Need Help IDing this single shot
 

This a highly engraved single shot.

On the top of the barrel it reads Wiesbaden & Zella and on the
othe side reads C. Bartels Konigl: Hofbuchsenmacher. Hope i got that right. any and all information would be great. Thanks

http://forum.lugerforum.com/picture....pictureid=1280

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George,

I can't help with the maker, but it's obviously German. It's a beautiful old pistol.

Ron

George
Looked in all my books, no luck. A very beautiful old firearm. What caliber is it? Thanks for sharing. Bill

Dueling pistol??? They were usually made in sets...I see a "2" on that one; do you have another with a "1" on it???

Here's a couple pics of a Remington rolling block target pistol...You can see the resemblance...

http://www.antiquearmsinc.com/images...ock-pistol.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e2...Mod2/22cal.jpg

I've seen the Remington's displayed in cased sets; engraved, sometimes plated, always beautiful...

looks to be 22cal, still looking for the other pistol

Can you show a pic of it broken open???

I have seem Zella marked small frame martini style rifles before. Good looking piece, I must admit.

Is this post by you ? http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=401178

The only other information I could find about Bartels& Sohn is in a russian forum here: http://www.huntclub.ru/cgi/bbs/guns?r=85522&l=9270 which looks like a double barrel shotgun made by them which would fit into the time frame of this company given in the other forum.

What I could find out about Wiesbaden, the location of Bartels&Son is that it lies within the Former Duchy of Nassau which was founded 1806 and became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1866 so my wild guess would be that "Koenglicher Hofbuechsenmacher" (Gunmaker of the Royal Court) refers to the kingdom of Prussia. Again thats just my guess.

In another post here I found this quote: "We are told that Hofwaffen-Fabrik would be the Master gun makers place of business and BARTELS was a dealer rather than a maker and had a shop in Zella-Mehlis, a former gun making center." which would indicate that the "bartels&Son" hint is probably something that won't be very helpful in identifying the gun, as a dealer they would probably buy and sell anything and from any time period. But it makes for a good detective case :)
BTW there are a lot of "Bartels&Son" companies in Germany today, most are financial advisors, maintainance, hardware makers and so on. Nothing I could find that deals with guns.

A fine looking pistol. The rear sight looks like it's on backwards.
Craig

Hello George,

You have an early German single shot Free Pistol in caliber .22 LR. I know a German author (who speaks English) who could correctly identify this pistol for you, but my computer is down at the moment and I do not have access to his contact information. I shall pass it on to you after I get my computer back in operation.

Beautifully engraved "parlor pistol". These low powered (European made ones usually in 6mm or US in .22 CB caps) were popular Circa 1900 for shooting in doors. TH

Thanks for sharing a very beautiful old pistol. There's a dealer with a large display at the Louisville, KY National Gun Day Shows at the state fairgrounds who specializes in pistols like yours. If you don't have any luck with the ID I'll get his email address for you, he's very helpful. He helped ID a Smith & Wesson .44 Russian I have.
Bill