A Very Fine Deluxe Quality 9mm Pinfire Revolver With 'New York' Engraving. One Of The Most Handsome Examples of The Earliest Antique Cartridge Revolver’s We Have Ever Seen

With a most rare form of extended long barrel, a good tight action, with folding trigger and a jolly nice original finish remaining on the cylinder. Maker marked Lefaucheux Brevete with serial number. The two piece chequered wooden grips secured with a central screw and a lanyard ring. Stamped with Belgian (ELG) proof mark to the cylinder. Single and double action. Action in very good working order. Overall length 11.25 inches. In good condition with some natural signs of wear and use. A lot of blueing remaining on the cylinder etc. extended barrel with foresight. Pinfire pistols were very popular indeed during the Civil War and the Wild West period but very expensive as they took the all new pinfire cartridge, which revolutionised the way revolvers operated, as compared to the old fashioned percussion action. In fact, while the percussion cap & ball guns were still in production such as made by Remington, Colt and Starr and being used in the American Civil War, the much more efficient and faster pinfire guns that were only made from around 1860 were the fourth most popular gun chosen in the US, by those that could afford them, during the war. General Stonewall Jackson was presented with two deluxe pinfire pistols with ivory grips, and many other famous personalities of the war similarly used them. The American makers could not possibly fulfill all the arms contracts that were needed to supply the war machine, especially by the non industrialised Confederate Southern States. So, London made guns were purchased, by contract, by the London Arms Company in great quantities, as the procurement for the war in America was very profitable indeed. They were despatched out in the holds of hundreds of British merchant ships. First of all, the gun and sword laden vessels would attempt to break the blockades, surrounding the Confederate ports, as the South were paying four times or more the going rate for arms, but, if the blockade proved to be too efficient, the ships would then proceed on to the Union ports, such as in New York where the price paid was still excellent, but only around double the going rate. This pistol was the type that was so popular, as a fast and efficient revolvers by many of the officers of both the US and the CSA armies, and later, in the 1870's onwards by gamblers and n'ear do wells in the Wild West.

As with all our antique guns, no license is required as they are all unrestricted antique collectables

Code: 23702