While the manufacturer of this 19th-century item is unknown, the product's name is stamped right into the brass: "The Sure Defender."
Image: iCollector
Probably made in America, it's essentially a multitool of death, offering a small dagger, brass knuckles, and a single-shot pistol. That's it. If you need to open a bottle of wine or pick your teeth, try Switzerland.
Image: iCollector
Image: iCollector
The model you see here, serial #219, sold at auction for $5,000 in 2014. The auction house theorizes that this was "an early developmental or prototype model" and notes that "the absence of proof house or import marks…suggest American manufacture."
Image: iCollector
An earlier version with the serial #150 also sold (price unknown) in 2014 at a different auction. Interestingly, we can see that they started out by carving the product name into the brass by hand, which was surely more time-consuming and expensive than #219's stamp job.
Image: Invaluable
Image: Invaluable
Image: Invaluable
For a closer look, collector website Littlegun offers these detail shots of a third model, serial #193:
Image: Littlegun
Image: Littlegun
Image: Littlegun
Image: Littlegun
Image: Littlegun
Image: Littlegun
Image: Littlegun
Lastly, YouTube channel Forgotten Weapons takes a video look at the gun below. It's these guys who place the weapon circa 1860s.
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Comments
Don't leave home (for your friday bar brawl) without it.
Only in the US, lol!
you nailed it in the second paragraph: probably made in america.