Probable Belgian Pinfire Folding Trigger

andrewsw16

August 19, 2010 22:35

This one's a plane jane with no engraving and no proof marks. I went over it with a bright light and a magnifying glass. It does match up with some Belgian folding trigger pinfire revolvers from the 1850's and 1860's. If anyone knows a model number, DOM, or anything else you might consider interesting, I would appreciate it. The only mark I found was the numeral 3 under two dots on the left side of the frame under the grips, just below the grip alignment pin. What I did find remarkable was the suicidal front sight. That nasty thing would almost certainly have hung up badly when trying to get the pistol out of a coat pocket during an emergency. But, some gun makers put form over function. Here are the happy snaps.

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  nmyers

  August 20, 2010 00:28

  We think in terms of a factory producing finished products, but cheap guns were produced in Europe during the latter half of the 19th century by a cottage industry. We know little about the small caliber pinfires such as this. Small shops in Belgium & Germany would buy the basic parts, & do final assembly. In the late 1800's, many were put together with rimfire parts.
  
  There are no model numbers, just hundreds of variations due to hand assembly. In nice condition, those with engraving & special grips are collectible, but not valuable; plain models might bring $20-50. Rusted & pitted guns like yours will bring somewhat less.
  
  Yours probably looked something like this at one time:
  
  
  
  
  Neal

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  Hawk Carse

  August 20, 2010 06:15

  Belgians are good about running their guns through the proof house and getting them tested and marked. Unless the OP's gun has just plain rusted off the marks, it might be a Spanish copy even cheaper than a no-name Belgian revolver.
  
  Spanish because the Spaniards have been well known copiers for a long time. No Country X has the reputation.
  
  The 3 and dots were applied by a man long dead for a reason long forgotten. Maybe it was just Pablo, assembler No 3 making sure he would get paid for piecework.

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  andrewsw16

  August 20, 2010 14:24

  I agree it may be a non-Belgian copy as the Belgians did seem to be pretty diligent about stamping things on anything that even slowed down for a second. LOL Does anyone have an idea of the significance of the 3 and two dots stamped on the grip frame? Also, if it is a copy, is there some justification to attributing it as a Spanish copy instead of a country X copy?

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