View Full Version : Need help identifying open frame revolver
fatheroffour
January 19, 2012, 05:01 PM
I have been searching for days for info about this gun. Any info would be great. Its a sa/da, six shot, gutta percha grip, bronze? frame, folding trigger, about a .32 ca - 7mm, 7 in overall, 3 1/4 in barrel
http://s630.photobucket.com/albums/uu22/Amtaurina/
Mike Irwin
January 19, 2012, 07:27 PM
Very likely French or Belgian, 1870s through 1890s, probably.
If you remove the cylinder I bet you'll find proof marks on the rear face, and that will go a long way towards identifying where it was made.
Pretty darned ornate.
fatheroffour
January 19, 2012, 09:14 PM
i looked behind the cylinder (that was one of the pictures i put up) and it was the same symbol that was under the trigger, and under the grips. the problem is i cant find that symbol anywhere. The only other problem is i cant get any info on the proof mark that looks like LL with an x over it on the left side of the frame. The style of the gun looks like a Lefaucheux pinfire, but obviously its not a pinfire.
SDC
January 19, 2012, 11:11 PM
The only likely possibility that I can find would be Leon Leclercque, a Belgian manufacturer who used a crowned "LL" as his maker's mark (see http://www.littlegun.be/arme%20belge/artisans%20identifies%20l/a%20leclercq%20leon%20gb.htm ). The trouble is, this should also have a number of other Belgian proofs, like an "R" with a star over it, and an "ELG". Have you had the grips off (very carefully, as they will be brittle) or the cylinder completely out of the frame?
fatheroffour
January 20, 2012, 08:50 PM
I took the grips, barrel, and cylinder off and the only mark stamped on everything is a 4. Its scribbed on the back side of the grips, on the frame under the grips, behind the cyli.der and the barrel, under the trigger and on the upper part of the trigger mechanism. I looked at those images of the LL you directed me to but on the zoomed in picture of the proof it lookes nothing like a crown. I'm just frustrated, i appreciate you guys looking though.
fatheroffour
January 20, 2012, 10:01 PM
To SDC,
Thank you. i believe that the website you pointed me to confirmed my thoughts that this gun was a conversion (or assembled with parts) of a Lefaucheux pinfire into a centerfire. The manufacturer Leon Leclercque was one of them that did those types of conversions. The 4 on the parts could be a serial number I guess. I need to do a little more digging but it helps to know that i may be on the right track.
I put up more pictures also if anyone has any other ideas. This time with the gun disassembled and all the parts pictured separately. It would also help greatly if someone had any idea of the worth.
http://s630.photobucket.com/albums/uu22/Amtaurina/
James K
January 20, 2012, 10:08 PM
If a conversion was done in Belgium, there still should be proof marks, as the gun would have to be proved with the new ammunition. If it were a Belgian gun in the first place, it would have had the original proof marks as well.
AFAIK, the only European country that made that type of gun and did not have a proof system in place at the approximate time would have been Spain.
Jim
mapsjanhere
January 20, 2012, 10:17 PM
I concur with JK, as generous the Belgians were with factory names to simulate more prominent manufacturing countries, the proof system was nearly always enforced. With no peron (candlestick) mark and no ELG, it's not likely it was made there.
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