Arms, Armor and Militaria

13mm (.51 caliber). 10.5" hooked breech, wedge retained swamped octagonal barrels. SN: 3619. Blued finish, gilt decorations, French gray locks, European hardwood stocks with carved forend tips and fluted grips. Single shot percussion muzzleloading target pistols with fixed notch rear sights and dovetailed blade front sights. Foliate scroll engraved percussion locks are marked BEKKER & RAUSCHER in an arc under the hammers. Barrels are marked in French in gold BEKKER & RAUSCHER A VARSOVIE (Warsaw) with foliate engraved breeches marked 1 and 2, gold bands at the breeches and gilt floral decorations on either end of the barrel markings. Pistols are made in the style of French and Belgian target pistols of the era with fluted grips, finger spur triggerguards and microgroove rifling. The firm of Becker (Bekker) and Rauscher worked in Warsaw, Poland, circa 1840-1860 with Karl Bekker having worked on his own starting about 1830, partnering with Rauscher in 1840. The pistols are contained in their original compartmentalized two section travel case with removable divider between the guns. The case is lined in green baize with some lidded copper compartments fitted accessory storage areas. Some of the accompanying accessories include the single cavity blued iron round ball scissor mold, the bullet starting mallet, an ebony handle to accept the screwdriver/cone wrench combination tool and a handle for a multitool that accepts the brass bullet starter head, a brass jag, a fiber wiper and a ball puller. A metal tipped ebony loading rod that may be a later replacement and is present and threaded to accept tools as well. Some accessories like one of the loading rods are missing. Also included are three keys, none of which fit the lock for the case and a small glass bottle. {ANTIQUE}