Confederate cavalry revolver??

[yarrum]

I am looking to get into the world of black powder revolvers. Since I know that I had a relative in the 17th Virginia cavalry I would like to start with the revolver that he was most likely to have carried. From what I have been able to find it seems like it would have been the 1851 Navy. However, the guy from the reenactment group told be it was the 1860 or 1862? Was there even an 1862? Can anyone help?

 

[Tom-ADC]

These are called the Confederate revolver but since its .44 cal I don't think a 1851 was ever made back then in .44 .

 

[DanChamberlain]

The 62 was one of the most elegant of the Colt's cap and ball revolvers. It had the clean lines of the 1860 including the ram system, but with the grip frame of the 1851. It was in .36 as well. I have a photo of a lovely cased set of two revolvers presented to a young lieutenant on the occasion of his promotion. He died later that year of wounds received in an Indian fight.

A Confederate would carry whatever he could get "holt" of. So, any of these would be appropriate. So would a Dance, a Remington Beals or 1858.

Dan

 

[Coot]

Regarding CW era Colts, there were:

1851 Navy - .36 octagon barrel 6 shot
1860 Army - .44 6 shot round barrel
1861 Navy - .36 round barrel 6 shot
1862 Pocket Navy - .36 octagon barrel small frame 5 shot
1862 Pocket Police - .36 round barrel small frame 5 shot

I am not aware that the 1862 Navy was actually used by the USN. It is called a "navy" because of the .36 caliber as opposed to the .44 "army". Just to confuse things, records indicate that 1000 of the 1860 Army models (.44) were delivered to the Navy.

Re the most likely to be used by a particular Confederate Calvary unit (in your case the 17th VA), I cannot say. If I had to guess, I would say the 1860 Army which was produced in large numbers and was a very popular gun. There is also the question of issued vs battlefield pickup. If you are planning to join a reenactment unit or NSSA unit, you need to be certain as to what that unit uses/allows.

 

[Zonie]

In my opinion, it is unlikely that a Colt 1862 would have been used by anyone in the Virginia Calvary.

They were made in the North after the war had started and their 5 shot cylinder would leave a bit to be desired in a Warzone.

The pistols most likely to be carried would have been the Colt 1851 (.36 cal) or the Colt 1860 (.44 caliber). Although the South didn't issue these guns, many of these pistols were salvaged from battlefields.

The other pistols that may have been carried by the Virginia Calvary would have been one of the brass framed .1851 Colt copies.
The Griswold and Gunnison, Leech & Rigdon or Augusta Machine Works pistols were all of very limited issue do to production problems but they were made in the South.
The most obvious difference between these Southern guns and the Colts besides their brass frames was the barrels on most of these pistols were round rather than the Colt's octagon.

None of them by the way were in .44 caliber.

Another Southern brass framed gun was the Spiller & Burr, a .36 caliber copy of the Whitney revolver.

I feel there were also quite a few Remingtons in .44 caliber that were retrieved from the battlefields so those might be acceptable as well.
These would have been steel framed guns because the South never attempted to copy them in brass or in steel frames.

 

[pargent]

Almost anything goes as to rebel cav. pistols.A regement that had a past life as amilita unit might have carried ,Dragoons or Navies even Harper"s Ferries converted to cap lock.A latter [1862 on] would also have battle field pick ups, 1860 Armies,58 Remingtons as well as Confederate made revolvers. :hatsoff: :thumbsup:Mosby used Federal Cav. to resupply his Rangers.

 

[jaxenro]

From what I remember Mosby's men were supposed to have preferred 1860 Armies. Bill Anderson was thought to have carried 4 to 6 pocket police revolvers (only 5 shots but lighter so he could carry more, four 5 shots beating two 6 shot revolvers)

I think they carried what they could buy, borrow, beg, or steal

 

[torn moc]

....Keep in mind that the Virginia cavalry Loved to use Shotguns....

