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Hi There.
I'm currently at the Rock Island Auction and I'm trying to help out an older gentlemen (veteran) who is not internet saavy. He does all of his research via books -- it was quite the sight to see his scooter (he is disabled) packed full of books.
Today he purchased a US Navy Colt 1889 Double Action .38 Revolver. for those of you not familiar with this gun, the history is quite interesting. here is the picture of the gun he bought
notice how the cylinder has long flutes and is smooth. this early revolver did not have any notches to lock the cylinder in place after the hammer is down. therefore what happened is that you would fire it, re-holster, and the cylinder would spin freely. then the next time you brought the gun out it was possible that the cylinder would be positioned on a spent shell.
of the original 5000, the navy sent 4,637 back to colt for retrofitting. that means there are only 363 still in original configuration.
So in one of the books that this gentlemen had it states that the barrel should be marked "colt DA .38" or something like that. the issue is that the gun he bought does not have this marking (see the pic above). So you would think that the gun was refinished or is not correct. however, further internet searching reveals that the author of the book also posted pics of his gun to coolgunsite.com. With more pictures to examine, we see that the author's gun is a retrofitted gun because it has notches cut into the cylinder.
so we are unsure if the author has other guns or was he using his retrofitted gun as the basis for the statement that the barrel should be marked.
I found other pics of this gun also without the barrel marking, but that is also from RIA. Ideally I would like to see a gun from another source also without the barrel marking.
So if anyone knows the answer to this (redcliff?) or can help me find a pic of a Colt Navy 1889 Double Action .38 , with wood grips, and long cylinder flutes that HAS markings I would be appreciative. If the picture of this exists that that would mean that the gun this gentlemen bought is probably incorrect. If no such pics correct (or all pics show a non marked barrel) then the one he bought is probably correct.
I told the gentlemen that I would try to use the forums to help him find an answer.
thank you!
P.S. I updated my auction thread -- if you are unfamiliar I use the thread to discuss interesting guns up for auction and current market trends of the collectible market. http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...d.php?t=477248
I'm currently at the Rock Island Auction and I'm trying to help out an older gentlemen (veteran) who is not internet saavy. He does all of his research via books -- it was quite the sight to see his scooter (he is disabled) packed full of books.
Today he purchased a US Navy Colt 1889 Double Action .38 Revolver. for those of you not familiar with this gun, the history is quite interesting. here is the picture of the gun he bought
notice how the cylinder has long flutes and is smooth. this early revolver did not have any notches to lock the cylinder in place after the hammer is down. therefore what happened is that you would fire it, re-holster, and the cylinder would spin freely. then the next time you brought the gun out it was possible that the cylinder would be positioned on a spent shell.
of the original 5000, the navy sent 4,637 back to colt for retrofitting. that means there are only 363 still in original configuration.
So in one of the books that this gentlemen had it states that the barrel should be marked "colt DA .38" or something like that. the issue is that the gun he bought does not have this marking (see the pic above). So you would think that the gun was refinished or is not correct. however, further internet searching reveals that the author of the book also posted pics of his gun to coolgunsite.com. With more pictures to examine, we see that the author's gun is a retrofitted gun because it has notches cut into the cylinder.
so we are unsure if the author has other guns or was he using his retrofitted gun as the basis for the statement that the barrel should be marked.
I found other pics of this gun also without the barrel marking, but that is also from RIA. Ideally I would like to see a gun from another source also without the barrel marking.
So if anyone knows the answer to this (redcliff?) or can help me find a pic of a Colt Navy 1889 Double Action .38 , with wood grips, and long cylinder flutes that HAS markings I would be appreciative. If the picture of this exists that that would mean that the gun this gentlemen bought is probably incorrect. If no such pics correct (or all pics show a non marked barrel) then the one he bought is probably correct.
I told the gentlemen that I would try to use the forums to help him find an answer.
thank you!
P.S. I updated my auction thread -- if you are unfamiliar I use the thread to discuss interesting guns up for auction and current market trends of the collectible market. http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...d.php?t=477248
