Inkstainedwretch
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,037
- Location
- United States
My father used to say "hotter'n a two-bit pistol." That one dated from the '20s-'30s, when you could probably buy a cheap imported pistol for two bits from somebody who was desperate. In the early 20th century the American market was flooded with cheap pistols, mostly from Spain or Belgium. Their defects were hidden by nickel plating and were often tarted up with fake pearl grips, giving both nickel plating and pearl grips a bad name. The idea was, with their pot-metal frames, they would overheat after a few shots. That's how I heard it, anyway.