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Post by rickyt on Jan 13, 2024 22:01:26 GMT
Anyone into the American Civil War will recognise this old firearm. The Colt 1855. Used by both sides in the war, available in 3 calibres...36, .44 & .56 ,cylinder capacity for the .36 &.44 was 6 and the .56 was 5. Designed by Elisha K. Root and made by Colt. This fine replica is a rare one and was given to me by a customer last year.
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CaptDAR
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Post by CaptDAR on Jan 14, 2024 11:08:37 GMT
That’s a lovely replica.
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Post by HeadHunter on Jan 14, 2024 11:59:06 GMT
Elisha Root loved the ol' side hammer configuration, even had it on a couple of the earlier pistols too. He was the factory foreman for Sam Colt for many, many years and held quite a few patents under his own name that were incorporated into Colt firearms.
As an aside, Samuel Colt had a great deal of foresight when it came to firearms, he kept intelligent men on his staff and was all for allowing them the chance to innovate and improve on his original designs but he had a bad day (don't we all) when he was offered the Rollin White bored through cylinder patent, he just didn't see the potential and the subsequent birth of the metallic cartridge, Henry Rollins took the patent and offered it to S&W who jumped at the opportunity and as they say, the rest is history.
Luckily (or it could be seen as unfortunate) for S&W they received a huge order from the Russian Royal family for a modified model-3 revolver (now famously called the 'Russian') which took nearly four years for them to fully manufacture the guns which stopped them from innovating on the domestic market as every machine in their factory was being used to fulfil this huge foriegn order. They still managed to win the US Army contract for the very first cartridge revolver with the US model-3 but unfortunately they were not able to capitalise on that success fully which allowed Colt to beat them at their own game in 1873 with the now legendary Colt SAA when the Rollin White patent expired.
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Post by rickyt on Jan 14, 2024 14:51:18 GMT
Great info HeadHunter, I just love the old Colts and especially the old S&W's. I've allways had a couple of replicas bought in the early 80's when I worked in London. They were bought at a fair in Eltham. I still have them but what started my main collection a couple of years ago, a customer of mine , a great collector and hoarder (like me) was selling up. He had a load of blank firers, which I bought first then aload of "obsolete calibre's". Beautiful pistols he said you could own without a FC. Well , I bought them too only to discover after research that many were on the 7 calibre list ......9.4, .44 Russian, etc .etc. What do I do now?. If I'm caught with a .44 Russian, Nagant...it's a long stretch. I kept them in a safe for a year then handed them in to an Armory. It was a dream to own a S&W New Model 3 and S&W.44. I can get them back if I pay the de-act fee which is not cheap but will ruin the pistols. I have been told I can get the New model 3 (32-44 Target) back and that was my favourite. So, in the mean time I only have the photo's to look at . I can keep some...including a Remington Rider (1859), pinfire and some others.
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Post by rickyt on Jan 14, 2024 15:04:40 GMT
I suppose anyone can capture photos off the net and string along a story , so just to prove this was'nt the the case here's some evidence.
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Post by ifield on Jan 14, 2024 17:19:30 GMT
You lucky man
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Post by rickyt on Jan 14, 2024 19:32:32 GMT
Dont know about lucky :-) I paid a good price for them , then gave them away. This was the Nagant. Made in 1878 , commissioned for the Belguim Army with the King Leoplold II stamp. With the calibre being 9.4 it was on the banned list so again I was'nt allowed to keep it. Lovely solid pistol, nicely made with loads of history.
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doug
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Post by doug on Jan 14, 2024 23:12:23 GMT
I sympathise. Over the years I have been forced to hand in my semi automatic rifles (4), pump and automatic shotguns capable of holding more than 3 rounds (2) and a variety of hand guns (8) often with little or no compensation. All as a result of knee jerk reactions from government in the misguided belief that it would somehow stop firearm crime and reduce the numbers of illegally held guns on the streets. Seems to have worked about as well as the plans to stop the boats and reduce immigration. It is hard to imagine anything else the government would dare to arbitrarily take of people that had been bought legally and with the tacit approval of the authorities (FAC and shotgun certificate)
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Post by rickyt on Jan 15, 2024 9:41:53 GMT
Yes, the gun laws in this country are the strictest in the world I think and it still doesn't stop the gun crime. The Dunblane incident caused the handgun ban , there must have been thousands of historic handguns handed in. The new de-act regulation totally ruin the guns, firing pins are locked , many wont dry fire......and the cost. Paying for the de-act on mine if I choose to will cost £200 per pistol. Not sure if it's worth it.
