clements & gibbons revolver

[DIRTYDAVE]

I have a old revolver with a brass frame 36 caliber revolver made like a 1851 but different the barrel looks different.Clements and Gibbons patent applied for on barrel.any one ever heard of this one.not much bluing left still in good shootable shape.

 

[Poor Private]

Got Pictures?? Post pictures of your hardware and maybe we can see from there.

 

[DIRTYDAVE]

I have pictures but cant seem to load them here.

 

[Mulebrain]

Very interesting!!

You can email me the pics, and I can post them for you!

[email protected]

I do know that there was a gun maker named Gibbons, in the old days and wonder if there is a connection??

Mule Brain aka Patrick Gibbons :grin:

 

[torn moc]

Here is a "Clements"...it is the only one I have ever seen...

it has a round barrel like a Griswold & Gunnison.
it sold for $149.....great price for an Original

 

[DIRTYDAVE]

Mine looks a lot like that one.Does it have the sub inspectors makings of H on the frame do you know?

 

[Zonie]

After looking thru "American Gun Makers", "ANTIQUE PISTOL BOOK", "Cival War Firearms", "CONFEDERATE HANDGUNS", "CONFEDERATE ARMS", and FLAYDERMAN'S GUIDE TO ANTIQUE AMERICAN FIREARMS", I can say that no one shows any pistols built by Clements & Gibbons.

Of course that doesn't mean there never was such a company and it doesn't mean they didn't build this and other pistols.

During and after Colts production of percussion pistols there were a great number of companies who copied his work and sold them to the general public until threatened with lawsuits or until percussion pistols went out of style.

There are some mentions of the name Clements however these refer to different Clements in different locations and none of them mention a Clements actually making pistols.

The pistol in the photo is interesting although the bluing looks too good to be over 140 years old. Normally bluing that old has turned a brownish/blue called patina.
If this gun is being sold as a true antique I would be skeptical.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Me too. If you look at the juncture between the barrel boss and and the round portion of the barrel, just above the rammer, you will see a notch where the machine that cut the slot for the rammer lever was cut. This notch was caused by the notch being cut by a "fly" cutter instead of the proper old style reciprocating cutter. This isn't found on originals but is very common on inexpensive repops and fakes.

 

[DIRTYDAVE]

Well if it is a fake someone went to a lot of trouble to make a unknown markers firearm or copy of one.But it shoots good.mine is not near as blue as the one pictured and is a little pitted on arm in front of cylinder.cylinder has no bluing left.front sight is a brass one.But I like it all the same not looking to sell it right now.But thanks for the info.Going to take it this December to the big Civil War show in town.Someone there might have seen one like it or tell me what it was made from but is interesting enough.

 

[Zonie]

The brass frame and the round barrel seem to indicate that this is a Confederate gun which is why I directed my study towards books that deal with them.
The grips on the pistol in the photo are interesting.
As Colt, and most of the Colt copies used a one piece grip those in the photo seem to be held together by a screw.
Are the grips on your gun also screwed together like that?

I don't claim to be an expert on forgeries. Far from it but most of them use well known names like Griswold & Gunnison or Leech and Rigdon or even some not so well known names like Augusta Machine Works and Columbus Fire Arms.
Why someone would go to the trouble to use the name on a few pistols might be an attempt to avoid knowledgeable people who are well aware of the characteristics of those guns.

On the other hand, as I said above this pistol may indeed be a 140 year old true copy of a Colt that was made in small quantities at the time by someone wishing to cash in on Colts design.

The pistols may also be fairly new and made by someone who built these guns as a hobby at sometime in the 20th century. I've seen some fine work done by hobbyists.

In any case, I hope you enjoy having your pistol. It is quite interesting.

 

[rebel727]

Contact Rafe Eledge if anybody knows anything about it he will.
[email protected] 731-438-3541

 

[DIRTYDAVE]

Yes mine is bolted together like the one pictured but look a little tired and dried out.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

I made a similar gun using a Griswold and Gunnison kit years ago. Removing all the Italian proofs was easy and the serial number was already on the cylinder. Looked just like that except I put some bone grips on it then chipped them and scratched them up. Aged the gun and grips and put some holster wear on it and it fooled a lot of people. Couldn't hide that notch under the barrel though.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

I've been all over the web and I can't find any mention of this revolver. I kind of hope it's real because finding unknown firearms doesn't happen very often. But that fly cut under the barrel is not correct to the Civil War era. It would be good if you could post some photos of your revolver. You would be surprised at what people have faked over the years.

 

[DIRTYDAVE]

Should be getting a new camera soon or maybe I'll figure out what happened to mine.I found a picture of a Griswold & gunnison and the barrel looks the same from picture though I cant say for sure just looking a picture.But this is all interesting and believe you all when you say it could be a fake but guess there might be a chance it could be real.I do know several gun manufactories only got a few hundred out before the north shut them down.be interesting it is.thanks

 

[Mulebrain]

Here are the pics you emailed me!

Neat stuff!

 

[DIRTYDAVE]

Thanks for displaying them my computer wont work with my camera anymore cant say why.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

How far apart is your gun's serial number from the one Scalper posted?

 

[DIRTYDAVE]

2 digits