Handgonnes by Henry Frapp

[Buck Conner1]

Handgonnes by Henry Frapp
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@Buck Conner wrote:
What model Pedersoli do you have ?

I also shoot matchlocks and handgonnes. I had a .50 caliber handgonne purchased from Cabela's and a .62 caliber matchlock purchased from Kit Ravener.
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@Henry Frapp wrote:
I didn't know Cabela's ever sold handgonnes. Do you have a picture of it?
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@Buck Conner wrote:
This one came and sold to them as an original at the gun counter. I was off that day and was asked the next day to look at it. They made a mistake as it was modern made not an original. They were going to fire the outfitter that made the purchase. I talked to the store manager, we figured out a price I could live with and saved the kid's job.
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@Henry Frapp wrote:
That's your .50 handgonne in the picture?
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@Buck Conner wrote:
Was mind (Cabela's picture or someone's), got offered more than invested and said good bye to the toy.
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@Henry Frapp wrote:
That's strange, because that's my handgonne. I never sold it to Cabela's. And I didn't know they were using my picture for advertising.
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@Buck Conner wrote:
Strange, as I purchased this one probably 7 years ago and was told they didn't know who made it, we figured someone local that had a lathe. These handgonnes were very common for a while then most figured they were just a toy as it wasn't legal for hunting and the local police departments looked down on it being easy to hide from sight. This picture (where ever it came from I don't know) never got shown as I purchased it before it was ever made available or advertised. The only thing we did to this one was age the unfinished barrel to a mellow gray (never bothered to take a picture as I sold it).

This topic was moved from the Welcome Topic area.
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[exMember]

:lol!: a hot dog on a stick is one thing...

A gun on stick? Hmmmmm

 

[Buck Conner1]

:lol!:  a hot dog on a stick is one thing...

A gun on stick? Hmmmmm

That is a good one.  :lol!: 

 

[Buck Conner1]

How did you pick the users name of Henry Frapp, must have liked the movie or Keith's role using that name?

I had a friend (Trustem) that was dying in a VA hospital. Another friend (Aaland) both from Norway calls him on his death bed and used the line from the movie (The Mountain Men) Trustem's favorite. We were all in that movie together.

Frapp (Brian Keith) tells Tyler (Charlton Heston) "the beaver are lined up on the banks calling out Take me Bill Tyler, take me". That made Trustem smile according to his ex-wife. Aaland had told him he was Bill Tyler now.

Aaland tells me what he had done and gives me the VA phone number.  

I call and talk to his ex. - Trustem has lost his voice now but his hearing is fine. She puts him on the phone.  I tell him "you had a hard life but it will get better now and bye the way what Aaland told you isn't correct. They don't allow human and animal sex relations up there".  Trustem's ex comes back on crying from what I had told him, both had tears running down their faces from laughter. That really made his day. 


Fun movie..... 

 

[Henry Frapp]

Well, a handgonne really wouldn't be classified as a handgun, as in pistol, for purposes of putting it in the right category. 'Gun' (or gonne, or gunne, or any number of other spellings) was a word generally referring to any of the various types of artillery pieces, since those were the only type of guns that existed at first. 'Handgonne' simply meant a new variant that had been scaled down and adapted so a man could hold one in his hands. But they were still long arms, usually held and fired from the hip or the shoulder or under the arm, or braced against the chest in some cases, or over a barrier such as a wall or shield. It was a long arm that evolved into the arquebus, musket, and rifle. The handgun, as in pistol, didn't come along for a while yet. By then the handgonne had already been replaced by the arquebus and musket.

My name like I said was just a funny character in one of my favorite movies. I thought it would make a good user name.

So that's not a Cabela's picture? I'm trying to figure out if they used my picture for advertising.

