Leech & Rigdon enroute

[Coot]

I made a deal with a seller on GunsAmerica and now have a Leech & Rigdon made by High Standard in the 1970s enroute. Seller claims that the gun appears as new & I hope he is accurate in his description. I haven't bought anything but flinters for years but as noted in another post, I am a big High Standard fan & the price on this gun looked pretty good.

 

[Zonie]

Good Luck to you.

Hopefully the seller has seen a new gun before. Some of them seem to think a few scratches come on brand new guns. :rotf:

 

[LeMat1856]

don't be a teaser - post some pix !!

i have no idea what a leech & rigdon is, and by posting here, maybe we could add eyes that might spot something you might have missed.

is this a reproduction or original ? is it expensive and did you get a "too good to be true" deal... not always a good thing, as you know.

~daniel~
ps. yes, i know i should get a life but sadly this was the only one available at the time.

 

[Zonie]

The Leech & Rigdon is one of the 1851 Colt copies that was made for the Confederacy.

According to the book CONFEDERATE HANDGUNS by William Albaugh, III, Hugh Benet Jr. and Edward Simmons

"...the products of Thomas Leech and Charles H. Rigdon are ...among the best that were made in the South and, except for minor variations, they all conform to type. They closely resemble the Colt Navy model of 1851 from which they were copied. The major difference was their "dragoon type" barrel, made part round instead of fully octagon because it took less time to produce and was easier to assemble.
All are six-shot, .36 caliber, with iron frames and brass backstraps and trigger guards. Most are stamped Leech & Rigdon CSA on top of the barrel..."
(This book goes into great detail about the history of the company that made these guns.)

Flaydermans Guide confirms that the Leech & Rigdon had a "...casehardened frame, brass guard and backstrap left bright." which is unlike the brass framed Confederate guns made by Griswold & Gunnison, Schneider & Glassick and others.

These guns were originally made in Columbus, Mississippi and Greensboro Georga. About 1500 of them were produced.

 

[Coot]

I can't post any pictures until it gets to me. :grin: It is a reproduction - in my post I said that it was made by High Standard in the 1970s. The fact that High Standard made it is one of the reasons that I was attracted to the gun. When they were still in business, High Standard made some of the (IMHO) best pistols. In the 1970s they did a small run of reproduction Confederate revolvers - the Leech & Rigdon, the Griswald & Gunnison & the Schnieder & Glassick. All are minor variants of the Colt 1851 Navy.