GUN SPRING 2017
The live portion of this session begins on Tuesday, April 11, 2017.
EXTREMELY RARE AND FINEST EXAMPLE OF EARLY LONDON MADE CONFEDERATE LEMAT GRAPESHOT REVOLVER, ONLY 4 EXAMPLES KNOWN. SN: 128. Cal. 42/18 ga. In the archives of the Confederate Memorial Hall, New Orleans, is a letter dated August 28, 1862 to General P.G.T. Beauregard from LeMat concerning the completion of revolvers in England by Girard. The date of this letter, no doubt, relates to the English patent filed April 15, 1862 which mirrors the Paris made revolvers still utilizing the reciprocating pin cylinder rotating and locking mechanism. There are so few London LeMats known with these early features, Alain Serpette, among the early LeMat researchers, notes only 4 guns of this genre: SNs 3, 9, 55 and 128. Doug Adams in his text The Confederate LeMat Revolver, 2005, also hypothesizes why these early guns exist. This correspondence cited moves it. The reciprocating pin mechanism was modified to a ratchet system like Colt in 1864 and Confederate Naval contract guns are all of this type with more modifications and should not be confused with these extremely rare 1862-1863 revolvers. Of the few examples known, all saw relatively hard use just like the Paris produced guns of these same years. This example no doubt, is the finest known example of this early London LeMat. These early guns are engraved not stamped "LEMAT & GIRARD'S PATENT LONDON" on top barrel flat. Ed Simmons wrote the chapter on LeMat revolvers in Confederate Handguns by Albaugh, Benet & Simmons, 1963 and is the only author other than Adams to state definitively that a handful of LeMat Revolvers were being made in England at the same time as in Paris during the earliest production. Cliff Young prized this rarity when it was part of his monumental LeMat collection. SIZE: PROVENANCE: Clifford Young Collection, listed by SN and model described on pgs 119-121 "Confederate Handguns" by Albaugh, Benet & Simmons, 1963; listed by SN "Colonel Fracois A. Le Mat", Alain F. Serpette, pg 53, 1995; listed by SN "LeMat The Man, The Gun", Forgett & Serpette, pg 77, 1996; listed by SN and model described in "The Confederate LeMat Revolver", Doug Adams, pg 79, 2005. CONDITION: Fine overall. Metal retains strong traces of thin blue. Matching SNs are found throughout. Fully functional with good bores and crisp markings. 51410-1 JS (20,000-30,000)