Finished up another one of these and thought I would post the set to date. All of these revolvers have come to me broken in some fashion and I've scrounged parts or moved them from gun to gun. Have some period leather that I've collected to go with them.
Made from 1878 to 1907 the 1878 was an early double action revolver offering from Colt coming after the 1877 Lightning. Available in WCF and Colt revolver cartridges it was also made in some European calibers as well. Brought together by William Mason, a real factory man in the firearms industry at the time, it got running quickly by borrowing some parts like barrel and ejector from existing 1873 parts. The Colt 1892 and swing out cylinder offerings from S&W brought an end to what was more of a Victorian era gun in 1907. Colt tried to sell it to the Army but couldn't gain much interest, in 1902 they sell a subset of the 1878s now known as the 1902. Bought in a small amount they make their way to the Philippines to arm the local constabulary. To insure firing the hard primers of army 45 Colt ammo of the day the hammer spring and trigger are modified as seen in the two guns in the center.
The use of the 1902 in comparison to the 1892 in the Philippines is one of the things that spark the Thompson Lagarde tests and begins the move back to 45 caliber handguns culminating in the 1911. Most of these 1902s are sold to Bannerman Arms later and some in particular are purchased from them by Western Costume Company as movie props. One those guns in featured in the center of the photo. You can see them in the hands of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in the old version of The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Made from 1878 to 1907 the 1878 was an early double action revolver offering from Colt coming after the 1877 Lightning. Available in WCF and Colt revolver cartridges it was also made in some European calibers as well. Brought together by William Mason, a real factory man in the firearms industry at the time, it got running quickly by borrowing some parts like barrel and ejector from existing 1873 parts. The Colt 1892 and swing out cylinder offerings from S&W brought an end to what was more of a Victorian era gun in 1907. Colt tried to sell it to the Army but couldn't gain much interest, in 1902 they sell a subset of the 1878s now known as the 1902. Bought in a small amount they make their way to the Philippines to arm the local constabulary. To insure firing the hard primers of army 45 Colt ammo of the day the hammer spring and trigger are modified as seen in the two guns in the center.
The use of the 1902 in comparison to the 1892 in the Philippines is one of the things that spark the Thompson Lagarde tests and begins the move back to 45 caliber handguns culminating in the 1911. Most of these 1902s are sold to Bannerman Arms later and some in particular are purchased from them by Western Costume Company as movie props. One those guns in featured in the center of the photo. You can see them in the hands of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in the old version of The Hound of the Baskervilles.
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