A strange WW1 pistol...

[yo6oej]

Found it by a fisherman...a non seeker friend of mine...in a mountain river (27 km near my location)

Could be a WW 1 romanian pistol...but I am not sure about that...

 

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[goldgrubber]

Re: WW1 pistol...

Cool relic.

 

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[trikikiwi]

Re: WW1 pistol...

Hi guys, I'm a newbie here so please excuse my jumping in on this but I so have some experience with firearms.

This weapon bares a striking resemblance to a 455 Webley a British made gun used and issued during the late 1800's to early 1900's. The size of the rounds used in this weapon were huge.

The barrel appearing to be larger than the cylinder could be just an optical illusion but could have also be caused by the rare and often deadly situation of a missfired round being stuck in the barrel and another round being fired right after it causing the barrel to expand and often to to explode. Once this situation has occurred the gun is usless and maybe the reason it was discarded.

I can attest to this happening as I had a S&W model 10 .38 cal that this happened to and it warped the barrel signifigantly giving the gun a very strange bulge in the middle and a very large opening at the end.

Hope this helps and again sorry for busting in.

Merlyn

Welcome Merlyn. No need to apologise. Everyone is free to post. This is a public Forum and any input is always welcome.

And, excellent additional pics yo6oej It appears the bore of the barrel and of the cylinder are the same.
Mike

 

[TiredIron]

Re: WW1 pistol...

Thanks for taking the time for the extra photos and correct measurements with the calipers. All the new correct dimensions add up to a normal revolver pistol of the 1880-1900's. It fired a low pressure black powder type cartridge. Since the monetary value is fairly low it would be an interesting candidate for electrolysis cleaning and possible disassembly. With the cylinder out it would be easier to make a more positive identification. Any dug firearm (in your case netted) has great sentimental value and makes for great tales. The first pics and dimensions sure stirred every bodies imaginations...especially uniformly swelling the barrel to enormous dimensions as thought by the pics.
Thanks again

TiredIron
It would be my fantasy to dig up one of Pancho Villa's many weapons caches.....

 

[yo6oej]