September 20th 2015 Premier Firearms Sale
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/19/2015
.38 bore percussion with 4" barrels. The term 'Brevette' is basically a conjunctive term for firearms manufactured in Europe utilizing existing American firearms designs and making unlicensed copies of those weapons. This is such a pair. The basic design used was the Colt Model 1849 pocket revolver. The top of the barrels are stamped "Address Col Sam l New Model U.S. Patented". The left side of the frame is stamped "Cal .38". The European proof marks can be found on top of the barrel, the cylinder, frame, and on the side of the barrel. Factory high polish blue on the octagon barrel and cylinder which has a Naval battle scene engraving. Frame is case colored. Back strap and trigger guard are nickel plated. Two piece walnut grips. Neither revolver bears any serial number. Both revolvers are five shot single action. Neither revolver shows any sign of having been fired. Cylinder walls are clean raw steel with the original grease. Frame and loading lever retain virtually all of the original case colors. Grips are near mint. Trigger guard and back strap retain all of the factory nickel finish. The barrel and cylinder retain approximately 80% of the original factory blue finish with the balance simply flaked to smooth patina. All legends are perfect. These Colt unlicensed products were widely used during the Civil War in the southern states as they were available through the blockade runners that brought them over from Europe. They are of high quality and are both in beautiful near mint unused condition. It would be impossible to find a finer pair of Colt Brevettes. They would be worthy of a display case. These revolvers have become quite collectible in their own right as Colt collectors have begun to purchase these as examples for their collection, and have always been popular with Civil War collectors.