An Airship Admiral's Sidearm. An elegant steampunk pistol.

After a few months of enjoying the many wonderful projects, I felt it was time to add a project of my own to the site. This is my first Instructable and as it happens, my first steampunk project.

After a few weeks of visiting Steampunk blogs and sites such as http://steampunkworkshop.com
and http://brassgoggles.co.uk , I got a bit caught up in the whole thing. Some of the items that have been made under the steampunk banner are phenomenal pieces of high craft, they employ a vast variety of skills and are often very witty and clever.

So here is my first effort. A light Imperial officer's sidearm, issued to the Admiral of the Airship Fleet upon his promotion.

I wanted this to be an elegant piece above all, but I also wanted it to look functional and tough, able to survive years of service on an Admiral's hip.

Please let me know what you think...

Step 1 Looking through the bits boxes...

First off, sorry for the terrible photo here, not a great start I know! Anyway you get the idea, I looked through all of the boxes and bags of interesting bits that I've collected and found. It takes a while to really figure out which bits are going to work, and which ones are best left out for another project.

Comments

[Appollo64]

I'm new to steampunk. Anybody know any good books?

[abbez]

empire in black and gold book one is good but i have not finished it im looking forward to it

[mbluett-1]

the Edge chronicles the last of them The immortals

[steampirate]

1.Airborn, Skybreaker, Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel 2. The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters part 1 and 2 by Gordon Dahlquist 3. Leviathan 4. Hungry city chronicles by Philip Reeve 5. Steampunk Also if you are new to steampunk I suggest you check out the forum at www.brassgoggles.co.uk.

[FooFighter4]

I am also new, and I have an evil thing called a "budget", so, of those, which would you say are the best, I dunno, 2?

[steampirate]

what about the library? They should have all of these. Anyway, Leviathan is really good flowed by hungry city chronicles book 1.

[sonofstone]

forgive my rudeness, but the handle doesnt seem very comfortable with the hard corners, if i make a pistol out of wood, i make the handles kind of oval shaped, without the edges, but then again, i have really big hands, so my guns are almost always unuseable for people with smaller hands then mine, simply because they cant hold them normally

[trogdor99]

Looks to me (And I may be wrong) that when the trigger is pulled, it pulls on the bolt at the end, which compresses the spring. When the trigger is released, the spring pushes back, sending the trigger into position. I may be wrong but that sounds like the right idea.

[sonofstone]

you stretch the spring, and when you release the trigger, it compresses

[sonofstone]

looking at this, i see it's quite simple, yet effective, the "trigger" is screwed to an old sliding lock mechanism, wich moves back and forth, the two screws prevent too much movement, and when you squeeze the trigger, you stretch the spring wich compresses when you release the trigger, making a very realistic move, nicely done, i will try this on a big rifle i plan on making

[gingerpete50]

Wow, thanks everyone for your comments! I'm glad you like it! Hellwolve,the trigger is a long bolt with the head cut off, then threaded through what used to be a brass cabinet clip ( I took the ball bearings out to accommodate the bolt) the trigger is then screwed to the brass clip then the two separate pieces (the trigger/clip and the bolt) are attached with a little spring, the bolt (and wingnut/nut) is then fixed into the wood body of the pistol, this leaves the "trigger" free to shift backwards when you pull it, then spring back when released. It doesn't do anything but move, it's just satisfying to be able to pull the trigger of a prop! Hope that explains it a bit better and doesn't just confuse more! Thank again everyone!

[bricabracwizard]

You will ned to put your reply on Hellwolve's inquiry by hitting the reply button otherwise he won't receive your info unless he views this instructable again

[boristherussian]

It looks like Han Solo's blaster from star wars!

[badideasrus]

han solo's blaster was a broom handle mauser with a flash suppressor attached.

besides, this one is much better. it's shiny.

[bubbaman22]

I like your little display picture. hehehe :}

[boristherussian]

I can see that you are a fellow halo fan!

[bubbaman22]

You bet I am.

[l3owzaaaah]

seconded and my avatar is actually my character add me NatalBrute

[FooFighter4]

This is not only awesome and beautiful, but also inspiring. Multiple brass clockwork thumbs up.

[mokuseitora]

If anyone is looking for brass... go to goodwill. Check out the tidbits area, I found candle sticks, old wine cups, and even brass instruments from Xmas decor for a project that may show up later. Good luck hunting.

[CaseBoy]

 so does the scope work or is it just glass

[TheMadScientist]

its likely one of those interchangeable telescope objective lenses, so yes, i'm guessing it works, but it's likely not a very proper lense for this application. too high of a magnification...

[prototype2213]

Nice job on the gun. I want to make the gun, but I don't have much time. Could you by any chance post an Instructable on how to make the leather bracer. I feel as though that goes perfectly with the gun. Again, great job.

[MaximaPain]

What is it that you used to attach the scope to the rest of the pistol?

[Funk_D]

I'm not even into steampunk and I like this! Nice job!

[probablepossible]

This is a nice solution, thanks!

Finding trigger mechanisms is the hardest part of my project...

[cowscankill]

You could always make your own! In fact, I want to make a steampunk rifle sometime soon... I may make an 'ible (this may be another failed promise though... hahah)

[probablepossible]

I was thinking of the beautiful spoon handle you used on the back of the grip, in fact!

For a more ray-gun style, I have a closet door latch- that is a ball-bearing in a tube, with a spring behind it.

[cowscankill]

Cool! I am still debating with myself on whether to do Cyberpunk or Steampunk. It seems that Instructables is missing a lot of Cyperbunk 'ibles...

[enganear]

Excellent workmanship! I particularly like your use of wood. I just joined instructables, but check out my blog at http://enganear.blogspot.com for videos of my steampunk artifacts or search youtube for enganear.

[77Kapn Krunch77]

I tried to make that, but if failed terribly. Anyways, that looks awesome!!!

[jakePearce]

does anyone want to sell theres to me?

[mr. cool 384]

is the scope functional XD

[mr. cool 384]

cool but wat exactly is steam punk ... sorry i am a noob

[sir-zeke]

Steampunk is a and older futureistic idea design... mostly consisting of brass, gears, and wood
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk

[mr. cool 384]

thanks and i love doctor who by the way i have a dalek t-shirt

[oddmidge]

add some smalle piping around and gears, to give it that real 'steam powered' feel.

[petrino]

i dont have any brass pieces lying around but i have tons of copper wich i primarily use to steampunk stuff... ill post a pic of my steampunk copper pistol when im finished :)

[petrino]

yeah this is the most confusing bit for me aswell

[inkblott]

the best instructable