This is a good early western double-action .44 caliber cartridge revolver. The pistol itself is a Civil War Starr .44 army percussion revolver, about 23,000 of which were made by the Starr Arms Company in Binghamton, NY, with the vast majority going to the government on contract or by purchase agreement. This one was converted from percussion to the use of self-contained cartridges, likely about 1872 or 1873 when patents for “bored-through” cylinders, inadvertently held by Smith and Wesson, expired and gun-makers and dealers raced to make the most of it, the best known example being Colt’s Richard-Mason conversions and, eventually, the 1873 Single-Action Army.

This Starr was converted by milling off the rear of the cylinder to take the cartridges, boring out the chambers slightly, fitting a conversion ring at its rear, installing a new hammer and likely some minor interior adjustments like installing a new hand. This work involved cleaning, polishing, and rebluing. The metal forward of the cylinder shows some light pitting from firing, likely during its first service, but generally a thin faded blue, with better color on cylinder, which does not show a serial number, and some thin case on the hammer. The markings on the frame, which was less involved in the conversion process are quite strong: “STARR. ARMS . CO. NEW. YORK.” on the left, and “STARR’S PATENT JAN. 15, 1856” on the right. The grips show numerous dings and handling marks. These could be from the gun’s wartime service, but more likely come from everyday rough handling by a later owner (let’s picture a real cowhand here,) who bought it as a less expensive alternative to a brand-new Colt.

These are always referred to as double-action, though purists note the mechanism is a bit different: the trigger only rotates the cylinder and cocks the gun. The actual firing takes place as the trigger engages a second trigger when pulled back completely. This likely mattered less to the cowboy using it than firing as many rounds as possible as fast as possible when he needed to.  [sr] [ph:L]

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