POTD: Pistol with a Back Up – Smyrna Percussion Dagger Pistol
Sam.S 06.17.21
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Yet another one of those things that would not exist if there was not someone who was like “I need a back up to my back up!” Here we have a photo of a really interesting percussion dagger pistol. It appears that the pistol grip itself is supposed to separate from the frame of the gun and along with it is an attached dagger which I am sure is a just-in-case thing. Rock Island Auction Company (check them out!) gives us a little more close up detail:
“Blade front and groove rear sights, with “Pistolet de Smyrna” on the top flat and light engraving on the tang. Three barrel bands are present, connecting to a pair of engraved side plates, with a ramrod on the right side and a belt hook on the left. Scroll, leaf and checkerboard engraved lock and hammer, with a fishhead hammer and a pair of percussion nipples mounted on a swiveling tap-action style bolster. Engraved German silver plate decoration, with the pistol grip engraved and decorated with an eagle head butt and burst engraved patchbox lid. Pushing a button on top of the wrist allows the grip to pull away from the main body, revealing a 10″ Damascus pattern single fuller dagger blade.”
Lot 85: Smyrna Percussion Dagger Pistol 41 [Photograph found in Auction Catalog #50, Rock Island Auction Company]. (n.d.). Retrieved June 16, 2021, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/50/85/smyrna-percussion-dagger-pistol-41
