From the Vault: Cane Guns, Purse Guns & Other Curios

Collectible firearms come in all forms, even some that don't look like guns at all. Brownells Gun Tech™ Keith Ford is joined by Joel Colander of Rock Island Auction Company to take a look at some curio guns that take the concept of "concealed carry" to new heights. It looks like a small coin purse, maybe a lady's compact, or even a cigarette case.... but the first gun is actually a Frankenau Purse Pistol. This is a five-shot revolver from ca. 1877-78 that fires obsolete pinfire cartridges and has an unusual manual of arms, as Keith explains. (It does actually have a compartment for change or small objects.) The next curio looks like a Faberge egg or similar objet d'art, but when you take the top off.... there's a single-shot, muzzle-loading, percussion cap pistol inside. Talk about a pickled egg! Keith and Joel speculate on the origin of this firearm oddity, which seems like a Steampunk item straight out of the old Robert Conrad TV series "Wild, Wild West." Finally, Keith's "Puttin' on the Ritz" with a fancy gentleman's walking stick that conceals in its ornate copper head a tiny "ring gun" revolver chambered for a 5mm pinfire cartridge. "Cane guns" were fairly common in the 19th century, but this is a current-production gun from Lebeda Engineering in Cedar Rapids, Iowa!