Pistol

Two lots from the March 30 live online auction held by Antony Cribb (22% buyer’s premium) of Newbury are shown here.

Very soon after the gun was invented men were trying to find ways of speeding up the process of reloading powder and shot to obtain a superior rate of fire.

Three pistol lots came to the fore at a recent sale at Bonhams (27.5/25/20/14.5% buyer’s premium) in London.

A premium-inclusive total of £1.5m was achieved at Holts’ (25/20% buyer’s premium) summer auction in Norfolk, the third consecutive sale held with no one bidding in the room because of Covid restrictions.

Two iconic Colt pistols were the big money-earners from both sides of the Atlantic in the pre-Christmas arms and armour sales.

Nicolas-Noel Boutet and Anton Vincent Lebeda pistols star at two London auctions.

Weapons proved a highlight of the Lockdales (18% buyer’s premium) Coins, Medals & Militaria auction on January 23-24 held during the third lockdown.

Two eye-catching but very different armours, one suited to royal palace style and the other more to purist taste, captured bidders’ attention at a London sale.

Firearms curiosa have long been a fascinating avenue for the collector to explore and this intriguing combined flintlock and lamp of c.1800 made €8500 (£7800) at Czerny (20% buyer’s premium) on September 19.

A mid-16th century 54-bore south German breech-loading wheel-lock holster pistol trebled its top estimate to take £75,000 at a recent sale held by Thomas Del Mar.

Norfolk auction house sells 11 guns with provenance to one of the most renowned enthusiasts

The impressive arms offered in London from a collection which supplied weapons for many films were far from being theatrical props

If proof were needed that firearms sales are simply conducted on a completely different scale in the US, one need look no further than the three-day sale at Rock Island Auctions (18.5% buyer’s premium) in Illinois on December 6-8.

Among the antique European rarities that are included in Milestone’s November 2 autumn firearms sale in Willoughby, Ohio, will be this 1733 French dragoon flintlock pistol of large size with a 12-inch barrel in .70 bore.

Our weekly selection from salerooms.

Fine sets of pistols, preferably nicely cased, have long been the mainstay of London arms and armour sales. This season’s crop were not as plentiful nor so eagerly contested as we sometimes see, but there were some gems on offer and a selection of them are illustrated here.

In the days of the British Raj there was no shortage of would-be shikaris hoping to bag a tiger in India. At the same time plenty of London gunsmiths were ready to supply them with all the fire-power they could persuade them to buy.

From the 18th century onwards, the city of Birmingham was a major centre of the British gun-making industry.