Guardian Model of 1878 Question

[Slowhand]

I just acquired this Guardian Model of 1878 made by Clement & Fagnus Co. 9 mm. I know what a Lefaueux Style looks like. LeFaucheux was a French arquebusier who invented the pin fire ignition system. I've done some reading on pin fires and appreciate their history and development.



It's in great shape.



The Gun Broker Pictures did her no justice.  These are mine.



I've done my research she has the Liege Proof marks on her. The Oval with the E, L, G, * Star. With no crown. a * U Inspector mark. Made before 1892. Between 18 Aug 1818 - 11 June 1893.



I figured out awhile back converting a color photo to black and white has advantages.



No available references towards disassembly. I have David R. Chicone's Books "Gunsmithing Guns of the Old West" and "Antique Firearms Assembly/Disassembly" nothing listed there. I figure the two screws that hold the barrel on should be a start. The grips should come off easy enough. But after that.... it could get rough.

So other than an E Book does anyone know of a reference for this piece of history? A good old fashioned paper reference?

[St. George]

Offhand - no...

These European revolvers follow a general type - like the low-cost American-made revolvers later in the era.

Remove the grips and you'll see the critical parts relationships.

The trigger return spring lies 'usually' in front to the trigger - often held in place by a screw - sometimes, with spring pressure.

Do NOT screw up or lose a screw - they're damned hard to replace.

The eggshell of your piece indicates either a plated finish removal - or a bead-blasting to remove rust and scale.

if that's the case - then the interior parts may have been similarly affected by rust.

The difficult things to replace are going to be the leaf and vee springs - though Dixie has some that 'you' can trim to fit.

The two screws you indicate will remove the barrel from the frame - go slowly.

Incidentally, many of these French-built pinfires were also conveted to rimfire - I'd owned several when I bought a large collection.

Good Luck.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Slowhand]

Offhand - no...

These European revolvers follow a general type - like the low-cost American-made revolvers later in the era.

Remove the grips and you'll see the critical parts relationships.

The trigger return spring lies 'usually' in front to the trigger - often held in place by a screw - sometimes, with spring pressure.

Do NOT screw up or lose a screw - they're damned hard to replace.

The eggshell of your piece indicates either a plated finish removal - or a bead-blasting to remove rust and scale.

if that's the case - then the interior parts may have been similarly affected by rust.

The difficult things to replace are going to be the leaf and vee springs - though Dixie has some that 'you' can trim to fit.

The two screws you indicate will remove the barrel from the frame - go slowly.

Incidentally, many of these French-built pinfires were also conveted to rimfire - I'd owned several when I bought a large collection.

Good Luck.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

Great response. 

I had little doubt that she had been redone. A peek in the cylinders and down the barel left little doubt as to that. But for $199.00 I figured why not?  Thanks for ihe information.

[Slowhand]

With kid gloves, I removed the two screws as indicated above. I then used a brass punch to pop the barrel off. Unlike some Colts the ejection rod alone wasn't going to do it. I then took the grips off.



The next step would be to remove the two screws holding the Trigger Guard on. Take note of the 3rd screw just behind the trigger.



There is no screw retaining the flat main spring in the grip. The spring is retained against the hammer by the 3rd screw as can be seen at the top of where the spring fits into the frame. Pulling the hammer back to full cock results in the trigger coming back just short of the rear of the trigger guard and she's ready to go.

I suspect the 3rd screw behind the trigger presses the spring against the frame. There is a small plate inserted into the frame, just behind the trigger. The insert should then come out.

Removing the screw should release the tension and allow removal of the flat spring. .

The next step would be to use a punch and remove the pin located just above the trigger. With the hammer forward the trigger should pull right out.

Next would be the removal of the screw located just below the hammer on the frame. At this point the hammer could be removed.  The ejector rod assembly would be last.



But that's not going to happen today. I'm going to clean the barrel and the rest of the weapon thoroughly and reassemble her until a later date. Although the exterior is in great shape, the interior as shown needs some work.

I'm still looking for some references and tech information on how to continue past this point. So I'll leave it at a basic field cleaning for now.

[Pettifogger]

Use to shoot one of those when I was a kid.  Put firecrackers in the chambers with the wick sticking out of the pin slots.  Ram in a ball.  Cock and light the wick.  Not real accurate but it was fun.

[Slowhand]

Use to shoot one of those when I was a kid.  Put firecrackers in the chambers with the wick sticking out of the pin slots.  Ram in a ball.  Cock and light the wick.  Not real accurate but it was fun.

Reads like something me and my younger brother would have done when we were growing up.

We always knew that Momma had raised one idiot son. We just could never figure out which one of us it was? There was the time he watched superman man on TV. He used a clothes pin to pin his cape on and jumped off the garage roof.  Later I was swinging on some vines down by the river doing a Tarzan thing and the vine broke. I survived with a broken wrist. Every Village has an Idiot but we both survived.

[Qball]

You need to get some brass for that nice revolver of yours.

http://www.hc-collection.com/PBSCCatalog.asp?ActionID=67174912&PBCATID=335264&PBCATName=38 pinfire
I think that Dixi might have these kits to

[Slowhand]

You need to get some brass for that nice revolver of yours.

http://www.hc-collection.com/PBSCCatalog.asp?ActionID=67174912&PBCATID=335264&PBCATName=38 pinfire
I think that Dixi might have these kits to

I checked it out. Neat stuff. Looks like they have all the stuff needed plus instructions.  I have not done hand reloads in years. My father used to load his own. He did a couple of hot loads once      But we survived the experience.

Thanks

[Pony Racer]

The kits are good to go.

I got one for my pair of French 1873 11mm pistolas.

I am shooting up all my 11mm ammo though cause i am getting ready to convert my French 1873's into 44 russian pistolas

Shooting BP of course!

PR