74 SEPTEMBER 2019 WWW.SHOOTINGGAZETTE.CO.UKA pair of converted MortimersPerthin the1870sto convertthen
tocentre-firebreech-loaders.
It wasa bigjobas virtuallyevery
partof thegunhadto berebuilt.
Thebarrelshadto haveactionflats
brazedon,chamberscutoutand
extractorsfitted.Anactionwould
beboughtfromBirminghamand
thebarrelsjointedto it. Thestock
wouldbecutin halfandthefore-
endalteredto takethenewfore-
endiron.Thelockplateswouldbe
cutdownandnewhammersfitted.
Youcantellthisgunis a slightly
laterconversionas reboundinglocks
arefitted,whichin itselfinvolved
considerablerebuilding.Fortunately
thisgunhadWestleyRichards-type
woodbarlocksso whenthetopof
thelockwasfileddownto fitthe
actionflats,theengraving‘Thomas
Boss’couldstillberetained.
If youstudytheguncarefullyit
is apparentit hadbeenanearlier
ThomasBossmuzzle-loader.The
styleof stockandchequeringshow
it is of anearlierperiodandthe
largebowtrigger-guardis very
typicalThomasBoss.Likewisethe
engravingonthelocksjustsays
‘ThomasBoss’in thestylehe used
inthe1840sand1850s.
Puristsmaydisapproveof such
a major conversion, but without itThepairof32-borepercussionpistols
illustratedwasoriginallya pairof
officers’flintlockpistolsbyMortimerof
Londonc.1810.Officers’pistolsalways
hadstirrupramrodsandweremore
substantialtocopewiththerigoursof
militarylife.Onceagain,inthe1820s
or1830s,theywereconvertedto
percussion.Althoughthequalityofthe
conversionishigh,theyareimmediately
recognisableasflintlock pistols, unlike
theMantonpair.
Newbreecheshavebeenfittedbut
nobolstersarepresentinfrontof
them – the lockplates have not beencutdownandtheyjustlooklikeflintlock
lockplates.Comparethiswiththequalityof
theconversiononthepairofMantonpistols,
wherebolstershavebeenfittedandthe
lockplatescutdown.If thedrum-and-nipple
isthemostcommonconversionandthepair
ofMantonstheverybestconversion,then
thispairofMortimersfallsinbetween.It
wouldstillhavebeenanexpensivejobwith
thenewbreechesandhammersbutit'sa
shametheconversiondidnotgotheextra
mileandfitbolsters.Youcanevenseethe
oldscrewholeonthetopofthelockwhere
thefrizzenwasfitted.Buttheyaremilitary
pistols so perhaps I am being churlish.ApairofMortimerflintlock
pistolsc.1810convertedto
percussion– notasgood
a conversion as the Mantons.ThomasBossmuzzle-loadersnos.
1525/6of 1857wouldhavebecome
redundant,justlanguishingin a
gunroomorevendiscarded.Frank
would keep on using his guns at thegrousefortheremainderof the19th
century,andsincethisgunhasbeen
nitro-reproofed,it willcontinueto
beusedmore than 150 years after it
was built.The drum-and-nipple conversionTheadvantagesofthepercussion
systemoverflintlockweresuchthat
thousandsofflintlocks were converted
inthe1820s.
Byfarthesimplestandcheapest
conversionwasthedrumandnipple,
withanygunmakerbeingabletodothis
work the length and breadth of the land.Thegoldorplatinumtouchhole
wasremovedandtheholethreaded.
A cylindricaldrumwitha nipplewas
screwedintothishole.Onthelockplate,
thepanwascutoffandthecock,frizzen
andfrizzenspringthrownaway.The
holeswherethefrizzenspringhad
beenwererivetfilled.A newpercussion
hammerwasfittedandfornotmuch
efforta veryreliablegunwascreated.
Someofthesedrum-and-nipple
conversionsareofverypoorquality
andeverysingleoneisdownright
ugly.Andyetit isunderstandablewhy
ownersembarkedontheseconversions.
Wheneverthepercussionsystemcame
intobeing,sportsmen discarded their
oldflintlocks.
Flintlocksrapidlybecameworthless
andweresnappedupforcheap
percussionconversions.Manyofthese
drum-and-nippleconversionsshow
greatsignsofuseandwerecontinually
used right through the 19th century.ANDREW ORR/HOLTS AUCTIONEERS
A JosephMantondouble
20-boreflintlockof 1791
convertedtopercussioninthe
1820sbythedrum-and-nipple
method. Notice how worn it is.