Pattern 1842 .753 inch Percussion Pistol, 1845 (pistol, percussion, .753 in pattern 1842)

Pattern 1842 .753 inch Percussion Pistol, 1845. Marked on the butt plate to the 12th (Prince of Wales’s) Royal Regiment of Lancers, 1845. Pistols for cavalry had largely been abandoned in the British Army in 1838, except for lancers, trumpeters and sergeant-majors. In 1842 a new pattern percussion single shot pistol of the same calibre as the Pattern 1842 Musket was introduced. It was issued to lancers and used by them during the Crimean War (1854-1856), whereas dragoons and hussars carried carbines. It comprises a 9 inch long smoothbore barrel and percussion lock and a sharply cut-down butt, with a brass butt plate. An ammunition pouch for 20 rounds of pistol ammunition was also issued.