Solved? more input needed on old no-name pistol

[dozer dan]

here are the pictures of my pistol. the only pictures i could find to match it is the griswold and gunnison. my pistol is .36 cal. brass frame with a round barrel. there is no name on it. the ser. # is in the 17,000s and stamped two times on the brass, one time on the cylinder, and one time under the barrel assembly. all ser. #s match. the ser #s are erratic as they are not aligned well. the rod is 2 piece construction, in the pictures you can see this. there also appeares to be a blood etched finger print on the underside of the barrel. one person i asked to examin it said he thought he saw a tiny stamping on the cylinder of a crescent moon with a star in it. i however do not see this.
i am grateful for your interest and any info you could provide. sorry about the pic's. im still catchin on. Dan

 

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[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: old no-name pistol

You did a great job of photographing it...thank you for the post.

Yes very good pics.

 

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[72cheyenne]

Re: old no-name pistol

You did a great job of photographing it...thank you for the post.

Yes very good pics.

I was actually gonna say that a while back and forgot...so

Nice job on the pics Dozer Dan!

 

[dozer dan]

Re: old no-name pistol

thanks. it was my wife's candle warming light, a piece of green felt,

the (flower) setting on the camera and a whole lotta luck.

 

[wds]

Re: old no-name pistol

Go to this web site. You might be able to ID it.

http://www.dixiegun.com/

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Re: old no-name pistol

Sorry to hear. Its still worth what you paid and I think it will fire.


I have a question. Can bluing be removed on gun metal to look like yours?

Naval Jelly will remove gun bluing. Nitric acid will put a "patina" on steel and make it look very old and lightly pitted.

There are a couple companies making "aged" cartridge revolvers for the Cowboy Action Shooting sport that is hugely popular at the moment. One is a close copy of the pistol Custer was carrying (1873 Calvary model), though I imagine Custer's looked about like new and don't know why they would want to make it look 120+ years old. They'll be driving folks nuts a few years down the road.

 

[dozer dan]

Re: old no-name pistol

just an update. still no word from the many auctions, museums, or antique firearms

experts that i have sent these pictures to.

 

[dozer dan]

Re: old no-name pistol

its been a while since we beat this horse and we now have more members
and more insight.
take another look?
add another 2 cents?

 

[5woodluther]

Re: old no-name pistol

Have you tried sending pics and info to J. Christopher Mitchell? Just a thought, as he seems to both be in tune with antique arms and the confederate info. You can e-mail him here if you have not tried him.

chris@jcamericana.com

 

[dick99344]

Re: old no-name pistol

bought it at an estate sale several years ago for $50. but i have been
around this stuff all my life and i just cant let it go. i gotta know 1 way or the other.

I agree with Monty. In the photo showing cal. 36, that is the barrel wedge. This would be tapped out with a multi tool that was supplied with the revolver. The wedge could be thumb pressed out as it became used more often with repeated firings. The wedge had a retainer that prevented it from coming all the way out to prevent loss. The barrel assembly could then be removed so the the cylinder could be changed for reloading. The cylinder would be set between chambers and then the loading lever was used to release the barrel assembly. Reloading this way was a lot faster if you were in a combat situation. As far as being authentic, if it were a reproduction, I would think that there would be a manufactures stamp on it. All of my reproductions are made in the States or in Italy with a few being made in Spain. If these stampings can not be found on the revolver, then that would raise the question of it's origin and history. Weather authentic or a reproduction, it is a Confederate model due to the brass frame. I would look very closely for a manufactures stamp somewhere on the weapon. The Colt Walker, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd model Dragoons had a slightly different loading lever arrangement. MHO

 

[dozer dan]

Re: old no-name pistol

i have taken every piece apart and looked all over it with a magnifying glass and cant see any
maker marks or grind marks.

 

[dozer dan]

Re: old no-name pistol

Have you tried sending pics and info to J. Christopher Mitchell? Just a thought, as he seems to both be in tune with antique arms and the confederate info. You can e-mail him here if you have not tried him.

chris@jcamericana.com

i sent him an email sunday the 17th asking him to take a look, no response.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: old no-name pistol

Sorry to hear. Its still worth what you paid and I think it will fire.


I have a question. Can bluing be removed on gun metal to look like yours?

Its been a long time and I cant remember exactly what I was responding to, but I think what was removed from this thread, and what I was sorry to hear, is that the threads are Metric. Maybe this will help others reading this that may be trying to solve this.

 

[l.cutler]

Re: old no-name pistol

Sorry to hear. Its still worth what you paid and I think it will fire.


I have a question. Can bluing be removed on gun metal to look like yours?

Its been a long time and I cant remember exactly what I was responding to, but I think what was removed from this thread, and what I was sorry to hear, is that the threads are Metric. Maybe this will help others reading this that may be trying to solve this.

You are right, I was sure that was in there somewhere, reread the thread several times looking for the metric thread thing.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: more input needed on old no-name pistol

bump

 

[captdan58]

Re: more input needed on old no-name pistol

i think you have a great gun and i believe it has been restored from a real deal at some point

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Re: more input needed on old no-name pistol

What you have is a Confederate model of the Colt .36 cal 1851 Navy revolver. I think it's an older kit gun. The thing that makes me think reproduction is the lack of any armorers proof marks. You would expect any military issue gun to be proofed. Having said that, I'm definitely not an expert in confederate guns and their markings. My suggestion is to take it to a reputable dealer in antique arms and have them look it over.

Here's a website you can try, email them some pics, and see what they have to say. There are a lot of collector forums out there specializing in CW firearms, and that might also be a good place to start.

http://www.civilwarpreservations.com/newmus85.html

http://www.ccrelics.com/shop/home.asp?inexid=55KMN60VUZ

If it turns out to be a repro, I think that being a really good looking older one it might still be worth a bit.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: more input needed on old no-name pistol

I want to say that I thought it was solved. I only bumped this up because dozer dan mentioned that he was having trouble with the moderator reopening this thread. He was hoping some new members would have some more input.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: more input needed on old no-name pistol

i think you have a great gun and i believe it has been restored from a real deal at some point

Can you explain in more detail please?

One of the first things that jumps out at me are the modern punch fonts. At least 2 (maybe 3) different punch sets were used to mark serial numbers on these parts. Notice the different style of the number one. So I agree that parts were either changed at a later date or somebody thought punching serial numbers was beneficial...

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: more input needed on old no-name pistol

In the second picture, it appears as if someone filed off the numbers. My modern Colt replica (first pic) has numbers at this location. This appears to be proof that someone has tampered with the trigger guard in an attempt to mislead someone into thinking its original and/or a matching piece..

ADDED: A closer look and the number 1 is again different. So we have at least 3 different number 1 punches. Someone added a modern trigger guard to the existing barrel, filed off the number and punched a new number to match the ID number on the barrel is what it appears.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: more input needed on old no-name pistol

I think another of the many clues already mentioned, would be to see if the numbers 17212 stamped on the barrel are legit by comparing the fonts with a known original.

The 1 stamped here on the barrel and cylinder is different. Its hard to see. The 2 is also different. http://www.civilwarpreservations.com/newmus85.html