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c. 1850 TUFTS & COLLEY Antique DERINGER Pistol
Guns International #: 100854128 Seller's Inventory #: 21854
Category: Derringer Antique - Antique Pistols - Percussion
Seller's Information
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Seller: AncestryGunsLLC
Company: Ancestry Guns LLC
Member Since: 11/3/16
State: Missouri
Zip: 65203
Country: United States
Phone: (314) 707-7373
International Phone: 314-707-7373
Platinum Seller
Number of Active Listings: 1585
Total Number of Listings: 30602
Seller: FFL Dealer
Return Policy: 3 day inspection and return policy on used guns.
Payment Types Accepted: Credit Card, Certified Check, Money Order
Description:
c. 1850 TUFTS & COLLEY Antique DERINGER Pistol
New York SOUTHERN TRADE Importers & Dealers
Here we present an antique Tufts & Colley Deringer Percussion Pistol, made circa the 1850s. Henry Deringer was a very successful Pennsylvanian gunsmith who started his own company in his early twenties, circa 1809. It was not until the 1850s that his prototypical “Deringer” percussion pistol became extremely popular. Once it did become popular, it became a household name and even a noun in the English language. The basic design was copied in dozens of different shops.
The Deringer or “Derringer” as it was sometimes spelled was an immensely useful and powerful tool for self-defense in the 1850s and the following decades. It was small and lightweight, but also a “man-stopper” in .41 caliber. Here is what Charles Edwin Chapel had to say about the Deringer pistol:
“For a man in a tight spot, with an armed enemy only a few feet away, a pair of single-shot Deringer pistols was more effective than the multishot pepperbox. You either got your man at the first or second shot—if, indeed, you were given the chance to fire twice—or you got a fast funeral. That heavy-calibered little gun was a man-stopper at short range, an effective surprise weapon, an “equalizer” with which many a gold-camp David permanently tamed the muscle-bulging, belligerent Goliaths of the frontier. Included in a man’s personal arsenal, the pistol was carried either as a principal weapon or as a reserve to be used when revolver, pepperbox or Bowie knife failed.”
This pistol was made in the 1850s and sold by the Southern Trade firm Tufts & Colley, based out of New York City at 7 & 9 Barclay Street. According to the New-York Sketch Book and Merchants’ Guide of 1859, T&C were two “eminent” merchants of quality hardware goods, buying, importing, and selling goods, primarily to the South. The article also notes that the Mr. Joseph Tarratt of Wolverhampton, England was the “principle capitalist in the present firm.” Wolverhampton was an important center of arms manufacture in England at this time. According to the obituary of J.A. Lyon, found in The Iron Age, Volume 69 from March 6, 1902, Tufts & Colley were “Hardware jobbers with Southern and Western connections. He stayed with them until about the close of the Civil War, when on their failure he identified himself with Louderback, Gilbert & Co.” Unsurprisingly, Tufts & Colley’s business demise was very likely due to the Civil War taking out their market.
This specimen is in very good condition. The lock is nicely engraved and marked “TUFTS/&COLLEY” and “DERINGER/PTTN” on the barrel. Decorative escutcheons of German silver are set into the stock. The trigger guard is also of German silver and is engraved. The walnut stock is a bit worn with use, but solid, adding to the allure of a Southern Trade Deringer that made it through the Civil War. The action is strong.
This piece comes with the aforementioned documentation that is also shown in the photos.
Own the original! This is a legitimate antique and not a reproduction. Only one other example found worldwide for $3000!
Barrel is 3-1/4 inches in length.
Caliber: .44 percussion
The bore is in good condition and action is fine.
Overall condition as seen in photos.
Here is a rare Southern Trade Deringer from Tufts & Colley that made it through the American Civil War to tell the tale.
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ancestryguns
$2000
#21854
SOLD
Antique: Yes