SNAKE(s) on Cimarron Man with No Name Conversion Revolver

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ClemBert

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So I noted that Cimarron offers the Uberti made MWNN conversion revolver with and without the silver inlay snake on the grip. From what I can tell the ones that come with the snake always and only have an inlayed snake on the right side grip.

However, I came across THIS OLD LISTING that shows a NIB version with snakes on both sides. So what's the deal....did it come with snakes on both sides at one time, or this is a special production run, or someone put snakes on both side of a NIB revolver and sold it as NIB?

They appear to really be inlayed within the grips and it states "silver snake" so am I to assume these are not simply the cheap metal plated or pewter versions sold on various websites?
 
With that brief description in the listing of "silver snake" I would lean very far toward an interpretation of "Silver" being simply a description of the color not Ag (Silver)
If it was Ag, I'd expect at least the addition of something like "Fine Silver" or ".999 Silver", or "90% Silver" etc...
 
With that brief description in the listing of "silver snake" I would lean very far toward an interpretation of "Silver" being simply a description of the color not Ag (Silver)
If it was Ag, I'd expect at least the addition of something like "Fine Silver" or ".999 Silver", or "90% Silver" etc...

BINGO
 
As I was sayin'... It's an old listing for an item not for sale.

The question remains on if the MWNN only ever came with the right side snake or is there a version from the factory with snakes on both sides.

I seem to recall that in the movie the revolver had snakes on both sides.
 
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As I was sayin'... It's an old listing for an item not for sale.

The question remains on if the MWNN only ever came with the right side snake or is there a version from the factory with snakes on both sides.

I seem to recall that in the movie the revolver had snakes on both sides.
ClemBert, I believe you are right about the revolver having the snakes on both sides in the movie. I've been trying to find a still image showing it, but no luck.
I'm in the process of gathering parts for my next project right now. These are the grips, trigger guard and back strap I'm putting on it.



Edit- I have no idea why my pictures keep going to the top of the page when I post them!
 
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The original intent of my OP was to determine if the MWNN "converted" revolver as manufactured by Uberti had different models produced. One being with the snakes of both sides of the grips versus what appears to be current production with only the right side snake. The link in the OP shows an old listing for a NIB Uberti MWNN revolver with snakes on both sides. I wonder if Uberti decided that a two snake version was too expensive for the market so it dropped one snake in favor of just the right side snake....or maybe they offer two versions of the converted MWNN revolver????
 
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ClemBert, I believe you are right about the revolver having the snakes on both sides in the movie. I've been trying to find a still image showing it, but no luck.
I'm in the process of gathering parts for my next project right now. These are the grips, trigger guard and back strap I'm putting on it.



Edit- I have no idea why my pictures keep going to the top of the page when I post them!

1 snake of 2?
 
Clembert,

Your post piqued my interest as I used to own a grip for a Pietta 1851 Navy .36 that I installed a pair of MWNN snakes on a whim. The snakes were not mirror images of each other (tongue and rattler were different on each) and were not pure silver, but maybe they were sterling silver, but probably pot metal that did not oxidize over the years. Fairly malleable to allow fit to the wood. Got them for about $30 for the pair from some website that I cannot recall now.

Now to your concern. I would be surprised if you will find an answer on this forum as it is much a niche item.

Since your reference gun is an Uberti, I would contact them:

https://www.uberti-usa.com/contact-us

Uberti states that Stoeger is their importer/distributor in the US, but the current downloadable Stoeger catalog references only shotguns.

Since your post has a link to an old GunsAmerica posting stating it is a Cimarron Arms gun, I would contact them. You can download their current catalog .pdf, but it is a slow download. On page 28 of 54 it shows the exact gun you refer to but it only makes mention of one inlaid snake (shown on the right side of the grip).

https://www.cimarron-firearms.com/products/catalog/cimarron-firearms-product-catalog.html

You might also contact the Two Wright Arms site. The homepage shows two snake grip guns, one of which appears to be a repro 1851 Navy, in the shop/store display. It appears that they are into this particular niche.

http://twowrightarms.com/

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Jim
 
Funny thing about these guns is that they are not conversions at all but are built on the 1871-1872 Open Top cartridge frame. Still need one for my accumulation but wish they were made in .44Colt.
 
I think you are on the wrong thread.

The OP is referring to a repro Uberti made in .38 Special. That cartridge did not exist in the 1871-1872 Open Top Colt era.

The Colt Open Tops were still a conversion that the Colt factory made to use stock parts in inventory with the Colt factory view that the 1873 "Peacemaker" was on the horizon. The percussion guns were history and Colt's widow made the best of it, and two years of production says that she probably broke even or better. I think she was a better business person than Sam, who was a dreamer.
 
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ONLY FOUR LEFT:
https://www.amazon.com/Clint-Eastwood-Rattlesnake-Metal-Inlays/dp/B006R0A4GM

or for your 1873:
http://www.escortgunleather.com/page127.html

After finally getting on the Snake River Arms site, I found this ad for a Cimarron mwnn which says that the gun just has a snake on the right grip but with pictures of a gun with snakes on both grips:

http://snakeriverarms.com/cimarron-man-with-no-name-38-special-1851-conversion/

If Snake River Arms used old Cimarron pictures with the new ad, that would add credence to the idea that at one time Cimarron imported them with snakes on both grips but no longer does!!!
 
