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**NEW ADDITION** 20863 REMINGTON RIDER POCKET REVOLVER CARTRIDGE CONVERSION CIRCA 1873 .32 RIMFIRE - Serial number 5088, made as a cartridge gun for .32 rimfire ammunition. Remington made about 2,000 of these pocket revolvers, initially as percussion ignition from 1860 to 1873, and then after 1873 as factory made cartridge guns. This is a historically significant model, despite its low producing numbers, as the first of Joseph Rider’s designs, which led to his employment by Remington and many later designs used by them. And, more importantly, this was the first double action cartridge revolver made in the U.S. This has a plate over the rear of the cylinder, needed to get around Smith & Wesson’s patent on a bored through cylinder until 1873 when it expired, and this model was quickly phased out. This example has the 3 inch barrel (also made with 2 or 2 ½ inch length). Unfortunately the mechanism is messed up and the hammer is stuck at full cock. Not knowing diddly squat about what makes revolvers tick, we are selling as is. These were offered with blue or nickel or combination finishes, and this one is nickel with about 25% remaining and the balance brown patina. Rusty bore. Chip out of the left grip which could be restored with some epoxy if you are handy at that type stuff. A fairly scarce and interesting gun that we wish was in better condition. ANITQUE- no FFL needed. $125.00 (View Picture)

**NEW ADDITION** 19076 BELGIAN PERCUSSION- OCTAGON BARREL TARGET PISTOL- circa 1830-1850, .57 caliber - Probably a target gun or “Dueling Pistol” made circa 1830-1850 No maker name or other markings except for a Belgian proofmark on the 6 7/8” octagon barrel which has an attractive brown faux Damascus pattern. Bore appear smooth at first glance, but is actually lightly rifled with very fine grooves, almost like the surface of a file. Bore about good with much of the rifling pretty nice but some patches of rust. All iron mountings with nice engraving touches. Well executed checkered pattern on the grip. Overall construction quality is pretty nice, but not of the very finest quality. Stock has assorted minor dings including a crack on the left side above the forward lock screw, and tiny chips ahead of the lockplate and buttcap. Lockplate retains some blue and gray tones. Overall very good. A nice example of a classic European single shot pistol of the type popular with the wealthy or those who aspired or pretended to be so. ANTIQUE- No FFL needed. $495.00 (View Picture)

19831 SPANISH COLONIAL PERIOD STYLE MIQUELET PISTOL CIRCA 1750-1800 - About .60 caliber with barrel about 10 ¼ inches long and overall length of 17 inches. This is a totally uncleaned example of a type of handgun pretty much unique to Spain and areas it controlled. TheMiquelet is easily recognized by the large mainspring on the outside of the lock, and a sear which protrudes through the lockplate to hold the hammer when cocked. This one has the general style of the cavalry pistols of the period 1750-1800, which continued in service in Mexico (including Texas and California) and other colonies until after the Texas Republic and even Mexican-American War of 1846. However, this is slightly different in that it was made with a dummy ramrod and ramrod pipes, so a rod would have been carried separately, or perhaps provided in a casing or holster. The octagon barrel is unmarked and shows no visible proof marks. It tapers fromteh breech forward until it swells again slightly near the muzzle in the “swamped” style popular in that era. The butt cap with long straps is made of brass, and the trigger guard and side plate are iron. The walnut stock is well made and has some mediocre carving around the rear of the lock and the barrel tang, and nicely done moulding alongside the dummy ramrod. One large chip missing above the sideplate, otherwise fairly good condition showing normal colonial use and wear. The lock is unusual that it has a nicely detailed reinforcing strap or bridle extending between the hammer screw and the pan cover screw. Iron parts are mellow old patina over a bit of roughness. Bore is very rough. This is definitely a functional miquelet pistol made in the late 18th century, not some tourist gun cobbled together in later years. An inexpensive example of a 200+ year old pistol. ANTIQUE- no FFL needed. $550.00 (View Picture)

