Help me ID this odd revolver........

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stantheman1986	Help me ID this odd revolver........	Lead	[-]
Posts: 5494 (09/20/09 06:48 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : None I bought this a while back but have yet to actually see it in person, as is often the case as I am at Ft. Drum and have my online purchases sent to PA. I don't know the caliber, sold as a German revolver. My only guess is a German copy of a Tranter? I hope it's in .38 Long Colt caliber, or at least .450 Adams. I had a German "copy" of a Reichrevolver a while ago, except it was DA and chambered in .38 LC, apparently this caliber was popular with civilians in Europe or was probably made for the US "cheap gun" market.
beanstrung		#1	[-]
Posts: 5500 (09/20/09 07:14 PM) Forum Site Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I have no idea, but I have copied your post to the C&R Handguns Forum, located here: http://parallaxscurioandrelicfirearmsforums.yuku.com/topic/34402 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- What part of "shall not be infringed" don't you understand? Joel 3:9-10
eagle7		#2	[-]
Posts: 4096 (09/21/09 10:05 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Are you sure it's German, or are you taking the word of the seller? It may be a Belgian knockoff of the Reichrevolver. The German issue revolver was chambered in 10.6mm caliber (some are marked 10.55).
Colin		#3	[-]
Posts: 2042 (09/21/09 08:17 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	It's not a Reichsrevolver or a copy. Looks like a Nagant system of ejection. Markings would be a help when you get back to PA. I'm too lazy to look for it in the 1911 Alfa Catalog reprint. In the 1970s, I was sent to Ft Drum TDY for a few days, about this time of year. Very nice except for the mosquitoes. However they told me that in the winter sometimes the snow is so deep that you can walk out of the second story fire escape on those old WW II barracks right onto the snow. I think they said the FBI has its winter training there.
stantheman1986	Oh yeah	#4	[-]
Posts: 5495 (09/21/09 09:21 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The winters are brutal here, and that's coming from somone who grew up on the Jersey Shore and now lives in the mountains of PA. I used to stay in the old WWII barracks when I was on "rear D" before I deployed but it wasn't winter then, but yes a few alcohol fueled idiots have jumped out of the 2nd story of my barracks here and survived unscathed thanks to 4 feet of snow! The winters in PA seem tropical compared to the lake effect winters here, it's called upstate NY but I call it "lower Canada". I'll have to take more pics of the mysterious German or other revolver, if it doesn't do anything for me it may make trade fodder at a gun show I am trying to get to this Saturday.
stantheman1986	Finally opened it	#5	[-]
Posts: 5497 (09/25/09 08:09 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Saw it today, it has Crown over "U" proofs, and it is in .38 Long Colt caliber. Solid piece, a little loose on lockup but not so loose that I won't test fire it with some BP .38 LC rounds I have.
eagle7		#6	[-]
Posts: 4101 (09/25/09 09:00 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I think it's a Model 1878 or Model 1893 Nagant revolver. Simson & Co. in Suhl, Germany made these as subcontractors. That would explain the seller advertising it as a German reichsrevolver. BTW, the early Nagant revolver models didn't have the gas sealing design. edit. Check out Gunbroker auction 138671757 of a Simson & Co 1893 Nagant Argentine contract revolver with the U under a crown proofmark. I think you may have the M1878 or M1878/86 model. Last Edited By: eagle7 09/25/09 09:14 PM. Edited 1 times.
stantheman1986	Nagant?	#7	[-]
Posts: 5500 (09/26/09 06:42 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I don't see any markings on my revolver other than the proofs, and it is not up to par with the fit and finish of any other Nagant I own. It is more similiar in quality to the Belgian revolvers I have owned in the past, functional but lacks that feeling of real quality. It is not roughly made but not finely finished, seems like it was probably a German budget level piece made for the civilian market, and it is definitely a .38 Long Colt. I had planned to test fire it today with BP .38 LC rounds but it rained torrentially so I just fired my cheap Armscor .38 instead.
Mountain Doctor		#8	[-]
Posts: 3799 (09/26/09 07:00 PM) Forum Site Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The grip, grip mounting screws, front sight blade, lanyard ring, ejection system, loading gate, and cylinder machining all look pure Nagant to me. Very interesting!
Carl Gustav		#9	[-]
Posts: 3498 (09/26/09 08:57 PM) Forum Site Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The Model 95 Nagant must have changed a bit from the earlier models. It doesn't show the gap in front of cylinder like a Model 95 when uncocked and there are a number of other subtle differnces. I was holding one of my 95s up to the screen and comparing them. I like Nagant revolvers and my target model is very accurate. Carl
Mountain Doctor		#10	[-]
Posts: 3801 (09/28/09 10:37 AM) Forum Site Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	So YOU'RE the one with the accurate Nagant!
stantheman1986	Nagant?	#11	[-]
Posts: 5503 (09/28/09 06:21 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I think you guys got on the right track, I still don't know what the heck it is but looks like maybe a German copy of some kind of Nagant. It does not have a swing open or removable sideplate however. Maybe a mix of Tranter and Nagant? The .38 LC caliber is still a stumper, though, I have read a little about how .38 LC was popular in Europe for a time in the late 1800's and so many cheaper revolvers were chambered for it.