SHORT BARREL LEFAUCHEUX PINFIRE REVOLVER

$1,695.00

Quantity Available: 1

Item Code: 490-7191

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With protruding firing pins the cartridges for pinfire revolvers seem to be asking for trouble, but their early appearance gave them a lead in the market for self-contained metallic cartridges with no worries about wet or damp cartridges and no fumbling for percussion caps. Many Lefaucheux pinfires made their way into this country before and during the war through commercial channels, some by way of southern ports: Stonewall Jackson received a very fancy presentation version. They were also purchased by the U.S. government in significant numbers for military issue: estimates run as high as 12,000.

This is a very good example of the short version of the Model 1854, using a 4-3/4” barrel instead of a 6-1/4” barrel. These were first produced on an 1859 order from the Kingdom of Sardinia with deliveries starting in 1861, so they were around when US and Confederate arms purchasers were scouring Europe and some might have made their way here, in the large purchase through Schuyler of some 10,000 or in the smaller lots by Raphael (954) of Boker (52,) though we have not seen any in the few Civil War photos of soldiers with Lefaucheux revolvers and Schwalm and Hoffman, “European Arms in the Civil War,” confine themselves to the longer barreled version.

This is in very good condition, military style with spur triggerguard and lanyard ring in the butt cap, with smooth metal and lots of thinning, but very evident blue on the barrel assembly, forward frame and cylinder, perhaps 60%, with the rear of the frame, recoil shield, triggerguard, and grip straps a thin brown, with the rear of the hammer and loading gate showing some slightly crusty blue. The front sight is in place, showing brown, with a  little speckling to the surrounding blue at the muzzle. There are some narrow scratches on top the top flat of the breech. The grips have good color, but with some nicks above the screw escutcheon on the right and three small holes or chips below it with a darker toned strip down to the butt cap indicating some repair might have been done. The buttcap shows a mix of silver gray and some thin blue. The lanyard ring and ejector rod show as a thin brown. The lower right frame is clearly and deeply stamped “LF” and “32949.” We see no “brevete” or Liege markings, indicating it was produced directly by LeFaucheux rather than by a licensee. See Schwalm and Hofmann, and McAulay’s Civil War Pistols for details on these revolvers. for details on these revolvers.  Mechanics function well.  [sr] [ph:L]

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