19580 CIVIL WAR METROPOLITAN ARMS COMPANY .36 CALIBER “NAVY” REVOLVER - Serial number 2397 matching. The Metropolitan is a nearly identical copy of the Colt Model 1851, introduced in 1864 when the Colt factory in Hartford was destroyed by fire. This inspired Metropolitan, (probably Orison Blunt, a well known gun maker) to begin production of this model. These are generally considered to be “secondary martial” arms, meaning some were purchased by states or units, or privately by officers or soldiers who provided their own sidearms. A total of slightly more than 6,000 were made circa 1864-1866, and they are a good representative Civil War percussion revolver. This example was probably made in 1864, and could have seen service in the Civil War, or travelled west to the frontier after the war. This example is a well used “brown gun” with no original finish, just smooth brown patina. The mechanism needs some tinkering as the trigger return and bolt locking springs are not working (probably just the two leaf flat spring under the trigger guard messed up.) The barrel on this one is 6.25 inches long, not the expected 7.5 inches, but it looks like it has always been that way. Good grips with some heavy dings on the base. Barrel markings and faintly visible cylinder scene shows THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS, mimicking Colt’s naval scene from the Tex-Mex War. A decent looking gun the sure looks like a Colt Navy, and is from the Civil War, but a whole lot cheaper. ANTIQUE- no FFL needed. $650.00 (View Picture)

19824 Merwin & Hulbert Medium Frame .38 caliber Spur Trigger Revolver - Serial number- none? (number 990 or 066 found on cylinder and the barrel, but believe those to be match numbers, not serial numbers. Merwin & Hulbert arms remain something of a mystery wrapped in an enigma shrouded by collector speculation and misinformation. Flayderman’s Guide to Antique American Firearms and Their Values is the best single source. The single book on the subject which came out in 1991 was so utterly useless and confusing that it is one of the very few gun books ever forcibly evicted from my library, narrowly escaping a funeral pyre as fitting treatment. (The others are Jesse Harrison’s spiral bound troves of misinformation and speculation on U.S. martial arms!) Flayderman tells us that Merwin & Hulbert operated circa 1870s-1880s from their retail location in New York, where they were a major (exclusive) outlet for Hopkins and Allen arms. Indeed, Hopkins and Allen actually made all the Merwin & Hulbert guns, and Merwin was on H&A’s board of directors, owning more than 50% of their stock. This is a pretty nice example of an oddball design, one of a series of similarly oddball guns ranging from .22 caliber to .44 caliber, none of which achieved much commercial success. This is what Flayderman calls the “second style early production” (8A-084.1) with the exposed cylinder pin and sliding loading gate. Barrel is 3.5 inches long with good bore. Markings include Merwin Hulbert & Co, New York on the left and .38 CAL on the right side of the frame. This takes a centerfire cartridge, probably what we now know as the .38 S&W short, but in its primitive early blackpowder loading. Patent info on the barrel rib. This is an interesting design with a unique operating system. To load or unload, you put the hammer on half cock, then press a lever on the bottom of the frame, and the rotate the barrel 90 degrees to the right. And pull the barrel and cylinder forward. The lever on the left side of the barrel lug can be pressed to release the cylinder from the barrel and cylinder pin assembly. It has the spur trigger found only on their single action models. About 90-95% of the original nickel finish remains, but the gun is filthy and needs a good cleaning to remove a film of dried crud all over it and will look much better. Good bore and good mechanics. The right grip is a bit lighter color and slightly undersize fit and may or may not be a replacement. Grips are not chipped or broken. Flayderman believes that only a few thousand of each of the variations of this model were made. After cleaning this will be VG-fine condition example of one of the odder firearms of the early cartridge era, and the closing of the American west. ANTIQUE- no FFL needed. $550.00 (View Picture)