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Doug Soal
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Post by Doug Soal on Jan 15, 2024 13:50:55 GMT
They did the same with the air cartridge ban, that badly backfired because between 60 to 80 thousand went underground according to government figures. Yes some were handed in (no compensation) and some went on licence. The stupid thing is they face more restrictions than real firearms, can’t sell, can’t pass on to a family member, they are basically yours on your FAC, until you die or give up your license. Another stupid thing, don’t know if it’s still the case, but you could fire them in your garden if wanted. Had a number, and they were running between 4-5 ft lbs. To be fair the good ones made by Uberti & Pietta, & Taurus were steel and could handle a live round, but the brocock versions which the government picked on were alloy. I wouldn’t want to be holding one firing a live round, quite fond of my fingers. The easiest conversion was to take out the inner workings of the brass cartridges, put a .22 pellet in, and a shotgun primer for ignition and away you go, a pretty powerful round. (Never did it by the way, but abasmajor saw a gunsmith demonstrate it )
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Post by rickyt on Jan 16, 2024 22:08:43 GMT
Taking about the American Civil War, a fascinating subject, here's a very rare piece. Remington rider DA from 1860. Designed by Joseph Rider and manufactured by Remington. Only 2000 made, initially a .31 percussion then later converted to fire .32 rimfire. This was one of the first double action revolvers to be made in quantity in the States. A fine example, valued between £500-£600. Another of my purchases last year.
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Post by HeadHunter on Jan 17, 2024 9:14:42 GMT
Taking about the American Civil War, a fascinating subject, here's a very rare piece. Remington rider DA from 1860. Designed by Joseph Rider and manufactured by Remington. Only 2000 made, initially a .31 percussion then later converted to fire .32 rimfire. This was one of the first double action revolvers to be made in quantity in the States. A fine example, valued between £500-£600. Another of my purchases last year. The 'Rider' patent was used on a lot of the early (patented in 1859) Remington DA revolvers, it's great to see one of these on this side of the pond buddy.
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doug
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Post by doug on Jan 17, 2024 11:30:28 GMT
The ACW is a fascinating subject for gun nuts as it is I think the only conflict to have guns from a variety of era's due to the massive leaps forward in firearm technology taking place over a relatively short time period. In the early days irregular Confederate troops were still using flintlock Pensylvania style rifles with a majority armed with percussion muzzle loading single shot rifles and pistols. Percussion revolvers were on the scene from the start with rim fire cartridges appearing part way through. Whilst a majority used muzzle loading rifles (mainly Springfields and British Enfields) we saw the introduction of the percussion cap breech loaders like the Sharps with its paper cartridge and .52 calibre bullet as well as repeating cartridge rifles such as the Spencer, Henry and of course the Colt revolving rifle which started this whole thread off. This thread prompted me to have a look through my collection to see how many original ACW period pieces I still had. More than I thought - Several Enfields and a Sharps carbine still with its original Maynard tape primer plus a selection of Colts and Remingtons, a Starr, a Smith & Wesson and an Adams. The single shot muzzle loader is a H.Aston and only one of 6,000 produced with the US military markings. I realised after setting up that I should have included a couple of pin-fires that are era correct and were used mainly by the Confederates.
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Post by HeadHunter on Jan 17, 2024 15:04:18 GMT
Yeah the ACW is a fascinating time for small arms development but poor old Johnny Reb had it bad, the very small amount of native southern gun manufacturers meant that they had to send agents abroad on their behalf in an attempt to purchase suitable weapons, hence why they ended up with French and Belgium pin fire revolvers. The only trouble with having a people's militia made up of non standardised firearms firing very different cartridge is keeping them all fielded with the right ammunition and that's basically where the North had it well and truly sewn up.
I may not agree with the politics of the Southern states relating to the ACW but I can honestly say that they put up one hell of a fight against a vastly superior, well organised and well equipped enemy, a lot of the soldiers from the south were just ordinary Joe's fighting for their basic freedoms to live as they wanted without being taxed out of the homes and land by the fledgling US Govt..
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Post by Wild Bill on Jan 17, 2024 16:25:39 GMT
Yeah the ACW is a fascinating time for small arms development but poor old Johnny Reb had it bad, the very small amount of native southern gun manufacturers meant that they had to send agents abroad on their behalf in an attempt to purchase suitable weapons, hence why they ended up with French and Belgium pin fire revolvers. The only trouble with having a people's militia made up of non standardised firearms firing very different cartridge is keeping them all fielded with the right ammunition and that's basically where the North had it well and truly sewn up. I may not agree with the politics of the Southern states relating to the ACW but I can honestly say that they put up one hell of a fight against a vastly superior, well organised and well equipped enemy, a lot of the soldiers from the south were just ordinary Joe's fighting for their basic freedoms to live as they wanted without being taxed out of the homes and land by the fledgling US Govt.. That is quite right. I love that period of history myself. Got a few Civil War bits and peices. But those Rebs were traitors to the Union. A bit like January the 6ths insurrectionists. My favourite bit is my 1861 Colt Army blank firer with front venting. It is very loud when used with black powder blanks. I love my Colt Navy too.
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