Real old wheel guns ......... ??

[P95Carry]

Most of my pieces are relatively modern but .........

Are there any who collect some of the real old revolvers?? I have a nice Webley MkVI in .455 ... this being pretty much a WWI weapon ....... used by officers in Brit army IIRC. In WWII they switched to using Enfields in .38 S&W. It's an ugly beast and hardly over ergonomic but still shoots good ......... I reload for this, using brass from Fiocchi and .45 cast lead round nose.

Also have a rather beat up early Ivor Johnson in 32 S&W ..... it does shoot but lock up ain't that impressive!! Must be worth all of five bucks!!

Always hankered after such things as genuine Luger, Mauser ''broomhandle'', Skorpion etc .... but prices have gotten way high these days.

Waddya got then???

 

[Tamara]

1941 Nagant revolver and Froggie "Le Kooto" pocket knife...

 

[P95Carry]

Nice lookin piece Tamara ........ a buddy of mine way back had one .... used to reload his ammo.

 

[Tamara]

I can believe it.

That box of ammo cost half as much as the gun itself.

 

[Mike Irwin]

I'll have to bring it back from the Parents house next time I'm in Pennsylvania, but I have an Mle 1873 French Ordnance revolver in 11mm, dated 1876.

Made at the St. Etienne arsenal.

 

[Dr.Rob]

I have come close to buying a Colt Lightning many many times. I passed on a 1878 DA that was still shootable, even if the exterior looked like it was degreased with oven cleaner and rinsed in salt water, but unlike the Lightning it was chambered in 45 Colt, and you could still get ammo for it.

Why? I don't have an answer. Guess I like old guns.

My oldest wheelgun is a 1917 Colt New Service Army Model.. I've got a pic of it somewhere or other I'll post it later.

 

[Dr.Rob]

Ok here it is, sorry I took this pic with a jam-cam, not a really good digital.

According to my blue book its a real 1917 production revolver, likely sold off through DCM in the 50's and reblued sometime in the past. Buffalo horn grips are tough and unchipped. Still shoots better than I do. My first revolver. campaign hat is actually dad's Boy Scout hat, the uniform was my grandfather's ww2 Army Air Corps jacket, the holster is a reproduction but its a good one.

 

[Lone Star]

My first handgun, age 13, was a Mk.VI Webley, one of those converted to .45 ACP. At age 16, I added a Colt M1917, and at 19, a S&W .455 Mk. II Hand Ejector.

I liked those guns, and wish I still had them.

Lone Star

 

[Mike Irwin]

Dr. Rob,

I'm pretty sure that someone is loading .38 Long Colt commercially again for the Cowboy Action shooting crowd.

Beautiful thing about the .38 Long Colt is that, unlike the .41 Long Colt, it's easy to make cases from available brass.

Making .41 Long Colt used to be a horrendous pain in the butt. Bertram is making that brass now, though.

 

[Quantrill]

Older guns seem to have a character lacking in the newer antiseptic bunch. From WWII back to the muzzle loaders of the "War of Northern Aggression", the old guys have a story to tell that I wish we could still hear. Quantrill

 

[ChristopherG]

I don't collect 'em, but I have the one. This is Great Grandad's service revolver, with his badge & holster. Model 1871 'Lightning' revolver in .38 Long Colt, produced 1884 or so.

 

[caz223]

Now THAT'S pretty slick.

 

[Jason Demond]

Hey Tamara, can we get a shot of the tank model. Please.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Chris,

That's one of the finest-condition Lightnings I've ever seen.

VERY nice!

 

[Archie]

Yeah.....

Older guns seem to have a character lacking in the newer antiseptic bunch

Yes, sir.
There was a similar thought on the thread about Tamara's new old five-screw.

I've got an H&K USP40. It is a good, servicable weapon; I've carried it on the job and on my person. But it just doesn't have the class or feel of my old 1911 government model.

 

[ChristopherG]

Thanks, Mike & Caz--I'm just happy to have this piece of family history. It still shoots alright, though I've only fired it a handful of times and don't plan to again.
Cg

 

[Dr.Who]

Dr. Rob,
My oldest is a Model 1917 S&W .45acp produced in 1918. It is 98% (would be 100% with a box) smooth grips and a lanyard loop. Would love to find a Colt 1917 one of these years... Timing is everything... This piece came from the San Francisco Amory at the end of WWI, documented. Great History. Nice shooting gun, it's a family hierloom.

Enjoy

 

[Dr.Rob]

Dr. Who: You'll cry when I tell you I only paid $325 for that. (Not a bad price for a re-blue huh?)

Seems like I see more SW than Colts at the gun shows, and the Brazilian Contract guns are a rarity anymore.The coolest new service Colt i ever saw was in the white factory engraved and in 357. Cool beans.

And yeah, that is one fancy looking lightning. (Emerald with envy)

 

[Dain Bramage]

Dang! If I wasn't married, I'd ask if Tamara had a sister.

No gal, I mean nobody, I have ever known has ever had a model of an M8 (Self-propelled gun, Stuart chassis) on their desk. Come to think of it, they don't pack Nagants either. Must be that Tennessee water.

 

[guy sajer]

Old is a Good Thing !

Especially when refering to firearms .

 

[guy sajer]

Another .

 

[Braz]

Wow!

Amazing old weapons. I've always been surprised that top break revolvers could withstand those huge cartridges. Very cool. Once again, thanks Tamera and those who shared.

 

[P95Carry]

Not first time of posting but ........ my old MkVl ..... using Fiocchi brass and what are in effect 45acp bullets (230 grn) ... shoots quite well ..... but they do have a strange sound!

 

[tex_n_cal]

Hmmm...my earliest revo is a 1950's S&W .22.

Gotta work on that problem.

 

[Hand_Rifle_Guy]

Since this has turned into a Webley thread...

I have one of the only Web pics of my one of my guns around, thanks to our benevolent administrator, Sven.



It's a Webley Mk. IV .45 ACP conversion, circa 1914, with a brand-new surplus Mk. VI barrel mounted just because I like long barels. The original is a 4", with a funky custom American-style rib and sight someone soldered on to it. I got the new barrel from Springfield Sporters for $30, and it was a drop-in fit, with just a tiny bit of tweaking to the ejector cam to make it perfect. It also sports the custom grips I made for it out of a very wild-grained piece of mahogany. I like to run .45 Auto-Rim in this gun, as it gives it the same handling characteristics as the original .455's. I shoots great, but I found out it shoots about 6' left at 100 yards. At 25 yards, it'll keep all rounds on a pie plate, but I hadn't realized it was shooting a bunch left. Shooting at 100 yards will really tell you what your gun's doing!

I've got a Mk. I Webley too, that's also been converted, but the cylinder's only been faced off on the outer part of it's diameter to accomodate 1/2-moon clips. As full-moons cross the close to the center, they won't run in this gun, so I haven't shot it. But, as a saving grace, the gun will still headspace .455 rounds on the un-machined center of the extractor, so I guess it's a dual-caliber gun. But I don't have any .455, (I have 1 round, purchased to confirm the dual utility.) and I haven't found any that doesn't cost about $2/round, so I need some 1/2-moons.

I also have a parts-bin S&W 1917 that runs like crud, a Colt New Service 1917 that has a hole someone drilled in the side of it and a new barrel, as the original had been torched and crushed in a vice, a S&W pre-M&P in .32-20 from 1902, and a Police Positive Special from 1921. The Colts both look pretty tired, but they run OK. The .32 is "well-used", a euphemism for quite tired. The grip has had the right-side checkering worn off just from a lot of hands over the past 100 years.

I really like the old guns. They have History and Character. I buy all I can afford.