larger caliber superimposed pistol was manufactured in .32 rimfire, but was made without the knife blade. However, the .32 caliber pistols did include a useful extractor mechanism to remove the spent cartridges. Marston manufactured some 3,300 of these 3-barreled “derringers’ between 1864 and 1872. They were made with either 3” or 4” barrels, and the standard configuration was a silver plated brass frame, blued barrels and two-piece wood grips. The guns were single action, and had an indicator switch on the right side of the frame that showed which of the barrels the pivoting the firing pin was going to fire. The firing pin automatically indexed from the “0”, or safe position, to #1 (bottom barrel), #2 (middle barrel) and #3 (top barrel), each time the hammer was cocked. The rotating switch gave the shooter a visual indication of which barrel had just been fired and which one would be next. After the gun was discharged and reloaded, the indicator switch was rotated by the user back to the “0” position, to be ready to fire again the next time the hammer was cocked.

NOTE: International orders of antique firearms MUST be shipped using UPS WW Services (courier). USPS Priority Mail international will not accept these. International customers should always consult their country's antique gun laws prior to ordering.