#Sharps pepperbox derringer serial number#

This Christian Sharps design was easily one of the most concealable weapons of the period and has also become somewhat of a cultural icon of the era thanks to Hollywood. It comes in a highly figured hardwood case with 'H' inscribed initial plate, English fitted interior, and a bore rod and some patches inside.

#Sharps pepperbox derringer serial number#

The grips appear to have the matching partial serial number faintly handwritten on the back sides. The serial number is on the bottom of the barrel (twice), and the last two digits appear on the strap that secures the grips and small parts on the hammer. The silver-plated frame at the breech has a groove for a rear sight and is marked 'TIPPING & LAWDEN/SHARPS PATENT' around the hammer screw on the left. The barrel group is finished blue and has a post front sight and English proofs on the sides. The grips are the standard acanthus scrollwork patterned gutta percha type commonly found on their pistols. Since they were designed to be readily carried, most are well-worn, but this example is high condition and has beautiful engraved English scrollwork and rosettes on nearly all of the frame, essentially excluding only the front grip strap, as well as flourishes around the textured gripping sections on the sides of the barrels and a border pattern on the muzzles. Ghaye of Liege, Belgium, who only produced a limited number. Tipping & Lawden of Birmingham, England, were one of only two foreign firms licensed by Sharps to manufacture these pistols in Europe and manufactured around 6,000 of them in the 1860s and 1870s of which only an estimated 2,000 were.