The Spiller & Burr Revolver

[Hawg]

It's a dang good looking replica whoever made it. The barrel on most Whitney's reads E. Whitney N. Haven.

[rommer25]

The treads on a nipple might tell you if it's real or copy: just a thought. My Spiller & Burr take the standard size, the same as my Remingtons. I don't know who made it. I brought it as a kit back around 1970. It cost me about $18.00.

[pohill]

I think mine might have been a kit, too. Does yours have any numbers or marks at all? This might sound dumb, but do imported gun kits, or the barrels in a kit, have to be proofed where they're made?

[rommer25]

The numbers 175 on the underside of the barrel and on the brass under the grips. The barrel had Black Powder Only and Cal. 36. As I recall, these were the only markings. I did replace the front sight with a blade one.

If you look real close, you can see a brass spacer I had to put behind the barrel a couple of years ago. I took the barrel off and when I put it back on, the sight was no longer 90 degrees to the frame. I had to but a small washer and file it to fit. It did not effect the accuracy.

[mykeal]

do imported gun kits, or the barrels in a kit, have to be proofed where they're made?

Yes. In fact, barrels are the only part proofed and they are proofed separately regardless of whether they're part of a kit or to be used in a finished gun.

[pohill]

Interesting. What about the cylinders?
Also, do you know if there is any formula for the size of a power charge used in a proofing? (over load or under load) I know it's like test driving a car, but do they do it around the neighborhood or on the Indy track?

[Hawg]

Original Remington Beals or clone?

[sundance44s]

Original Remmie ./ or the grips are anyway .

[Riot Earp]

It ain't a Beals 'cause the hammer and loading lever web are wrong.

It looks like an old Uberti, from the 60's or early 70's, that's been beat up.

[madcratebuilder]

There are a lot of very well done fakes out there. So well that they fool the experts. Some that have required metallurgy testing to determine the age. With the price of some of these old guns there is a lot of incentive to build a fake. Looking at a 800X600 pixel photo on a monitor ain't going to tell you much, except obvious errors.

[madcratebuilder]

Original Remington Beals or clone?

The grip screw ferrule appears authentic. I think the rest may have an Italian accent. Like riot said the loading lever looks to be different. It's hard to tell comparing photos.

[Riot Earp]

Early Ubertis have that same ferrule. I owned an old one that looked just like that.

[Hawg]

It's a Rigarmi I bought new in 69. All but the loading lever anyway. I dunno what it fits I bought it from DGW on the off chance I could make it work as mine was broken. It took some fitting. It fits snug against the barrel in the rear and has a gap in the front but it works fine. I bought it when I was 12 and it was used really hard for a few years and then spent some time in my moms attic. It looked really funny with no bluing left, a few minor pits and some rust with a new blued loading lever so I defarbed it and rusted it up a lil more to give it a more authentic look. It's still my best shooter. Been thinking about putting it through electrolisis and removing the rust, That will also give it a dull gray color that ought to look pretty decent.

[Riot Earp]

I like the grain in the grips.

It looks like it was dug up from a battlefield.

[Hawg]

Battlefield dig ups are a lot worse. Looks like an old house find. I actually found an original in an old barn. It cleaned up to be shootable but looked worse. Wish I'd kept it.

[mykeal]

Originally Posted by pohill

Interesting. What about the cylinders?
Also, do you know if there is any formula for the size of a power charge used in a proofing? (over load or under load) I know it's like test driving a car, but do they do it around the neighborhood or on the Indy track?

Good question. I forgot about the cylinders. Yes, they're also proofed and carry separate proof stamps.

Proof loads are legislated in terms of pressure. The proof house calculates the propellant load that will produce a given pressure depending on projectile, caliber and several other factors. I don't recall the proof pressure requirements in Italy.

[pohill]

I've always wondered if proofing a BP gun can cause damage that might not show up for some time. The original Walkers, for example - some of the cylinders blew up in the field, and I wonder what kind of proofing Colt did to those before he sent them out. Either too much or too little BP used in their testing would cause a problem in its own way.

[sundance44s]

I doubt they ever sell the guns used for proofing ..these could have damage unseen ..I think the proofing is done to insure with normal loading the guns made from a batch of steel will hold up to recomended loads .
The problem with the Walkers ..I read so don`t quote me on this ...I read that in the heat of battle or at night pickett bullets were loaded backwards ..and this caused the cylinders to blow apart . Sounds reasonable to me .
I know Smith & Wesson fires every model 500 50 cal they produce ...but it isn`t for proofing the steel ...it`s to insure with normal factory loads ..they will hold together ...that is a monster of a loading .

[mykeal]

If the testing is not done on each production unit then it is not true proof testing. It's design testing, a completely different animal altogether. Design testing is done to much higher loads and it's relationship to the production units is established by inspection and manufacturing tolerances. I don't believe any true proof testing is conducted by US gun manufacturers. By law, all European guns (that is, each and every production article) must be proof tested and the units stamped to show the testing was conducted.

[Riot Earp]

According to the Spiller & Burr auction at http://www.invaluable.com/auction-lo...1-c-9i2bnrxggp, the loading lever assembly and hammer were originally casehardened. This is the first I've read of this. I always thought the lever was blued, as on the replicas.

[Hawg]

I read that in the heat of battle or at night pickett bullets were loaded backwards ..and this caused the cylinders to blow apart

Loading the bullet backwrds wouldn't be a problem. The problem was the cylinders were made of iron not steel. Higher velocity loads than any other revolver ever made with poor quality iron was what caused the cylinders to fail.

[Indian Outlaw]

My gun arrived. How do I determine if the chambers are aligned with the barrel? I shined a light down the barrel but couldn't see much. Is there a better way?

[Hawg]

Get a wooden dowel that just fits the bore and slide it down the bore with the hammer down. If it stops before it bottoms out in the cylinder it's out of line. Not likely to be so on a newly manufactured gun tho.

[Riot Earp]

Is this what I think it is?

http://www.pietta.us/products/Muzzle...r_1862_02.html

[pohill]

Not a bad looking Pietta version.

To check the alignment, I put the gun at full cock and shine a light down the barrel. You shouldn't see any "half moons" or slivers where the barrel and cylinders meet.