Steel Frame Spiller & Burr ??

[Bluehawk]

Came across this Spiller & Burr with a steel frame on an auction site a few nights ago...anyone have any info on who made this reproduction?

 

[DutchmanDick]

Not a Spiller and Burr (no matter what the auction description might say), but a Whitney navy, which the S&B is a brass-framed copy of. For one thing, besides the fact that ALL S&B revolvers have brass frames, none has barrel threads showing. This was supposedly done in the originals to keep the inferior grade soft iron barrels from cracking at the breech (the Confederacy did not have access to the best materials, and had to "make do" with what they had. Original S&B revolvers also often show a twist grain to the cylinders because they were made from salvaged wrought iron railroad rails, and were twisted to keep the grain from running in a straight line and presenting a potential weak point).

As for the manufacturer, I would hazard a guess and say Pietta, since they also make the S&B replicas.

 

[GNLaFrance]

My repro Whitney Navy, which I sold not long ago, was made by Palmetto of Brescia, Italy.

 

[pohill]

Have you checked the Whitney out really well? Are there Italian marks on it? As far as I know, Palmetto made the only Whitney repros.
A few years ago I bought a Whitney that was being sold as a repro when in fact it was an original. The store should have known better. One salesman told me it was a "pre-Italian reproduction from the 50s." I checked it over, saw the "E.Whitney N.Haven" on the barrel, then pulled my credit card out of my wallet so fast it almost melted. It has inspector's marks in several places, and the Whitney Eagle under the trigger guard.
Here it is with a Spiller & Burr repro.