19565 GERMAN MODEL 1883 REICHSREVOLVER VARIATION WITH SHORT BARREL CANNON MUZZLE- (10.6 X 25MM Rimmed) - In 1879, the newly unified Germany decided to introduce a common army- and navy-revolver for the four different armies, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and Württemberg. This was a six shot single action revolver firing a centerfire 10.6mm cartridge (similar to the .44 S&W Russian). This is an unusual gun with the rounded butt profile of the Model 1883, but the cannon muzzle ring of the Model 1879, and the barrel is only 5 inches (125mm) long, not the 7 inch barrel normally found on the Model 1879. I believe this is one of the private purchase versions which officers would purchase, and there were a number of variations with these. The Model 1879 was the standard German service pistol starting in 1879, and with the improved Model 1883 remained in service until replaced by the semi-automatic Pistole-08 (Luger) in 1908, and even then some saw use in WW1 by secondary units. Production of the Reichsrevolver Model 1883 ended about 1894, so this is an ANTIQUE and no FFL is required. The previous owner (now deceased) purchased this via one of the on-line auctions, and it was described as having “original finish” but in fact it is a pretty rough example that looks like it may have been in a fire, with a dark scaly surface mixed with light pitting. The springs all work fine, and the grips are very nice, but a bit oversize, suggesting they may have been replaced at some time. A few markings are visible, mainly some numbers on the cylinder chambers, and the barrels, but no serial number or unit marks. There is a faint trace of some sort of geometric (Maker’s?) mark on the left side of the frame. Bore has some roughness but call it about good. All in all a marginal condition representative example, of the German Reichsrevolver that was the counterpart of the Colt Single Action Army and the big .455 Webleys. The 10.6 x 25mmR cartridge is very similar to the .44 S&W Russian in dimensions and ballistics. A very affordable example of an old military black powder revolver. ANTIQUE- no FFL needed. $495.00 (View Picture)

19916 Ruger Old Army .45 caliber Percussion revolver- Minty! - Serial number 145-27055. These exceptionally well designed and made guns were produced from 1972 to 2008 and are now out of production. This example was made in late 1981 and is one of the very early blued models with the 145 serial number prefix. Prior to 1981-82 the blued guns used a 140 prefix and the stainless models used the 145 prefix, but then Ruger began using the 145 prefix for both blued and stainless guns in the same series of serial numbers. This one is in almost new condition with 99;8% blue finish, just a tiny bit of wear on the sides of the muzzle and two or three tiny almost unnoticeable minuscule pressure dents on the grips to show that it is not 100% new in the box. (Well, we don’t have a box, either!). All Rugers are collectible guns, as well as rugged and reliable shooters. This one is too nice to shoot, so we hope it will find a home with a collector. As a percussion revolver, this is treated as an antique under federal and nearly all state laws. Don’t order if you live in one of the places run by idiots who treat these like cartridge guns. For everyone else- ANTIQUE- no FFL needed. $425.00 (View Picture)

**HOLD (misplaced in warehouse somewhere!)** 19828 Manhattan .31 caliber percussion pepperbox pistol circa late 1850s - Manhattan Firearms Company used a New York address, but the guns were actually made in Norwich, Connecticut. (Norwich was home to numerous makers over the years and a collection of guns from a geographic area would be an interesting specialty for the local historians.) Mnahattan only operated from about 1856 to about 1873 but their product line included example of most of the popular styles of the period: single shot percussion pistols, several models of pepperbox revolvers, .31 and .36 caliber revolvers tht competed with Colt, and .22 rimfire revolvers that infringed on Smith & Wesson’s patents. This is an example of their typical .31 caliber six shot pepperbox revolver with 4 inch barrels. (Sometimes called .28 caliber). It uses a bar hammer arrangement where pulling the trigger cocks and releases the hammer while rotating the barrels. About 2,500-3,000 pepperboxes were made by Manhattan circa 1856-1860 (of all types and barrel lengths) and undoubtedly some were carried during the Civil War as self defense guns, or carried west by emigrants. This one is in good condition and seems to function properly. It is missing the trigger guard, a cast assembly with a threaded stud on one end, but something could be improvised out of some steel or brass stock and screwed in if you wanted to go to the trouble. Some minor pitting on the hammer and around the breech. The cast frame has the typical scroll type engraving. Good walnut grips. Since it is missing the trigger guard, price is a bargain at only $235.00 (View Picture)

