The Black Powder Revolver Collector Forum

[ShotgunDave]

Hey fellas, let's not forget the Black Powder Revolver Collector Forum.

https://blackpowdersmoke.com/revolvers/index.php

There is a LOT of great information over there, and for the most part it's sitting idle. I really hate to loose it due to inactivity.

The Capt has made me an Admin on that board. I'm going to try to breath some life into it. I may even try to move some of that information over here.

So go over and have a look again, if you haven't been there in a while.

[G Dog]

Lots of good pichers there, too.  Well worth a visit.

[ShotgunDave]

Lots of good pichers there, too.  Well worth a visit.

Yessir, you're absolutely right.

I may bring some of the great pictures over here. If no one objects.

[Captainkirk]

No objections on my part.

[sourdough]

What is the definition of a collector gun?

Jim

[Hawg]

What is the definition of a collector gun?

Jim

Usually something rare or unusual and in pristine condition or nearly so. If very rare condition doesn't matter as much.

[sourdough]

Usually something rare or unusual and in pristine condition or nearly so. If very rare condition doesn't matter as much.

I realize that concerning original 19th century, Colt 2nd/3rd Gen, etc., firearms. I am speaking about imports. There are many replicas that were made decades ago, to include various distributors, variations, short runs, etc. Do the many guns that Davis (RPRCA) collected that are fairly scarce qualify? Does condition matter?

Case in point: I have a Pietta 1851 Navy .36 4-screw cut for shoulder stock (AZ/1990) with brass BS/TG. Pietta has not made one of these in over 2 decades since they went to CNC machining. However, Pietta does market an 1861 Navy .36 4-screw cut for shoulder stock with a steel BS/TG (the strange part being that the BS does not have the shoulder stock attachment "divot").

What is to preclude someone from swapping out the 1861 barrel assembly for an 1851 Navy barrel assembly and calling it a "collector" item (other than the date code on the frame)?





I have a Pietta Rigdon & Ansley parts gun that Pietta never made.

How would anyone know if Pietta ever made any of these "one-off" guns?

I have a genuine Pietta Dance .36 (one of 35 ever produced) that never appeared in any Pietta catalogs. Would that be a spurious revolver?



Just asking the questions, sir.

Regards,

Jim

[G Dog]

sourdough - Did that lovely Dance .36 come stock from Pietta with a square TG or did you swap it in?  At a production run of only 35 units I guess it qualifies as ‘collectable’.

Why do you wonder if it’s ‘spurious’?

[Captainkirk]

To me, more than one gun qualifies as a collection. They don't need to be rare, old or original. It's nice to have experienced collectors weigh in on value or rarity, but if you have, say, a collection of all recent production Pietta confed repops that would certainly qualify as a collection in my book.

[Hawg]

To me, more than one gun qualifies as a collection. They don't need to be rare, old or original. It's nice to have experienced collectors weigh in on value or rarity, but if you have, say, a collection of all recent production Pietta confed repops that would certainly qualify as a collection in my book.

I believe he was asking what made a gun a collector item.

Sourdough you're asking questions I can't answer. Dr Davis only wanted guns for his museum that were collector pieces. Obviously he wanted the best specimens he could get. I had posted somewhere, probably TFL about a Pietta .36 Remington I had and he saw the post and sent me a PM asking me to call him. We had quite a lengthy conversation and I learned a lot from him. Long story short he wanted to buy my Pietta for his museum. He wanted it because it was imported by Pioneer Arms and he had never heard of Pioneer importing bp revolvers. The gun had a very obvious cylinder ring and the nipples had been changed but he didn't care. He wanted it for the markings and offered me a premium over a standard Pietta .36. This is the gun in question and as you can see it is far from pristine. So I guess the answer is it depends.

[sourdough]

sourdough - Did that lovely Dance .36 come stock from Pietta with a square TG or did you swap it in?  At a production run of only 35 units I guess it qualifies as ‘collectable’.

Why do you wonder if it’s ‘spurious’?

I guess I should have worded my post a bit differently. I was only comparing it with "parts" guns like some of mine (and possibly created by others) to express the idea that just because it did not appear in a Pietta catalog it would not be a factory piece. I do not believe it to be spurious with the documentation provided by Davis. I started two threads recently about replica Dance guns on two different forums (below). It also explains the SB TG on both Pietta and (earlier) Uberti Dance revolvers.

https://blackpowdersmoke.com/colt/index.php/topic,3417.0.html

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/1862-j-h-dance-36-replica.166174/

Regards,

Jim

[sourdough]

Hawg, I appreciate your reply very much. Davis was very much into markings by different distributors for the RPRCA collection, and that fact is borne out with the Davis offerings on the October Country website.

Thus, it is why I posited my question. All I am looking for from the mods is an answer about what guns are acceptable for this section of the forum.

Nothing more.

Jim

[Captainkirk]

Hawg, I appreciate your reply very much. Davis was very much into markings by different distributors for the RPRCA collection, and that fact is borne out with the Davis offerings on the October Country website.

Thus, it is why I posited my question. All I am looking for from the mods is an answer about what guns are acceptable for this section of the forum.

Nothing more.

Jim

Jim, any BP pistol or revolver is "acceptable". Whether others will view it as rare, unusual or collectible is up to them. I've posted about my R&S, Baby Dragoon, and Starr revolvers, though none are original nor unique (with the exception that both the Starr and R&S are out of production), with the exception of the Baby Dragoon, which Dr. Davis was quite interested in due to the unusual markings and lack of Gardone proof markings. There are no hard and fast rules about what qualifies as collectible though, and nobody is going to tell you that a gun you've posted won't be allowed. In fact, posting about some vague, unusual gun or markings is what spurs interest and can actually take a gun from being "that old thing" to something of rarity, due to the unusual markings or other features.
I would not post a garden variety Pietta Remington, but I sure would post my recent Santa Barbara Remington for that very reason.
What makes a gun "collectible"? Generally, rarity or unusual markings. But the Collector's Forum is no hangout for highbrow snobs, and anything you could post would be welcomed, including historical facts that not every gun collector knows about.

[sourdough]

Thanks, Cap'n!

JIm

[ShotgunDave]

Jim, I was trying to come up with the right words for a reply, but the Capt beat me to it.