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It's definitely a real gun. I wouldn't have been interested if it had just been a wall-hanger. When I referred to "tourist gun" I was considering the possibility of a local market providing a cheaply made, inexpensive pistol for some guys who went on a bender one night and said "Hey, lets go on a hunt in the morning. We need gear!" Kind of like a cheap, Norinco 1911 vs. a $3200 Wilson Combat. Speculation of course. I don't know anything about 19th - 20th century Indian culture or tourism.
Ironically, the "gun expert" we hired to handle the estate's weapons 12 years ago said it was a sawed-off shotgun and that I should weld the barrels shut.
However, the owner of the local black-powder shop I took it to last month said it was a good thing I didn't listen because the laws don't apply to muzzle-loading, black-powder pistols and referred to it as a Howdah. Of course, then he had to show me his Pedersoli (jealous!).
He agreed it was old and crude compared to most of what he had seen but he couldn't give any suggestions other than to take it apart and look for proof marks (that was a dead-end). The mystery intensified when we couldn't fit any new nipples to it. That's when I really started researching but I haven't been able to find a close enough match to date it.
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