Product Details
TIPPING & LAWDEN, BIRMINGHAM
AN UNUSUAL AND RARE .34 RIMFIRE OVERSIZED FOUR-BARRELLED OVERCOAT-PISTOL, MODEL 'SHARP'S PATENT',
no visible serial number, circa 1875 and of 'Model 3' type (see below), with slide forwards 4 1/8in. barrels (currently painted graphite-grey), squared nickel-plated standing breech and integral frame and signed 'TIPPING & LAWDEN SHARP'S PATENT' in a circle around the hammer screw, long bar-form barrel release catch terminating in a raised button, broad spurred hammer with indexing nose (action at fault) and forward curving grip fitted with florally embossed gutta-percha plates, much plated finish remaining except where noted, screws corroded
Other Notes: Only two European firms were ever licenced to make Sharp derringer pistols, Ghaye of Liege and Tipping & Lawden of Birmingham, although numerous patent infringements were made by others. Of the two licenced firms, Tipping & Lawden are the most commonly encountered and they produced the pistol imitating Sharp's own 'Model 1' type, but unlike Sharp they produced it in three sizes. The No. 3 size as represented here is by far the rarest and is estimated to have had a production of only 250 units in two calibres; .34 and 9mm rimfires.
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Estimate £400-600
Sold as an exempt item under Section 58 (2) of the 1968 Firearms Act, to be held as a curiosity or ornament