Tipping & Lawden Sharps Patent .30 Deringer

A Superb and rare Tipping & Lawden four barrelled pepperbox pistol retaining 99% all of its original finish.

Circa 1865

With Tipping & Lawden sharps marked on one side

Very fine engraved barrels, frame, back strap and to the grips.

.30 RF with British proof marks

Perfect working order.

These 4 barrelled derringer pistols were made by the American Sharps Company beginning with their 1859 Patent. Their Patents were used by other manufacturers both in America and Britain to make high quality derringers. Tipping & Lawden were one of the 20 members of the Birmingham Small Arms Trading Company Limited and were taken over by Webley & Scott in 1887.

Slightly larger than a gentleman’s pocket watch, Sharps’s palm-sized Derringer was a favourite with gamblers and others who felt they needed protection and wished to keep their ace in the hole secreted out of sight. There is a picture showing two gentlemen engaging in a game of cards with a Sharps derringer prominently displayed in the centre of the table, no doubt to remind them that this should be an honest game.