Looking for a first "era" revolver.

Mike, you are correct, my error. Yes, I am also well aware of the history of the Mosin Nagant rifle I bought my first one in the 1960's.
 
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Bored and returned to this thread - at least it's not another bear or S&W lock thread :D

I am curious too now, and just did some web surfing. To try to be period/place correct, I have to agree with WebleyMkV's suggestion for a Webley revolver. It's a British gun from the period that was huge over there, and the .38-200 should fire standard pressure .38 Special. Other Webleys fired a British .45 round that's virtually out of production now, but apparently many imported here have been converted to .45ACP, which would be cheap, widely available, and a nice choice if you actually want to use it for CCW as you said.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webley_Revolver

The other period gun that is interesting and would be easy as you can buy Uberti reproductions new in contemporary chamberings, is the S&W Schofield. They were sold into Europe as well, but I will bet that Webleys were a lot more common than these in Jolly 'ol England.
http://www.uberti.com/firearms/top-break.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_&_Wesson_Model_3
 
the .38-200 should fire standard pressure .38 Special
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Absolutely not. .38 Special should not even chamber in a gun made for .38/200 as the .38 Spl case is 1.155" long while .38/200 is only .775" long. .38 S&W is dimensionally identical to .38 S&W (not special) and commercially made .38 S&W ammo (last I checked, Winchester, Remington, Magtech, Fiocchi, and Prvi Partizan make ammo in this caliber) can be safely fired in a gun chambered for .38/200.

The only real problem with using .38 S&W ammo in a gun chambered for .38/200 is that it will shoot very, very low due to the lighter bullets used in commercial ammo (nearly all commercial .38 S&W ammo uses 145-146gr bullets). Also, commercial .38 S&W ammo is loaded substantially lighter than .38/200 out of deference to all the H&R, Iver Johnson, Hopkins & Allen, Forehand & Wadsworth, and other "weak" top-break revolvers out there. The only revolvers that can safely fire .38/200 ammunition are S&W and Colt solid-frames or Webley and Enfield top-breaks.

It is, however, possible to duplicate .38/200 ballistics if you're a handloader.

CAUTION: The following post includes loading data beyond currently published maximums for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The Firing Line, nor the staff of TFL assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information.

For use in my own Webley Mk. IV, I load 3gr of Unique under a .360" Lyman 358430 bullet from Western Bullet Co. in Starline cases with Winchester Small Pistol Primers. This load has been very accurate and shows no pressure signs in my gun and produces recoil on par with standard pressure .38 Special from a S&W K-Frame or similarly sized gun. As I said before, however, this loading should only be used in S&W and Colt solid-frame guns or Webley and Enfield Top-Breaks and even then only after being carefully worked up to as it is in excess of 50% over the maximum loads in current manuals.
 
To try to be period/place correct, I have to agree with WebleyMkV's suggestion for a Webley revolver. It's a British gun from the period that was huge over there, and the .38-200 should fire standard pressure .38 Special.
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No. The .38-200 was a special loading of the .38 Smith& Wesson cartridge, not the 38 Special. 38 Special is much more powerful, and would not chamber in that revolver anyway. 38 S&W ammunition is expensive and hard to find

Other Webleys fired a British .45 round that's virtually out of production now, but apparently many imported here have been converted to .45ACP, which would be cheap, widely available, and a nice choice if you actually want to use it for CCW as you said.
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Again, a minor correction. The 455 Eley/455 Webley is a low-energy British cartridge (still loaded by Fiocchi), not in the same pressure class as the 45 ACP. While many 455 Webley handguns have been rechambered to 45 ACP, they have a disturbing habit of disassembling themselves when given a steady diet of 45 ACP. And with apologies to Webley aficionados, a Webley would be an extremely poor choice as a CCW. They typically have extremely heavy trigger pulls and are about as concealable as a brick.

If the OP is looking for a 1880-1910 period revolver, there are many Colt SAA and clones, Police Positive, Official Police, New Army, New Service, and even M1892 New Army & Navy revolvers available. If a S&W is more to his liking, there are the Hand Ejector models. And if a tight budget dictates a lower-priced purchase, the Iver Johnson, US Revolver, and early S&W top-break revolvers could keep him busy for a long time.
 
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Other Webleys fired a British .45 round that's virtually out of production now, but apparently many imported here have been converted to .45ACP, which would be cheap, widely available, and a nice choice if you actually want to use it for CCW as you said.

Again, a minor correction. The 455 Eley/455 Webley is a low-energy British cartridge (still loaded by Fiocchi), not in the same pressure class as the 45 ACP. While many 455 Webley handguns have been rechambered to 45 ACP, they have a disturbing habit of disassembling themselves when given a steady diet of 45 ACP. And with apologies to Webley aficionados, a Webley would be an extremely poor choice as a CCW. They typically have extremely heavy trigger pulls and are about as concealable as a brick.
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You are correct about .455 Webley vs. .45 ACP (I missed that when I read the post the first time). If one has a Webley that has been "converted" then it is probably adviseable to only shoot it with light, .455 Webley level handloads in .45 ACP or .45 Auto-Rim cases. Also, it should be mentioned that among the .455 chambered Webleys, only the Mk. V and Mk. VI should be used with smokeless powder (the .455 Mk. IV could supposedly handle cordite, but it was marginal for that at best and I wouldn't risk modern smokeless powder in one). The only safe way to shoot an earlier Webley is with handloads using black powder or possibly a BP substitute.
 
The set of sherlock holmes in my amazon kindle ereader shows no results when I search on Webley. (the kindle for pc has a search function, the amazon cloud reader has no search facility).

google found these:

http://www.imfdb.org/w/Sherlock_Holmes

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_kind_of_gun_did_Watson_use_in_the_Sherlock_Holmes_stories

Irene Adler plays the game right for a woman.
Ditto good old Lestrade.

Predictably Moriarty does not have a decent Webley as does Watson, it's a lousy pepperbox! BOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
 
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