 

[Curt LaManna]

The original Confederate revolver is the "LeMat"
(pronounced "La-May"). Invented by a French-Born
Southern doctor, in 1856. It was a 9 shot .42 caliber revolver with an 18Ga shotgun barrel in the center.
There were 3 models for the CSA, 1st the Cavalry, Army and Navy models. I own 1 of the Pietta Italian Navy copies in .44 cal/18ga. It is a work of genius. Very well made replica and the central shotgun barrel is in the original 18Ga., although it is marked 20Ga.
It's a big gun. about 14" OAL.
If you want an original Southern gun that is finely made and unique, look at one of these!
and it's approved by the NSSA.
Dixie Gun Works carries them.

 

[tnlonghunter]

I would second (or third) the suggestions about anything going for Southern Cav. I don't know if the Virginia Cavalry ever fought in the Battle of Nashville, but my neighborhood was on the battlefield site (I was about 1/4 mile from Shy's hill and climbed up to where the gun emplacements are still visible a couple of times). My neighbor actually found a rusted-out 1858 Remington in his yard when he tilled it up for a garden. The cylinder was missing and obviously the grips were long gone, but you could pretty easily tell what model it was. It was pretty cool.

So, if you could find one in your back yard in 1990, then you could probably justify picking anything that you wanted, as long as there was evidence of it being used somewhere in the war.

 

[torn moc]

The Ultimate Southern Pistol :

9 shots of .44 cal + one .20 GUAGE smoothbore !

Thank you Mr Le Mat !

 

[Curt LaManna]

I like the period holster!
Where did you find it?
I have the Navy model as well.
It seems to have all of the original design flaws repaired. :thumbsup:

 

[Poor Private]

The Lamat Pistol was produced from 156-1865. Total production was in the 3-5000 range. They were not issued to the general cavalry trooper. Mostly due to cost and tuff for the blackade runners to get in from France. Generallyt the most widely known users of the LaMat were P.G.T. Beauregard, and J.E.B. Stuart. Mostly what was used was 51 colts and 60 army. And the few brass pistols manufactured in the south.

 

[Coot]

Checking two sites: www.civilwarcom/weapons/weapons-small-arms
http//civilwarhandguns.com
Gives us the following (approximate) numbers:

185,000 Colt Navys (mostly 1851s it seems)
150,000 Colt Armys
114,000 Remingtons
55,000 Starrs
33,000 Whitneys
& a smallish number of Allens, Savages and others

On the Confederate side, perhaps a total of 8,000 Griswald & Gunnison, Leech & Rigdon, Spiller & Burr, Schneider & Glassok, Dance, and others

Both sides also imported small numbers of european revolvers.

Without details relating to a specific unit or person, it looks like a Colt was the most likely handgun to be encountered with Remington a somewhat distant second.

 

[nkbj]

Were repro LeMats ever made in the HC .42?

 

[Coot]

Were repro LeMats ever made in the HC .42?

The repro LeMats that I have seen were made by Pietta and were .44/20 gauge. (AZ Longrifle in his post says his actually measures 18 gauge). I do not know if there are other repros out there. Forum member BP Revolver may have that info.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Were repro LeMats ever made in the HC .42?

The repro LeMats that I have seen were made by Pietta and were .44/20 gauge. (AZ Longrifle in his post says his actually measures 18 gauge). I do not know if there are other repros out there. Forum member BP Revolver may have that info.

Yeah, the fella known as BP Revolver is a REAL collector. If anybody would know, it would be him! If I recall correctly, in reading other posts of his, he has just about every pistol on the list :thumbsup: .

Dave

 

[tv_racin_fan]

I believe I ordered my flap holster from Midway or Track of the Wolf.
http://www.midwayusa.com/browse/Br...d=15722&categoryString=10613***694***12659***

Dixie Gun Works has a much more extensive selection.
http://www.dixiegunworks.com/default.php?cPath=22_98_527&osCsid=8b43ba7395aa6510ff86779df02721e2

Track of the Wolf has a nice selection as well.
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Cate...catID=1&subID=6&styleID=20&PageSize=10&Page=1

 

[Curt LaManna]

Thank you very much for the links.
I have the Dixie LeMat holster and it only comes in left hand. I need a right hand CS marked model.
I found this online: http://www.dellsleatherworks.com/lematholster.htm

 

[DanChamberlain]

Forgive me, I was referring to the 1861 Navy, not the 1862

Dan