What is it?

[Clank]

Acquired years ago and sits amongst my collection. It is cast steel and smooth .177 bore. No innards in the grip unfortunately but I would like to know something (anything) about it:

[DrGunn]

That would appear to be a Haviland and Gunn Morse air pistol
What a fantastic think to have in your collection - very envious!
Lots of interesting history about it here: https://www.jimmiedeesairguns.com/pi...l-1872-c-1881/

[ccdjg]

It is an example of the American Haviland & Gunn, or Morse, "parlor pistol" dating to the 1870's. I would rate it as extremely rare in the UK and very rare in the USA. From the picture it does seem to be incomplete unfortunately, as there should be a cocking rod protruding from the base of the grip. A very nice addition to any collection of early American air pistols.
Cheers,
John

[Garvin]

Complete ones here:

https://forum.vintageairgunsgallery....nt-air-pistol/

[Clank]

It is an example of the American Haviland & Gunn, or Morse, "parlor pistol" dating to the 1870's. I would rate it as extremely rare in the UK and very rare in the USA. From the picture it does seem to be incomplete unfortunately, as there should be a cocking rod protruding from the base of the grip. A very nice addition to any collection of early American air pistols.
Cheers,
John

You are right John, it is incomplete. Though it would not be beyond me to restore it There is a drawing on Garvin's site which shows the inner workings so reverse engineering from that point wouldn't be impossible. The big question is of course, would it be worth it? How much do you think it is worth right now and then how much do you think it would be worth if it was in working order?

Thank you everyone for all you help.

[ccdjg]

You are right John, it is incomplete. Though it would not be beyond me to restore it There is a drawing on Garvin's site which shows the inner workings so reverse engineering from that point wouldn't be impossible. The big question is of course, would it be worth it? How much do you think it is worth right now and then how much do you think it would be worth if it was in working order?

Thank you everyone for all you help.

Very difficult to value because of uncertainty about what parts are missing, but an all original, complete example would probably be worth
£1400 +. As a relic, missing grip-plug, piston, piston rod, spring and original breech screw, it would possibly be worth £400-500 for the collector who desperately wants one. Unfortunately, restoring it to full working condition would not (IMO) add much value, as the value of something as iconic as this lies in its originality rather than functionality. So fully restored with made-up parts, perhaps £600-800 depending on how well the parts duplicate the original.

Cheers,
John

[Garvin]

Very difficult to value because of uncertainty about what parts are missing, but an all original, complete example would probably be worth
£1400 +. As a relic, missing grip-plug, piston, piston rod, spring and original breech screw, it would possibly be worth £400-500 for the collector who desperately wants one. Unfortunately, restoring it to full working condition would not (IMO) add much value, as the value of something as iconic as this lies in its originality rather than functionality. So fully restored with made-up parts, perhaps £600-800 depending on how well the parts duplicate the original.

Cheers,
John

I defer to John, of course, as the acknowledged expert in these pistols. Save for one respect, which is that I think he may be being generous in putting its present value at £400-£500. I fear it may be worth only half that, if you're lucky! Just my opinion.

[DrGunn]

You are right John, it is incomplete. Though it would not be beyond me to restore it There is a drawing on Garvin's site which shows the inner workings so reverse engineering from that point wouldn't be impossible. The big question is of course, would it be worth it? How much do you think it is worth right now and then how much do you think it would be worth if it was in working order?

Thank you everyone for all you help.

Providing it can be done without doing anything detrimental to what is left of the original, I would personally be very tempted to restore it to working condition. I’m not sure it would be worth it financially but it would be well worth it so it is complete and functional.
The drawing on Garvin’s site is from the patent but the as built pistol doesn’t follow the patent design. If you were to restore it then the internal parts should be very similar to those in the Eisenwerke Gaggenau MF, there are internal diagrams of these here: https://www.jimmiedeesairguns.com/pi...el-flurscheim/