GUN FALL 2015
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/5/2015
VERY FINE CONFEDERATE LEMAT GRAPESHOT REVOLVER. LEMAT GRAPESHOT 1820 42 42 Cal./18 Bore. This is a very fine orig example of the standard production LeMat grape-shot revolver. Standard production guns, often called 2nd Models, feature improvements made by LeMat that worked the best after lots of service in the field by Confederates in the field reporting problems in the early Civil War years, including Colt style ratchet system to turn cyl. The revolver has the distinctive LeMat 9-shot cyl. 42 caliber rifled bbl with smooth bore ''grape-shot'' 18 ga bbl for firing buckshot. The top bbl flat is marked "Col. LeMat Bte s.g.d.g. Paris" which is the standard addressing on LeMat standard production guns. There were about 2000 Paris made LeMat revolvers all made for Confederate service and few survive retaining so much of their orig finish such as this example. This example appears 100% orig & authentic in every regard with matching SNs & secondary numbers on every part normally numbered including bbl, shotgun bbl, loading arm, removable rammer, plunger, ramrod screw, frame, trigger, hammer, cyl, frame latch, grips, grip screw and no doubt other internal parts if gun had been further disassembled. LeMat revolvers were prized by their Confederate owners (and the Yankee capturers too). Many notable Confederate Generals and Officers were known to have carried these unique weapons. In Charles Frazier’s 1997 National Book Awards winning Cold Mountain the book’s hero Inman proudly owned a pair of LeMat revolvers showing how well known this particular revolver is among modern culture. CONDITION: Gun overall is plum/gray overall, retaining much of its orig bright finish on bbl, frame & cyl though blue has turned mostly dark plum in color. Scattered areas of staining & pitting. Bbl address and SNs are all crisp and well defined. This gun by NRA standards grades very good-fine, by Confederate standards it is an excellent example. Stocks are crisp, solid & sound, very well fit with crisp checkering, good color & grain with few minor blemishes unaffecting aesthetics. Mechanically gun functions well. 49166-1 JS (15,000-25,000)