Hi Marty
The English D/A revolvers, both percussion and cartridge, were considerably more robust and reliable than the various US attempts. As a consequence they were quite sought after, not only in the US but also in other parts of the World (Canada, Africa, Australia, NZ, etc). The British revolvers had sturdy mechanisms and also fired large calibres (.44, .45) which gave them good stopping power. George Custer carried a pair of .450 Webley D/A revolvers (not that they helped him in the end!). The US D/A revolvers up until the 1890’s were rather fragile but the solid-frame Colt New Service and the S&W New Century changed the playing field.
Cheers
Rod
PS. There is a US Cooper .31 pocket D/A percussion revolver from the 1860’s on TM at present.
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Hi Rod, I too have read about Custer carrying a pair of (R.I.C.) Webleys ... but my research suggests that the Battle where he died was BEFORE that gun was made by Webley - Any ideas??
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Hi Marty The battle of the Little Big Horn was in 1876. Webley introduced the very successful .442 RIC revolver in 1867. A photo exists that shows Custer and his wife in their home, and hanging on the wall in the background are two RIC Webleys. Cheers Rod
Old Photograph Showing Custers Revolvers
In A Rack On The Wall.
- Now I have found an excellent Guns & Ammo story about Custers revolvers on line - Link:
http://www.gunsandammo.com/historical/custers-last-gun-webley-ric-revolver/
That G&A story is well worth viewing.
Link to my earlier piece on D/A Percussion Revolvers:
https://flicense.blogspot.co.nz/2017/06/double-action-percussion-revolvers.html
- And I did a speculative story about Custer's guns
way back on 10th December 2015 - LINK:
https://flicense.blogspot.co.nz/2015/12/custers-guns-galand-sommerville.html
The Battle of The Little Big Horn is a fascinating subject to read about
& I guess that all attempts to sort exactly what Custer may have been carrying will be
informed "guesses" as they are long gone into history.
Marty K.
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