July 30th 2016 Premier Firearms Sale (20)
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/30/2016
3-1/8" barrel in .44 percussion caliber. This revolver started life in 1862 as a standard military issue and inspected should stock-cut U.S. issue Army revolver. After the war, thousands of these revolvers found their way on the Westward trail. This gun was period altered and very professionally done by shortening the barrel, removing the ramrod, and setting a knife blade front sight. All of this work was performed at the time, as you can see a century of patina around all of the alterations. This revolver has all matching numbers with the exception of the un-numbered wedge. Numerous military proof marks can be found on backstrap, barrel, and cylinder. The rebated cylinder has a 90% still visible Naval battle scene. Revolver sports the original one piece walnut grips with brass trigger guard. It is a six shot single action percussion. All metal parts are now a gun metal grey, smooth with sharp legends. Action lines up and indexes perfectly. Strong bore with minor black powder residue. These period altered "Snubbies" were popularized in the mid-19th century by the stories of Porter Rockwell, the personal bodyguard for Brigham Young, whose nickname was "The Destroying Angel". He was reputed to have carried up to 15 such altered handguns on his person at a time. In the famous book "Gunfighters of the West" there is an excellent example of a Snubbie 1860 that was owned by noted gunman Dallas Stoudenmire. Due to the stories of Porter Rockwell, these altered handguns have become collectively known as an "Avenging Angel". They have an extremely storied history amongst the illuminaries of the old West, and are no longer looked at by collectors as altered firearms and are judged on their own character. This example is extremely clean and comes in a period unmarked 'Slim Jim' holster that was altered to house this handgun. The leather is soft but has numerous areas of age checking and a worn area where hammer rests. Given that this revolver was not converted to cartridge, the era of this holster is correct for this gun and most of these were worn with ex-U.S. military belts. Looking down the barrel of these large bore snub nose revolvers gives one a real sense of their menacing potential and truly represents what is now referred to as the "Wild West".