A French percussion dagger-pistol built on the Dumontheir patent, dated by the supplier to about 1855 to 1860. It combines a 13.25-inch blade, with a fuller running roughly 8.5 inches, and a pair of 3.5-inch barrels in .44 caliber, for 19 inches overall. The handle is fluted brass that has darkened to a mustard-colored patina. Both actions work: once a hammer is cocked, the folding trigger drops down ready for use.

Blade and barrels show a light gray patina with scattered pin-prick oxidation, and the scabbard is graded good, with some flaking and cracking in the leather but still soft and pliable. The listing is filed under fighting knives and daggers, SKU MEW2960, sold used, yet it is a complete twin-barrel percussion arm as well as a dagger, so we route it through a Delaware FFL dealer rather than to the door. It belongs in a collection of mid-nineteenth-century combination weapons rather than in use.

Key features

• Dumontheir patent percussion dagger-pistol, circa 1855-60
• .44 caliber, 3.5-inch barrels, 13.25-inch blade
• 19 inches overall, fluted brass handle
• Actions work, folding triggers drop when cocked
• Scabbard included, leather flaking but pliable

Because it is a working percussion firearm, this piece goes to the Delaware FFL dealer you choose rather than to your door.