 

[Buck Conner1]

Well, a handgonne really wouldn't be classified as a handgun, as in pistol, for purposes of putting it in the right category. 'Gun' (or gonne, or gunne, or any number of other spellings) was a word generally referring to any of the various types of artillery pieces, since those were the only type of guns that existed at first. 'Handgonne' simply meant a new variant that had been scaled down and adapted so a man could hold one in his hands. But they were still long arms, usually held and fired from the hip or the shoulder or under the arm, or braced against the chest in some cases, or over a barrier such as a wall or shield. It was a long arm that evolved into the arquebus, musket, and rifle. The handgun, as in pistol, didn't come along for a while yet. By then the handgonne had already been replaced by the arquebus and musket.

Bannerman & Sons use to sell these weapons all the time back in the 40's and 50's along with suits of armor and anything you can think of.

My name like I said was just a funny character in one of my favorite movies. I thought it would make a good user name.

Cool

So that's not a Cabela's picture? I'm trying to figure out if they used my picture for advertising.

The handgonne I purchased was never advertised or made available for sale. Utah has a 15 day waiting period to check if the weapon they purchased was stolen or used in a crime. I waited for the 15 day period and made a deal for it. It never was advertised or listed as no one knew it was in their possession. I asked if they had a picture of this gun from when they still had it and this is what I was sent !!! Since then management has changed and now the firm is owned by Bass Pro Sports Shops. Whole new setup with about a 45% change of managers and employees.

 

[Buck Conner1]

We are glad you came in Henry. Tell us what you do in Oregon, rendezvous, mountain man skills, interests, so on.  :thumbs up:

 

[Henry Frapp]

They made you wait 15 days for a handgonne?  :lol!: 

Cabela's must have googled it and sent you whatever they found, which was my picture. Strange that they didn't just take a picture of the one they had in their hands.

Here's a better picture of mine.

That picture is from a write-up I did on another forum a couple of years ago about a brief history of handgonnes with various pictures and videos.

Yours may have been made by a guy I know, he made one the same style in .50 caliber (mine, in the picture above, is a .75). He used to make and sell several different ones, but he's been out of the business for several years now.

I'm not a reenactor, just a shooter. And I really don't have much time for that, being a single parent. I still haven't had a chance to shoot the Trapper pistol I got recently. Maybe in the next week or so.

 

[Buck Conner1]

I like the overall size of your gun in the larger caliber, looks more serious than the smaller caliber ones.

In this state anything that fires a projectile is held for 15 days by state law, can't remember now but there are several states with the same requirement now. I worked at Cabelas (in the library) for 5 years, when they brought retired Walmart upper management in to run the show and did their daily Mickey Mouse meeting every morning I quite. Just expensive retail....

Working in the Gun Library and having access to the back room where the firearms were kept for 15 days before moving to the gun cases was fun. We would go back there when it was slow in the library to look at the wares. If there was something that caught your eye you would put your mark on the paperwork that you were interested when priced. When Bass Pro took over that wasn't allowed, employee discounts were chopped as they wanted the most money they could get on everything. Sad deal for employees.

When you start testing and shooting your Trapper Pistol let us know how that works out.

 

[exMember]

lol man that is awesome! Every hunt anything with it?

 

[Buck Conner1]

When most had swords or spears and you walked up on them and let that baby go all you saw once the smoke cleared was asses and elbows.  :study:   :bow:

 

[Henry Frapp]

lol man that is awesome! Every hunt anything with it?

It's not really something you could hunt with. Short barrel, smoothbore, no sights. Just point and boom. I suppose it might be possible to work something up by using shot and trying it on small game, although it would be a close-range proposition. And then you'd have to find out if it would be legal in your state. Here in Oregon hunting with matchlocks isn't allowed. There's no mention of handgonnes in the regs, but I doubt if they'd say yes if you asked. They probably wouldn't even know what you're talking about.

My smallest one is a brass .32, that's a lot of fun to shoot. I have a large .77 that I set up with a pivoting lever to hold the match, that was based on  a picture of one from 1411. Earliest handheld firearm that uses any type of a trigger mechanism.

And various calibers in between.