19075 BRITISH PERCUSSION BAR HAMMER REVOLVER CIRCA 1830-1850 - No serial number or maker markings, but has British proof marks. Possibly by James Harper, but this general style was popular with several English makers of the period. About 40 caliber, six shot cylinder, with about 6 inch octagonal barrel. This gun has been poorly stored and has a lot of surface rust, nearly all of which should come off with a careful cleaning, and likely reveal much of the original finish, or at least look a whole lot nicer. Sole exception is the backstrap which has some heavier rust, but even that should look a lot better with it removed. This features tasteful scroll engraving on the frame, hammer, backstrap, buttcap and a bit of decorative borders on the cylinder and barrel. We believe the finish was originally case colored frame and blued barrel. Checkered grips are excellent. Good bore. These are an interesting design, blending the simple and reliable bar hammer and rotating mechanism of the pepperbox with a short cylinder and a long single barrel. This gave better accuracy from a much lighter weight gun than a pepper box with its very heavy multi-bored barrel/cylinder. The design is actually fairly simple and sturdy. The lug under the barrel is drilled and tapped to screw onto the cylinder pin, and a set screw at the bottom keep it aligned. Variations of revolving pistols similar to this can be traced back to somewhat similar flintlock revolvers invented by Elisha Collier in England in 1818. While these were impractical due to the flint ignition, the invention of percussion caps shortly afterwards resulted in very practical revolvers being marketed. These never really caught on the America, and Samuel Colt’s concept was much more popular and successful. An interesting and somewhat unusual gun, that looks ugly now, but will be a lot nicer when cleaned up. ANTIQUE- no FFL needed. $850.00 (View Picture)

17864 FRENCH/BELGIAN FLINTLOCK MILITARY PISTOL CIRCA 1800-1830 - This has the Belgian ELG in oval proof mark on the .69 caliber smoothbore barrel, eight inches long, along with a small crown over LF on the left flat. There is a poorly struck crown over E on the lockplate, similar to that used by several French arsenals. The basic design is typical of all European military pistols of the period, but has a swivel ring on the butt for a lanyard, and there are no provisions for a ramrod. These features suggest it may have been intended for use as an initial attack weapon with no intention to reload immediately, but follow up with hand to hand combat with a sword or cutlass- such as cavalry, naval use, or even coast guard/customs type groups. Although the precise identification is a bit murky, this is a handsome gun, in excellent condition. The brass butt cap, trigger guard and band have a mellow golden patina. The unsanded stock has a mellow old oiled patina, but there is a missing chip on the left side along the barrel channel. Left flat has an illegible oval cartouche of some sort. The barrel and lock are not rusted or pitted, but do have dried oil and crud and staining mixed with a dull steel gray. This would probably clean up with some steel wool and WD-40. Mechanically good, and in original flint, not a reconversion. Excellent bore. A handsome example of the classic military single shot flintlock pistol, albeit lacking specific identification. ANTIQUE- no FFL needed. $895.00 (View Picture)

12346 CIRCA 1840-1860 SPANISH OR PORTUGUESE PERCUSSION PISTOL - A handsome piece with the traditional Spanish style miquelet lock work on the outside of the plate, but made as percussion. Hammer is a unique shape, and the decorative engraving and chisel work has turned it into a dog with its fierce had turned to one side to bite the nipple. One lock screw and the ramrod are missing. Some very old specks of paint or whitewash on the upper surfaces. Looks like there is some silver(?) inlay work on the barrel, but I am reluctant to try to clean that without destroying the mellow brown patina on the iron parts. Perhaps intended for the Mexican market as it has a primitive but cute smiling sun on the sideplate. ANTIQUE- no FFL needed. $495.00 (View Picture)

FLARE GUNS FOR COLLECTORS: Note that while these were made after 1898, special provisions in federal law exempt them from the normal post-1898 handgun FFL procedures, and they can be ordered just like an antique firearm, without need for a FFL so we are listing them here:

20121 OLIN “ALERTER” SIGNAL KIT (12 GAUGE FLARE GUN) WITH 5 FLARES - This is a good example of a “modern” flare gun, basically all plastic and sold as a kit for boating use. Coast Guard approved, this comes in a plastic bag with instructions, and it has a sort of “stripper clip” attached to the butt of the pistol which will hold six of the 12 gauge signal cartridges. Only five cartridges included because Bubba wanted to see what one looked like. Fortunately, Mrs. Bubba took his beer and pistol away from him before he shot off the rest, so we collectors can enjoy this. Used, only fired once. A nice contract to the heavy and clunky WW2 style flare guns. Although these are nominally “12 Gauge, that indicates bore size only, and any attempt to fire a regular shotshell will probably result in catastrophic destruction of the gun and serious personal injury, so serious a danger that even Bubba would never try anything like that! Flare guns are exempt from the normal gun control procedures, but we insist that you order on our order form with signature certifying that you are not prohibited from purchase of a firearm and that there are no restrictions on purchase. $40.00 (View Picture)