Civil War Pistol

[Bill Payne]

The pistol that I have has an octagon barrel.The barrel has 7 grooves in the inner chamber, much like modern day riffling. The hammer is on the right side of the gun. The top of the barrel is marked "London" On the right side is the name AW SPIES. Their is also a metal embleml much like a British royal symbol on the back of the pistol grip. The gun is also well etched. I' ve asked many people what this gun could be. Harley Nolden refered me to your sight. The books I have read said it could be Confederate and made by Kerr. It could also be of Adams make. I did find out that AW SPIES was an importer from NYC. I have know clue what the gun is, or really who made it, and I can't find it in any books, and the infor I have found is inconclusive. I was also told that London Arms made guns for Colt. I could really use the help in finding out what this gun is and what it might possibley be worth.

 

[Keith Rogan]

I would think that unless it has some sort of CSA ordnance stamp or you can document the gun in some other way to the Confederacy, it will just remain a curious old revolver with no great collector value.

I wouldn't think a Confederate pistol would have a New York importer stamped on it either.
You don't say whether its a cartridge or cap and ball revolver. If its a cartridge revolver then it definitely dates to some point after the civil war because S&W held the patent for "bored through" cylinders until 1872 or thereabouts and it couldn't have been legally imported before that time and no company would have placed their importers stamp on it.




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Keith
The Bears and Bear Maulings Page: members.xoom.com/keithrogan

 

[Kernel]

Try Antiqueguns.com. Most on this site only know about "Crunch'n Clickers". It sounds like you have an interesting piece, you don't say but I assume it's a muzzleloading single shot. Does it have an ramrod under the barrel? What's the caliber?

Unlike today's market which is controlled by a small number of large manufacturer, in the 19th Century there were hundreds (if not thousands) of small gun makers. Identification can take a real expert. Take some good close focused pictures of the pistol, you can get them scanned into JPGs at a Kinko's Copies or similar place. The Confederates tried to import as many handguns as the could from Europe. Most came from Britain and Belgium, so you might see inscriptions on the gun in either english or french. -- Kernel

 

[Kernel]

Colt Model 1855 Sidehammer Pocket Pistol, (Root) .28-.31 caliber, Civl War production range 35,000

Wesson & Leavitt Dragoon. .40 caliber, 800 made, c.1850-1851

Savage Navy, 36 caliber, CW range through 20,000

Anything close? All side hammer revolvers. I should add, many of the imported guns were out-and-out copies of American firearms with no regard to Patents. So your gun might look just like one of these American made models. Also the Confederates had a significant cottage industry going making Colt & Remington clones in a number of Souther cities. -- Kernel

 

[Kernel]

"Confederate Kerr Revolver - 5 shot .45 caliber. 5 1/2" barrel by London Armoury Co. and so marked on barrel and frame. Kerr's patent numbers appear on frame and cylinder. Serial number 459 appears on the cylinder and on the inside of the trigger bow. A bold "JS" over anchor proof appears on the backside of the grip and is considered by most collectors to be a Confederate inspectors mark."

From Carolina Collector's Museum. -- Kernel


[This message has been edited by Kernel (edited July 04, 2000).]

 

[BULLSH0T]

While a large number of weapons used by the Confederacy were made in England, I think it's reasonably safe to say that NONE were delivered to Old Dixie through the services of a New York merchant/importer. I wish I could be of more help. Good luck with your research.