Mar 172017
Joseph Griffin opened his business in 1739 in Bond Street London, and went into partnership with Tow in 1773 to form the well known gunmakers Griffin and Tow. That puts a bracket on the possible date for this gun, and I would guess this was made in the middle of that period – say 1755 to 1760. Like all pistols of the period it would have been made and sold as a pair, and indeed the escutcheon has No 1 engraved on it along with a chained bear – the personal arms of the owner. The pistol is all original and conforms to the pattern seen in other Griffin Officers Pistols – it suffered extensive damage to the fore-end and that has been very skillfully repaired and is inconspicuous.
Firstly may I say a big ‘Thank You’ for the hours of enjoyment I have had reading your very detailed blogs. Where do you find the time to actually carry out any of the repairs given the word count here? Secondly, what sort of expense is involved in a repair of this magnitude? I am toying with the idea of purchasing an 1815 English military pistol that has issues with the woodwork and is missing the swivel ramrod and pipes. I know that this is rather like asking “how much is a blue car?” but, seeing what marvellous work you do, I know that this doesn’t come cheaply. Can you give me a ‘ball park’ figure? Many thanks Terry Pullen
terrypullen@hotmail.com
Hi Terry,
Indeed it is difficult to give estimates even with photos. At a guess it sounds like low hundreds – possibly £300 ish but could be up to £400 at a guess.
Hope this is useful, thanks for the comments!
Tim
Excellent!
I have almost exactly the same pistol, in a very similar state, that I am slowly restoring. I was going to make a completely new stock but having seen what you have done I think I will now concentrate on resurrecting the original.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Rob Carter, Somerset.
Hi Rob
Glad you are going to restore it, its the right decision! Otherwise you may as well make a replica pistol from scratch!
Send me a photo when you’ve done it.
Thanks for your interest.
Tim