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I think you are on the wrong thread.

The OP is referring to a repro Uberti made in .38 Special. That cartridge did not exist in the 1871-1872 Open Top Colt era.

The Colt Open Tops were still a conversion that the Colt factory made to use stock parts in inventory with the Colt factory view that the 1873 "Peacemaker" was on the horizon. The percussion guns were history and Colt's widow made the best of it, and two years of production says that she probably broke even or better. I think she was a better business person than Sam, who was a dreamer.
You have some bad info from someone that has never seen a 1871/72 taken apart. They were new production no old parts were used .
I will have to dig up my pics comparing the 1871 to an 1860 Army.
 
I think you are on the wrong thread.

The OP is referring to a repro Uberti made in .38 Special. That cartridge did not exist in the 1871-1872 Open Top Colt era.

The Colt Open Tops were still a conversion that the Colt factory made to use stock parts in inventory with the Colt factory view that the 1873 "Peacemaker" was on the horizon. The percussion guns were history and Colt's widow made the best of it, and two years of production says that she probably broke even or better. I think she was a better business person than Sam, who was a dreamer.
Wrong. I'm not talking about "open top" in the generic sense that people use it to refer to any Colt percussion gun with no top strap. I'm talking about the 1871-1872 Open Top cartridge gun that was the precursor of the SAA. The original gun was not a conversion at all. It used a brand new cartridge frame, not a converted percussion frame and a brand new "S-lug" barrel. They made only about 2000 of them in .44 rimfire only.

The comment I made in passing is that the gun in question is a hybrid. An 1871-1872 Open Top cartridge frame coupled with an 1851 Navy barrel. Not an 1851 Richards-Mason conversion. Maybe you need a book or two? Dennis Adler's for high level information and mouth watering pics. The McDowell book for a more comprehensive study.

The two on the left are 1860 Richards Type II and 1851 Richards-Mason conversions. The gun on the right is an 1871-1872 Open Top cartridge model.

IMG_9503b.jpg
 
Bearing in mind that I like the fact that they built it on the Open Top frame because I think it's the best and most refined of all the strapless Colt cartridge guns.
 
ONLY FOUR LEFT:
https://www.amazon.com/Clint-Eastwood-Rattlesnake-Metal-Inlays/dp/B006R0A4GM

After finally getting on the Snake River Arms site, I found this ad for a Cimarron mwnn which says that the gun just has a snake on the right grip but with pictures of a gun with snakes on both grips:

That is strange, eh?

http://snakeriverarms.com/cimarron-man-with-no-name-38-special-1851-conversion/

If Snake River Arms used old Cimarron pictures with the new ad, that would add credence to the idea that at one time Cimarron imported them with snakes on both grips but no longer does!!!

EK, you are always good to go! The snakes I got were exactly the same as you have pictured. Mine were not inlaid in the grip but were satisfactory to me as being proud on the wood. I guess it is all in the eye of the beholder.

Jim
 
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There was a reason why I used quite marks around the word 'converted'. It's clearly not converted as it was made that way to sell to fans of the GBU movie. I was just trying to distinguish it from the top strap MWNN version they also sell.

It'd be nice if they sold it with both snakes per the OP. I could buy the plain-Jane then buy the snakes from eBay/Amazon and inlay them myself but probably would hatchet the grips in the process. I've never inlayed anything so I don't know how precise I could be.

Some folks install them on grip top and their grips are a bit proud for my touch. Saw a video of some dremel work done by a revolver owner to inlay the snakes. He was happy with his work but the job didn't have the same "factory" look.
 
My intent wasn't to call you out, they are marketed as a "conversion".

However, whether or not it's a "conversion" has nothing to do with how it was made in the first place. Even if it's made from new parts that were never assembled as a percussion gun, it's still a conversion that uses a "converted" percussion frame. Colt built brand new cartridge conversions from unused percussion frames and they also converted completed percussion guns that were sent back to the factory. No distinction is made between them, they're all "cartridge conversions". The point was that these are not converted percussion frames. It's the 1871-1872 Open Top cartridge frame. The Open Top was a newly designed, dedicated cartridge gun from the ground up, there is no conversion ring. I just thought it was interesting that they did it this way, instead of just putting a percussion barrel with rammer on an 1851 Richards-Mason. Either way, they're cool sixguns.
 
My intent wasn't to call you out, they are marketed as a "conversion".

I didn't take it that way so no worries....I just wanted to let those reading this thread to understand that there are two versions of the MWNN revolver made by Uberti. One is a 1873 SAA type shooter's version in .45 Colt as can be seen in other westerns not GBU and then there's the "converted 1851 Navy" version that shoots .38 cartridges. I think there may be some confusion as to the MWNN model thus one is referred to as the "converted" model.
 
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