(07-29-2012 10:29 AM)Wesley Harris Wrote:  

(07-29-2012 09:53 AM)LincolnMan Wrote:  Wesley: thanks for tracking it down. I'm a little saddened that it is there. If it is actually a weapon that belonged to Booth-it would seem to be in the wrong place. Of course, the problem is that it can't be proven to be so. I wonder what the various scholars have thought about it.

The academic historians have largely ignored the details of the assassination. That's why most of the books that delve into the criminal aspects of the assassination are written outside of academia. Also the reason I'm writing a book on the weapons used by Booth and his conspirators. Just like in a standard criminal investigation, the physical evidence like the weapons can tell us much about the suspects. For example, my research has convinced me that that Booth and the other conspirators were generally inept with firearms.

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I will be discussing the Ripley pistol and other weapons associated with the assassination at the Surratt Society's 2013 Annual Lincoln Assassination Conference. TOOLS OF THE ASSASSINS, Part II: Fables, Fallacies, and Fakes. Watch http://www.surratt.org for details.

Sounds great, Wes! I enjoy your talks and can't wait to hear this one.... let me know if you need the Whitney again.

Yes, I agree with your findings. Although he was a soldier, Powell was apparently not as adept with weapons as one would believe. He was repeatedly reprimanded in the army because he failed to keep his firearms clean. I don't know if this was simply laziness or indifference. Possibly, because he was young, a combination of both.

I know absolutely nothing about firearms, but if Booth had carried a second Deringer, could he have loaded it before going into the presidential box like I assume he did with the one in his hand? I guess what I'm asking is if it would have been safe to carry the pistol with lead ball and gunpowder already in it in a pocket or such?

(07-29-2012 11:54 AM)L Verge Wrote:  I know absolutely nothing about firearms, but if Booth had carried a second Deringer, could he have loaded it before going into the presidential box like I assume he did with the one in his hand? I guess what I'm asking is if it would have been safe to carry the pistol with lead ball and gunpowder already in it in a pocket or such?

Hi Laurie! Yes, it would be safe to have a pistol in his pocket. The hammer on the pistol has to drop on the percussion cap to discharge the pistol. As long as it's not carried cocked, the hammer can't drop to explode the cap.

Booth second pistol which he had on the night Lincoln was shot
https://www.ripleys.com/stories/lincoln-assassination

For most of the past week, we in the WDC area have been snowed/iced in. I try to use those "opportunities" to go down rabbit holes of the past and to find new ones....

Without speculating on Booth's "another pistol," there is a more fundamental question. In the inventory of JW Booth's room at the National Hotel, there is no mention of any gun-related supplies, i.e., no gun powder, no caps, and no bullets. So, something to contemplate is where was the Derringer used to kill Abraham Lincoln loaded, and who did it?

Great point, Bill

The use of a derringer (spelling has changed over time) seems to have been quite a rigmarole ...
Wikipedia has this
"For loading a Philadelphia Deringer, one would typically fire a couple of percussion caps on the handgun, to dry out any residual moisture contained in the tube or at the base of the barrel, to prevent a subsequent misfire. One would then remove the remains of the last fired percussion cap and place the handgun on its half-***** notch, pour 15 to 25 grains (1 to 2 g) of black powder down the barrel, followed by ramming a patched lead ball down onto the powder, being very careful to leave no air gap between the patched ball and the powder, to prevent the handgun from exploding when used. (The purpose of the patch on the ball was to keep the ball firmly lodged against the powder, to avoid creating what was called a "short start" when the ball was dislodged from being firmly against the powder.)

A new percussion cap would then be placed on the tube (nipple), and the gun was then loaded and ready to fire. (The half-***** notch prevented the hammer from falling if the trigger was bumped accidentally.)"

I think (not sure, must have read it somewhere ) that every derringer came with its own bullet mold and every bullet had to be hand-made.