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A friend of mine just bought a 38WCF Bisley made in 1895.
The thing looks real great.

After careful cleaning, he spotted a faint design on the butt:

It looks like an anchor, but it is certainly not the usual Navy design.
Has anyone seen anything like this before?

You may have noticed from a few of my previous posts that I am rather into 1851s. I must admit that is true, as I find them more esthetically satisfying than any other design, except maybe the 1861 Navy, an excellent mix between the 1851 and 1860.
Another one of my singularities is that I favor more obscure makers over Pietta and Uberti. I own one Pietta (a 1851 that I turned into a Dance revolver) and a few Ubertis (one 1851, two 1861s, one 1862 Pocket Police, and one Griswold & Gunnisson), but I rather tend to pick other brands when I can.
One brand I was glad I could secure a specimen of is Palmetto. This particular Italian brand has not got too good a reputation these days. In its heyday it used to make replicas of models which were not very common but excellent quality.
Anyway, my 1851 Navy Colt Palmetto was made in 1981. It is the 4 screw model, which should allow it to be used with a detachable shoulder stock. Now the backstrap is brass and does not have a milled groove for the attachment of a shoulder stock. Stange will you say ? Yes, but historically correct, as will attest the description on page 73 in Nathan Swayze's book "51 Colt Navies". We all know Colonel Colt was tight-fisted. So surplus 4 screw frames have been matched with normal backstraps and issued to the civilian market.
Thus is my Palmetto historically correct ? Well, in fact , no it is not. How come will you ask ? Well again, take a look at the cylinder. It is completely devoid of engraving. No naval battle or anything else. Not even a mention of Colt's Patent. Now, that is something our good short-tempered Colonel would never have allowed. No revolver of his making would ever leave his factory without his trademark cylinder engravings. So this Palmetto 1851 is a kind of hodgepodge, and that's what makes it special and worthy to me.
Without further ado (I guess that intro is long enough as it is), here are a few pictures :

The fourth screw, milled shield, and blank cylinder :

The butt, with scars but without a milled groove :

Finally, this is what Dr Jim Dais wrote me about it : "You have got yourself a very very rare replica.  The 1851 Navy CSS 4-Screw by Pietta is extremely rare but one by Palmetto is even more rare.  Palmetto came into being in around 1980.  They supplied Dixie Gun Works with Remington NMA.  When Armi San Marco ceased production with the death of Bufalo, his son teamed up with Palmetto to restart percussion production.  Did not last.  These late production Palmetto's are rare and will have great collector value."

Leech and Rigdons are very hard to find around here. I would say I don't see a handful in a year, and when any comes to pass by, it fetches prices such that I can't afford.
Sooooo, after waiting for ages and trying to curb my impatience, I eventually made up my mind to make one myself from a 1851 Navy.
I was lucky to find an old (1972) Rigarmi which I thought fit for the task :

I had the octagon barrel turned by a mechanic and then drowned it in some white vinegar to even the color. I then filed and sanded the cylinder to remove the cylinder scene, and there is my Leech & Rigdon :

I since kick my own butt repetedly for using the only proper 1851 Rigarmi I ever found. At least I was able to keep the RAG marking on the barrel lug...

Please don't flame me for the quality of the pictires. I am no photographer, and my camera does its best to balance my clumsiness. 

Hello all !
I am a french collector of italian black powder replicas, mostly of Colt revolvers designed between 1848 and 1862, 31 and 36 caliber. To be more specific : the Colt belt pistol, also known as the 1851 revolver of Navy caliber, and its ancestors, offshoots and Confederate clones : the 1848 Baby Dragoon, 1949 Pocket, 1861 Navy, 1862 Pocket and Pocket Police, and the Griswold & Gunnisson, Schneider & Glassick, Dance & Brothers, and Leech & Rigdon. To be true, when I say "collector", I should add that my collection is a very limited one, as I can't afford to grab every specimen I set my eyes upon. Aside the financial reason, my better half does not see my collection in a really positive way. 
I started some 40 years ago, when I tried to buy my first replica, and came back from the store with an alarm gun because the real ones were too expensive for me. I soon sold it, as it really did not feel like the real thing. After a 5 years hiatus, I bought what I thought was a firing replica while holidaying in Spain. It turned out to be a Denix, and ended up as a wall hanger. When the grip got broken during a heated argument between my daughter and one of her friends, I just ditched the thing and thought that was that.
Then 4 years ago, I had to visit an armory,  and while talking with the sales assistant I happened to mention that I had not seen any black powder replica in years and I asked if they still were made and sold. The man did not have any in his store, but gave me a catalogue. I spent some time reading it and daydreaming, then I did some researching on the Internet and found a few french forums which I visited. I received enough advice there to soon find myself the proud and happy owner of an ASM Navy replica. From then, it grew on me and I built my collection of guns and reference books.
Not having any reliable gunstore in my hometown, I rely on internet sites to find and buy new replicas and books. That may be a good thing, when you come to think of it, as I am not tempted as much as I would be if I only had to go into the nearest pawn shop.
One last thing : I try and collect only replicas from the 1960s and early 1970s, and I have a soft spot for the obscure makers as GLB, who I find built fine replicas.