Show your OLD Bulldog revolvers (no Charter Arms)

[twaits]

I've been fascinated by these revolvers for some time now. The old west was lousy with these things and saw quite a lot of action on the frontier.
I bought this from Broknaxl. I measured the chamber mouths and they measure .440". Its very close to the one that was used to assassinate Garfield as noted in the last picture.







Note how off center the bore is. The barrel doesn't appear to be a seperate part that is screwed in. It seems to be all part of the frame which was a complete casting



This is the Garfield assassination gun:

[Oyeboten]

Woo Hoo!


Here's mine, it is a Webley, in .450 Adams, and is marked "British Bull Dog" if memory serve.

For those unfaamiliar, this Revolver is about the size overall of an S & W Model 36 or Colt Detective Special...so, very compact.





Buried in storage now, but happened to have this Snap Shot on a web album.


I t-h-i-n-k, that Mr, Guiteau's, though marked 'British Bull Dog' was actcually a Belgian rendering of the form.

Yours does look very close twaits - is yours a Belgian rendering? ( I believe we find the Belgian ones to be usually in a .44 Short of some sort, and, the British ones, generally, in the .450 Adams or other .45-something British Cartridge, with one I recall seeing having been a .50 Calibre ( and THAT did look like fun, too...wish I would have gotten it...but finding .50 Calibre ELEY or Enfield or Kynok or whatever they were Centerfire Cartridges would likely prove difficult...though I imagine one could adapt and modify something to work. )


Given the popularity at the time, for this form of Big Bore short-Barrel Revolver, I continue to feel surprised that none of the pre-eminent Revolver Makers in the U. S. were offering some form of their own.

I remain haunted by an S&W .44 Russian DA Break Top which someone way back when, had cut down to have a two inch Barrel which I saw on the Gunbroker a while back...Wow was that one cool old Revolver. I demured at the end and I am sorry I did not stay on it and eat Beans & Rice for a few months to make up for it...sigh...

[twaits]

You mean like this one?



A guy on the S&W forum asked me if he could buy my 44 russian barrel to put on it. But I've been saving the barrel to turn into the above gun if I can ever find a 44 russian at a decent price. (I don't want to ruin an original gun)
Anyway, I tried to trade for it but had nothing he wanted and he wouldn't just sell it to me outright.

About the above Bulldog (note the additional pictures I will be posting above). I believe it is Belgian. Others here will know for sure from the proof marks (LEG in a circle?). I know very little about foriegn guns.
Oye, I LOVE that little Webley. If you ever dig it out of storage and decide to sell it (or trade?) I'd really like to have it.
I think now that I have this example I really want one of the high quality Webleys it was copied from. This could turn into another addiction I'm afraid.

[twaits]

Well since its impossible to add more photos to a current post I will just add more here. Heres a few better daylight pics.





Note the neat ejector rod that comes out of the middle of the cylinder base pin:





The base pin slides out with the ejector rod swiveled to the side:





The grips are really nicely fitted. While the gun is fairly crude I think it's only because of the materials they had to work with. It's actually put together really nicely and took a pretty skilled craftsman to build. I would love to see pictures of one of these Belgian factories where these were made



This confuses me a little. Note the little broken piece of spring and the place where it broke off. What the heck is that?
The gun seems to function perfectly normal. Its loose and the cylinder turns with the hammer down which I think is normal. There is no half cock but I think thats probably normal too. So I don't know what that spring was for.
Also, are those little bolts with square heads holding the springs in? That's something else I've never seen before either

[Juan Largo]

It was my understanding that Guiteau chose a revolver with ivory grips, mindful of how it would look in a museum (he really was a nutcase).
BTW I for anyone interested in the Garfield assassination, I highly recommend the book DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC: A Tale of Madness, Mayhem and the Murder of a President, by Candice Millard.

[twaits]

It was my understanding that Guiteau chose a revolver with ivory grips, mindful of how it would look in a museum (he really was a nutcase).
BTW I for anyone interested in the Garfield assassination, I highly recommend the book DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC: A Tale of Madness, Mayhem and the Murder of a President, by Candice Millard.

What I read is that was what he wanted. A gun with ivory grips but was unable to afford the ivory gripped gun so he settled for the wood gripped one. The above picture from the Smithsonian is the actual gun but it has since been lost or stolen from the museum.

[Oyeboten]

[QUOTE=twaits;298322]You mean like this one?



A guy on the S&W forum asked me if he could buy my 44 russian barrel to put on it. But I've been saving the barrel to turn into the above gun if I can ever find a 44 russian at a decent price. (I don't want to ruin an original gun)
Anyway, I tried to trade for it but had nothing he wanted and he wouldn't just sell it to me outright.
QUOTE]


Hi twaits,

Yes, like that one - but I do not believe it was that particular one...or, I recall the condition to have been a little higher anyway...or I think I do! Pretty sure condition was a little more crisp and Stocks less worn.

I LOVE that configuration and I absolutely would have had one if it was back then...but, I'd bob the Hammer for it to ride nice in the Coat Pocket.


What a shame someone would have bought this with the intention of putting it BACK to a full Barrel Length.

Why did they not just buy one which IS the Barrel Length they want?

( The one I was bidding on closed in the very high 8s or low 9s if memory serve, which is enough TO get one with a full Barrel intact I would think ).

For Pete's sake, everything which IS precious and interesting and charming and splendid about this S&W is that it was chopped so nicely, and long ago...and that it IS a real period example of a form which intentional people preferred.

[Mike Armstrong]

I once had a Bulldog like the one in the first pic in this thread, a .44 made in Belgium. Imagine my surprise when I found that all those "rifling" marks on the crown of the muzzle....were just on the crown! No rifling in the barrel at all..... Not that it would matter much at Bulldog ranges, but "Belgian craftsmanship"?

[Oyeboten]

Hi twaits,


I do believe your 'British Bulldog' is a Belgian example.

I think I can see a small Cartouche Stamp on the Cylinder face, which appears to be a Belgian-Looking Proof or other.


When I got my Webley ( Mark something or other ) in the early 1990s, I called around ( and lo and behold, I found an older ( but not 'Old') Box of .450 Adams Cartridges here in town at a smaller Gun Store! Man, those were the days I guess...) and I oiled it up, and checked things out, and tried it a few times out doors, and, it functioned perfectly...so, just for kicks, I was CCW-ing with it for a week or so, then went back to my New Service Snubby which was my usual carry at that time.

[up196]

Originally Posted by Juan Largo
It was my understanding that Guiteau chose a revolver with ivory grips, mindful of how it would look in a museum (he really was a nutcase).

What I read is that was what he wanted. A gun with ivory grips but was unable to afford the ivory gripped gun so he settled for the wood gripped one. The above picture from the Smithsonian is the actual gun but it has since been lost or stolen from the museum.

Guiteau and John David Stutts thought the same way about things.