I need help finding the I.D. and value of these old revolvers

S

SARuger

New member
My mom, who is an antique dealer, found these in the drawer of a dresser she bought. I ended up with them.

The first one is what i think to be a Colt. Its a single action 5 shot and I think its a .32 caliber rimfire. It has "5727B" on the grip frame and "Pat May 23 1871" and "**********Armory CT USA" on the barrel. No other markings visible. The barrel is shot, the cylinder does not lock up tight but the hammer cocks and trigger works.

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The second one is a H&R .38spcl, 5 shot DA. It is a parts only piece. It has "The American Double Action" on the top strap and thats all the markings I can find. The DA trigger works and it will strike the fire pin hard, The cylinder is shot but the barrel isn't too bad on the inside. Good rifling.

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I have the same h&r in 32 short. I don't think it has much value. A old guy in our gun club gave it to me after I fixed a few of his guns for free. The revolver belonged to his late aunt. It is interesting but unsafe. No hammer rebound or any safety features at all.

-TL
 
Are you sure that H & R "American" is in 38 Spl? A guess on my part but I'm thinking it is ore likely a 38 Colt Long or Short?
 
Top one is most likely a Hopkins & Allen ( I'd think if it was a Colt, it would have Colt prominantly stamped on it...)

I'd be interested in the top one, if it's a center fire, but if rim fire... I'd pass...

it's also possible it's a 30 caliber rimfire...

here is my 30 Rim Fire that has 22 Long rifled chamber inserts made for it ( mine is a Hopkins & Allen )

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Colt did not make many spur trigger revolvers.
The first gun shown is not one of them.
There were dozens of "Suicide Specials" of the general type. The big list at Gun-Data does not show --- Armory as a brand, so I have no idea where to look.
Resale value is low. These were the original "Two Dollar Pistol" (or less) and I doubt they have kept up with inflation over the past 120 years.
 
Hopkins & Allen, Harrington & Richardson, & Iver Johnson also made several private label brands, of which this is likely one...

it's probably is a 32 Rim Fire, as that ammo was around & plentiful at that time... the 30 caliber I listed earlier dried up long, long ago, which is likely why mine is in such good shape...

often these weren't used for anything more than noise makers, as notede in the add attached...

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Given that it has a sideplate, it is most likely not any kind of Iver Johnson.

The H&A revolvers all seem to have a proprietary cylinder pin release whish OP's does not have..

The closest resemblances I saw were to an Otis Smith "Pocket" revolver and a Whitney "Pocket" revolver, but each of those had minor differences.
 
The first gun is a Whitney. The full marking would read "Whitneyville Armory CT USA"; the patent date is correct for a Whitney. The gun looks like a Model 1 1/2 which would be the normal designation for .32 RF, but those were also made in .30 RF.

Value in that condition, with parts missing, is negligible, $50 maybe on a good day.

Jim
 
A very informative post! Thanks everyone. I think these might become "wall art", maybe a shadow box type of thing for the man-cave.
 
Flayderman( mis spelled) in their collectors book has most of the old US
makers. Spur is old enough it probably won't be lumped with SN specials.
 
Before the term "Saturday Night Special" was invented (in the 1960's) for cheap imported revolvers, those inexpensive solid frame spur trigger revolvers were called "Suicide Specials" and at least one book and several magazine articles used that term to describe the class. They have a moderate collector interest, and due to the wide variety and low cost can form the basis of an impressive collection. Most collectors, though, want the guns complete, functional, and in reasonable condition.

FWIW, the origin of the term "Suicide Special" is cloudy. It is not clear whether it meant that the gun would be good for only one shot, or that anyone pulling such a gun on a better armed opponent would be committing suicide.

Still, when folks talk about the guns of yesteryear, or guns of the old West, they often ignore the fact that for every Colt SAA (which would have cost the average cowboy a month's pay) in the West, there were a thousand of those $.50 to $2 revolvers.

Jim
 
Given the negative connotations of 'Suicide Special," I have coined the name "Gaslights" to refer to these old revolvers since many of them originated during the gaslight era.
 
Terms originally a sign of contempt often become accepted, e.g., "Yankee". I agree on the term "suicide special" having a negative connotation, but I think the term "gaslight" would be too obscure to catch on. The newer term for cheap guns, "Saturday Night special" is used by most of the anti-gun media in spite of its racist origins.

Jim
 
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