Found a GUN!

[Minkey]

Found this while out metal detecting with the barrel just poking out of the ground near an old homesite. Anyone have any ideas on age? Thanks in advance!
(Mercury dime for scale)

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A Handbook of Civil War Bullets and Cartridges - Grab it through Amazon!

[Diggin Dude]

That's cool, hope someone can tell you some details.

 

[Deerhunter24]

Looks like a Webley to me. Very few early double action revolvers were break open to access the cylinder...except Webley...

 

[Deerhunter24]

Or I guess at least the Webley was one of the more popular ones

 

[NHBandit]

Antique "top break" revolver of some sort. Sorry but it looks nothing like a Webley. Notice the round shape where the top of the grips would go. Iver Johnson had a "owls head" grip that was similar to that shape. Made by a ton of companies in the late 1800s & early 1900s by companies like Iver Johnson, Smith & Wesson, Colt, Forehand & Wadsworth, Harrington & Richardson and a ton of lesser known companies. Near impossible to tell who made it unless you can find some markings,, usually on the top of the barrel. Most sell for less than $100 in working condition since the heat treating wasn't the greatest back in those days and they got loose (& dangerous) after minimal use. Common calibers were .32 S&W, .32 short, .38 S&W, etc. https://www.google.com/search?hl=en....1ac.1.42.img..5.13.1573.u0NbXa6Ou0w#imgdii=_

 

[relicmeister]

cool find,dude

 

[Deerhunter24]

Antique "top break" revolver of some sort. Sorry but it looks nothing like a Webley. Notice the round shape where the top of the grips would go. Iver Johnson had a "owls head" grip that was similar to that shape. Made by a ton of companies in the late 1800s & early 1900s by companies like Iver Johnson, Smith & Wesson, Colt, Forehand & Wadsworth, Harrington & Richardson and a ton of lesser known companies. Near impossible to tell who made it unless you can find some markings,, usually on the top of the barrel. Most sell for less than $100 in working condition since the heat treating wasn't the greatest back in those days and they got loose (& dangerous) after minimal use. Common calibers were .32 S&W, .32 short, .38 S&W, etc. https://www.google.com/search?hl=en....1ac.1.42.img..5.13.1573.u0NbXa6Ou0w#imgdii=_

First off, let me start out by saying that I looked at the pic for about 10 seconds. Keep in mind there isn't much to go on regarding this piece. I noticed that it was a break open revolver, WHICH WERE FAR LESS COMMON in terms of double action revolvers, especially throughout time. They are not as common as a standard cylinder that "pops out."

I said that Webley was one of the only ones, but changed it to "one of the more popular ones" IMMEDIATELY in my follow up post.

Fact is... open top revolvers weren't that popular for a very long period of time...when looking at the scope of gun making. Fact also is...that Webley was probably the largest producer of open top revolvers and for the longest period of time...in terms of years. Very popular in the UK and many found their way to the USA. They also produced MANY different models. There were a few pics that looked a lot closer to the one he found, but I couldn't copy the image location or save it, so I was forced to get a copy of a different Webley. But there were many different Webley's, some resembling it a bit more.

I apologize...all I was trying to do was be helpful and give the OP a starting point.




I certainly am no expert on break open revolvers, but me saying "only a few manufacturers" is not far from the truth, especially in the grand scheme of things.

Its certainly closer than saying "a ton" which implies 2000.

You listed 5...not close to a ton, if we are being specific.




Last, you listed Colt as a producer of Open Top Revolvers.

What open top revolver was ever produced by Colt other than the 1871 open top RIMFIRE revolver which looked absolutely nothing like this gun. In fact, it resembled and paved the way for the Colt SAA.

This is a serious question. I'm a collector of Colt firearms and I've never heard of or seen a double action, open top revolver produced by Colt. I only know the 2 different open top, Single action, RIMFIRE revolvers that were produced for like 6 or 8 years. Both of which do not even come close tot resembling this gun.