The market for obscure gun replicas?

Question

Maybe it's just my eccentric mind at work,but I've always wanted a nice howdah pistol,pepperbox ,FP-45 liberator,ect. Long forgotten obscure guns interest me.Now I will admit they would mostly be for novelty,but it would still be cool to own working ones.It seems kinda a waste to spend $5000 on a gun thats a plaything.Why hasn't someone started making working reproductions of guns like these?Am I the only one that is interested?

Answer 1

I've seen working replicas of the howdah and a pepperbox

here's the howdah

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templa...

Answer 2

An acquaintance of mine has a .72 caliber muzzle-loading Howdah pistol, but I don't remember where he got it, for some reason Cabelas sticks in my mind.

CVA used to market .36 caliber percussion pepper boxes, and if you look hard enough, you can find a Cop .357 Magnum Derringer, the last of the pepperbox breed.  Check Dixie Gun Works for a pepperbox, and the Howdah pistol as well.

Forget about a Liberator, they are not legal to own without various Federal Tax Stamps and permits.  These pistols were smooth-bore.  The Yankee government considers smooth-bore cartridge pistols to be too dangerous for citizens to own.  IIRC, the Liberators were made by Union Switch and Signal Co at a cost of $1.25 each.  A copy that would be legal for sale would cost several hundred dollars, and if you live in California, it would never pass the drop test.

Doc