[Julian Miller]

Hi,

We have some old pistols in the family, and there is one in particular that we would like to get an estimate on value.

I know that it is a dueling percussion pistol from Belgian. Made by J. B. RONGÉ.

Unfortunately, we do not have the sett.

But it is a beautiful pistol and I have seen simular guns elsewhere (like the Bond movie skyfall) not that I'm sure that they were the same make.

The pistol functions fine, but I'm not sure if it will fire a shot. Though there is nothing to indicate that it couldn't.

If anyone has an opinion of what this piece might be worth, we would appreciate hearing from you.

I will let the the photos say the rest.

 

[grcsat]

Quite the interesting pistol.
I don't believe it is a dueling piece.
The reason for this is 99% of dueling pistols don't have a rear sight, yours dose.
The trigger guard is not what you would normally find on a dueling pistol. But what you would find on a target pistol.
At one time, you could purchase a dueling/target set of pistols that had nothing to do with dueling. It was a way of advertising a high quallity gentelman's set of target pistols.

When dueling was once legal there were people who oversaw the rules of the duel.
It was considered quite unsportsmanly to have pistols with rear sights in a duel. And in fact many places that did allow both public and private duels simply did not allow the use of pistols with rear sights. That is why dueling pistols are rarely ever seen with rear sights today.
I think your pistol as it stands , is worth around $600.
If you had the cased set with prove of it being a set of dueling pistols , then the set would be worth around $6000-$7000.

 

[sharps4590]

I'm very inclined to agree with gr for the reasons he mentioned. A target pistol is much more likely. Another thing I've noticed with actual dueling pistols is that they are rather somber, subdued in their appearance though quality was always top shelf. Dueling was serious stuff and the pistols ordinarily were not embellished with carving, engraving and inlays. All were regularly seen on target firearms and especially in Europe of that era.

Value....I have no idea.

 

[RJay]

But guys, I throught all of these types of pistols were either dueling pistols or pirate guns

 

[Grizzley1]

But guys, I throught all of these types of pistols were either dueling pistols or pirate guns

But of course they are! And all half stock rifles are Hawkens, all full stock rifles are Kentuckys, they are all flint lock regardless of if it has a flint or it uses caps and if you aren't sure what it is but it's pretty darned long then it's a musket.

Now on a serious note it's a target pistol, as others have pointed out dueling pistols have no rear sights and aren't rifled, you had to give the combatants a sporting chance.

Value without the box and accoutrements is about 600 to 1000 bucks, a little more or less depending on bore condition. A dealer is going to offer the lower value and hope to get the higher value.