Help identifying Antique Top-Break single shot pistol...

C

CoolhandLocke

Inactive
Hey there first post. I've had this gun for awhile and got it from my father years ago. So far nobody has been able to tell me much about it except that it may have come from overseas. No real markings on the pistol or stampings except for the number 498, not really sure what caliber it is either. There were no markings under the grips but if it will help i can take them off again and get a pic of that. Posted this on a few other sites and shown it to a few "gun guys" and pawnbrokers i know and nobody really has a solid idea on it. I've heard possibly homemade and may have come from Italy, South America or the Middle East but i have no idea. Any info would be appreciated, thanks in advance..

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m475/coolcarl007/antiques/P1010830.jpg
http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m475/coolcarl007/antiques/P1010837.jpg
http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m475/coolcarl007/antiques/P1010838.jpg
http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m475/coolcarl007/antiques/P1010834.jpg
http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m475/coolcarl007/antiques/P1010839.jpg
 
It looks very much like a bunch of the hand-made guns I've seen from the Peshawar Valley, in Pakistan; these people make almost any firearm you can think of (up to and including heavy machine guns) from any material they can get their hands on, and youtube has got a few videos up showing a trip through the area. Your pistol looks very much like it was based on a Martini rifle lockwork added to a shotgun-style breech. The serrations and markings aren't regular enough to have been machine-made, and I don't see any proof marks, so I doubt I'd want to fire it even if I knew what it was chambered for (and some of these will take up to a 303 British rifle cartridge). A very interesting piece; take care of it.
 
Although the contours of the back of the frame look similar to a Martini rifle, I would tend to think this is just a very simple "hammer and trigger" set up, i.e. the trigger is the sear. The indentation at the top rear of the frame is to accommodate the web of the hand.

The style of engraving on the gun is virtually identical to that on a cheap handmade pocket knife my uncle brought back from one of his business trips to India/Pakistan.
 
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