Help me identify this revolver

[Reagan40]

My Grandfater, who is 98, gave the revolver pictured below to my dad earlier this year. My Grandfather was career military from WW 2 through Vietnam. He was stationed all over the world, but most of the time in Europe. He brought back some guns that he acquired over there. He has also passed down a couple of guns that were given to him by his grandfather. My dad recently passed away and never told me if he know the story of this gun. My grandfathers memory isn’t very good anymore, so I haven’t been able to get a clear answer. Any help in identifying what it is would be appreciated. I don’t imagine it’s worth much money, and we wouldn’t sell it even if it was. We just want to know a little bit about it.

 

[HKUSP]

Looks like a Belgian 8mm pinfire Lefaucheux at first glance. It could be a copy made by almost anyone in Europe in the late 1860's to 1870's. There was a lot of ripping each other's designs going on. The proof marks on the cylinder and barrel might help identify it, but I'm not an expert with those.

 

[Reagan40]

Thank you HKUSP. That gave me enough information to start some research. From what I have found, the proof mark means it was built in Liege, Belgium between 1877 and 1893.

 

[DangerousDave]

I have one just like it. I was told it was a Belgian pinfire . Mine has a scrolled scene on the cylinder. I believe mine is 7mm.

 

[Reagan40]

I have one just like it. I was told it was a Belgian pinfire . Mine has a scrolled scene on the cylinder. I believe mine is 7mm.

Cool! I’d love to see a picture if you would be inclined to share. What’s the story on yours? Did you buy it or is it something passed down? Any idea of its history?

 

[ChalupaCabras]

These things were all the rage in Europe during the later half of the Victorian era. HKUSP is absolutely correct in that they are typified as 'Belgian pinfire revolvers', but they were soon Rugered by most anyone with a machine shop.

These were available in a huge assortment of calibers / bore sizes, as well as build quality and levels of embellishment. They are an overlooked and underappreciated discipline for collecting - many of them can be had quite inexpensively; people are often glad to be 'rid' of them, because they are very difficult to shoot and hard to find buyers for.

It is possible to shoot them, but the only ammunition available is craft / hobby made by a small group of specialists (itself a forgotten sub set of hand loading) and the waiting list for ammo or reloading kits can be long.

Flip a coin ... This is either a paper weight or a rabbit hole.

 

[DangerousDave]

Hey Reagan40, Don't know how to post pictures on here, as I am fairly new to this. But as to your other question, I bought it years ago at Wabash Valley Gun Collector Show at Hoopeston, Ill. I think I traded another gun for it. I believe it was a jap trainer. Kind a wish I had that jap trainer back as they have really went up in value. Anyhow mine is blued instead of nickel and the neat thing about it is I have one original cartridge that came with the pistol. I do know that some pinfires were used in the Civil War as there were a lot of different firearms imported for both sides.

 

[modelflyer2003]

Is that the Glock 19X?

 

[Reagan40]

Is that the Glock 19X?

Finally, someone who knows their stuff!