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LOT 3091
Interesting Rappahannock Forge Style Flintlock Pistol - NSN, 66
cal., 9 inch round bbl., bright finish, walnut stock. At the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), the American colonies were
ill prepared to produce standardized military weaponry and equipment
on a massive scale. Committees (or Councils) of Safety were organized to solve this problem. Scottish immigrant James Hunter (1721-1784), who settled in the Falmouth area of Virginia in 1746, was the most successful iron maker to answer the colonies desperate call for war manufacturing. Once located in Stafford County, Virginia, along the Rappahannock River, Hunter’s Iron Works, which later became to be known as Rappahannock Forge, was in operation as early as 1759 until the early 1780s. By the time of the Revolutionary War, Rappahannock Forge was the largest iron works in the colonies. In 1776, Hunter proved to the Council of Virginia that his forge could successfully produce military grade muskets. The forge went on to manufacture an assortment of weaponry and implements for the Continental Army and Navy during the Revolutionary War. In his book “United States Martial Flintlocks” Robert Reilly concluded, “The arms turned out at the Rappahannock Forge are perhaps the rarest of all weapons ever produced anywhere under contract, and should be regarded in the highest historic significance.” Few genuine Rappahannock weapons are known
to exist, with examples kept by the Smithsonian Institution, West Point Museum and Rock Island Arsenal Museum.
This pistol is one of three pistols reported to have been fabricated in the early 20th century based on what noted gun collector and former Colt Vice President Albert Foster Jr. believed a Revolutionary War era Rappahannock Forge pistol would have looked like without having had access to a genuine example. His intentions were originally good, but after he had one made for his own collection, at least two others were
made, and the three pistols later circulated through a handful
of high end collections and fooled many for years, including mistakenly being referenced in publications! On pages 32-33
of the American Society Arms Collectors Bulletin 33 article “The Rappahannock Forge,” Nathan L.
Swayze explains what happened: “The most notorious Rapa Forge fakes look like this one shown in figure 33, and there are at least three of them. This particular one is the ‘grand-daddy’ that spawned the others. All three have been around for quite some time, and have been in some prominent collections. We normally look on a fake as a spurious weapon that has been altered to look as much as possible like the genuine thing. I know that by this time some of you are thinking: ‘How can that horrible looking thing possibly pass as a Rapa Forge pistol?’ I’m going to give you the true story of these fakes-even though it is not generally known-and then you will understand-for this original fake was not made with the intention of being a fake! Albert Foster Jr. was a Vice President of Colt. He lived in New Jersey, and he had a fine gun collection. In the early twentieth century, little, if anything, was apparently known about Rapa Forge pistols. Mr. Foster did not know what a Rapa Forge pistol looked like, and he knew very little about the Rappahannock Forge-understandably so on both items. At that time, he decided that he would like to have a pistol that represented the Rappahannock Forge type. Knowing that Virginia (where the Rappahannock forge was located) had-during the Revolutionary War- purchased some arms (including pistols) from Prussia, he proceeded along this line. Apparently, he didn’t know what the Prussian pistols of that era looked like either, but he was apparently familiar with the bulbous butts of the revolutionary period Dutch Naval pistols. With these thoughts in mind, he commissioned a gunsmith to alter a pistol to his specifications. He later showed this pistol to an antique gun dealer, who became so interested in the pistol that after a length of time-and persuasion-Mr. Foster sold the pistol to him with the definite understanding that it would not be sold without a clear explanation of how it was made-in other words, it was
a fake, or rather the figment of one man’s imagination. The antique gun dealer must have forgotten this promise, for he sold the pistol, and-as luck will have it-the purchaser proudly showed his ‘Rapa Forge’ pistol to-of all people-Mr. Foster! This was when the ‘egg hit the fan’, for Mr. Foster was so mad, and upset, he made the dealer take the gun back. Apparently, this true story of these fakes did not circulate too freely in those days, for, as I previously stated, these fakes have been in several prominent collections. Claude Blair, in his book EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN ARMS, pictures one of these fakes (item 616). Mr. Blair secured this photograph from a perfectly
reliable source, with
every reason to believe
that it was genuine. In Arcadi Gluckman’s book
UNITED STATES MARTIAL PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS, the
Rapa Forge pistol is described as having ‘bulbous butts
hexagonal shaped’ with a ‘double necked, flat beveled
hammer’. The description also includes a ‘C P’ on the lock plate
and ‘G W’ on the back side [left flat on this example] of the wood stock.
I do not mention the last two items with the thought of exposing fake material in gun books, but merely to bring out the point that apparently, at that time, these fakes were looked upon as being-like Coca-Cola-’the real thing’... From the looks of the trigger, trigger guard, side plate and
the raised turnings at the breech end of the barrel, it is conceivable
that a British Light Dragoon pistol might have been used in the altering process.... This next fake (figure 34), as you can see, is quite similar to the one previously shown. The ‘C P’ has been omitted from the lock plate,
and the vertical recessed strip to the rear of ‘Rapa Forge’ is much wider than the one previously shown. This is the fake that is pictured in Claude Blair’s book. I know of one other fake that is in existence; however, I was unable to obtain a photograph of it [likely this example offered]. Of the three similar fakes that I know of, this one is the only one that I have had an opportunity to personally examine. Similar in looks to the other two, this one has the same wide vertical recessed strip, with the ‘C P’ on the lock plate. The letters ‘G W’ are stamped twice on the back side of the wood stock behind the side plate. There is certainly evidence on this particular gun that it wasn’t originally intended to be authentic, for on the inside of the lock plate, there is a British Crown...”The basis for the current example appears to be a British Model 1756/77 military flintlock pistol that has
had its original outside lock markings removed and replaced, and custom alterations performed to the trigger guard finial and stock. A partial British “crown/6” proof is still marked on the inside of the lock. “RAPA/FORGE” is marked vertically in two lines at the tail of the lock with a raised “A” over a dot at the end of Rapa, and “CP” is marked at the center of the lock, which stands for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The ramrod thimble, side plate and trigger guard are brass.
CONDITION: Good as custom built from an original British flintlock, with scattered light brown surface patina, some areas of light pitting, stock has a crack on both sides of the forend, some gouges on both sides of the
grip, scratches, and dents. Mechanically fine. This 20th century fabrication of a “Rappahannock Forge” pistol is certainly interesting in its own right considering it fooled collectors for decades and has history tied to a former Colt Vice President!
Provenance: The Robert B. “Bob” Berryman Estate Collection.
Estimate: 3,500 - 5,500
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