Snowing to beat hell here today - 6" on the ground and more fallling .... enough to cancel our scheduled monthly CAS event. To avoid going stir crazy, I hauled out my back copies of "Man at Arms" magazines looking for something and rediscovered some of the great photos and articles the magazine has done on Colts over the years. Their photography is superb!
In the April 2010 issue is a full page colour spread of a great looking 1861 Navy-Navy conversion. Lots of close up detail.
The same issue has a b&w pic on the inside front cover (an ad for R.B. Berryman) of a 7-1/2" octagonal barrel, engraved, ivory gripped '51 R-M conversion; non-rebated cylinder.
It looks like my Uberti .38s with the S-lug barrel with one exception - it has the dimple or scallop cut on the right side of the barrel that you would expect to see on a percussion gun. It isn't exactly like that on a '51 or '61 conversion, which makes me wonder why it's even there. What purpose would it serve? Another Colt anomaly?
Then in the October 2008 issue is a two page colour spread of a Confederate Griswold & Gunnison. The caption reads:
"Griswold & Gunnison #663 came out of a family collection in New Orleans to a dealer in the mid-1990s. The pistol was unusual because it was in pristine condition for a Confederate handgun. Original bluing still remains in certain places. The gun was housed in a period Colt pistol case (not shown).
On the bottom of the case in period pencil was inscribed: "S. Logan M.D. Richmond, Va." Logan was a Confederate medical officer and head of the area containing South Carolina, most of Georgia and some of Florida during the war. He probably spent time in Richmond as well, since he was prominent in Confederate medical circles."
Then the December 2008 issue had a follow up on the G&G revolver with the pic of a Confederate bond bond promising a 6% return on a $1000 bond for the manufacture of G&G revolvers - "payable two years after the ratification of a treaty of peace with the United Staes". Needless to say, no such returns were paid out.
On the same page is the 1864-dated patent drawing issued to the Kittredge Co. for:
"A plate that holds percussion caps in place on the nipple and also acts as a shield to deflect sparks and other debris from discharged caps".
Looks like a R-M conversion but with percussion nipples still in place.
The snow stopped, 8" on the ground. Now I gotta go play with the snow blower .....