A Rare 38 Bore Flintlock Box-Lock Pocket Pistol
Joseph Manton Serial Numbers Today
It says J.Manton London Fine Twist on the steel on top between the barrels. It has a gold shield like pc secured on the bottom near the back of the stock. The barrels are about 31' long; the total gun length about 47-1/2'. I cant find a serial number if there is one and not sure how to remove the barrels if nescessary. On the other hand, if Manton & Co in Calcutta was a joint venture between John Manton and Joseph, or John Manton and Joseph and his sons, it is possible that in 1833 Joseph and John Augustus sold their share in Manton & Co to John Manton and used the proceeds to finance the Holles Street firm.
With 2 ½ inch turn-off barrel engraved with a band of foliage and numbered ‘2’ at the barrel lug and at the breech, the latter with serial number, border engraved action signed on an oval against a trophy on the left, and engraved ‘London’ on a scroll against a differing trophy on the right, engraved thumbpiece safety catch also locking the steel over the rectangular pan, ring-neck cock engraved with a dolphin on each side, folding trigger within a garland, and figured flat-sided butt.
Joseph Manton Serial Numbers Free
Literature
W. Keith Neal and D.H.L. Back, The Mantons: Gunmakers, 1966, p. 249
D.H.L. Back, Great British Gunmakers, The Mantons 1782-1878, 1993, p. 102. The footnote reads ‘It may only have been sold and not made by Manton’