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New Acquisition, Colt London Navy for Upper Canada

2K views 18 replies 10 participants last post by  Canine cop 
#1 · (Edited)
Prior to 1854 Britain had supplied military defense for Canada but at that time the British Military was so heavily embroiled in the Crimean War that they were hard pressed to maintain their own military forces and therefore asked Canada to become more active in supplying their own arms. Canada accepted and in 1855 a commission was sent to England to purchase arms for the militia. Among other purchases, they bought 800 Colt Model 1851 Navy revolvers with 556 going to Upper Canada, the area of Canada now known as the Province of Ontario and 255 being issued to Lower Canada, the area known today as the Province of Quebec. The revolvers were issued to cavalry units, the markings on the grip show that this Navy went to the First Wentworth Troop, trooper number 7. Now looking for more information on this troop.
Jim
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#4 ·
Prior to 1854 Britain had supplied military defense for Canada but at time the British Military was so heavily embroiled in the Crimean War that they were hard pressed to maintain their own military forces and therefore asked Canada to become more active in supplying their own arms. Canada accepted and in 1855 a commission was sent to England to purchase arms for the militia. Among other purchases, they bought 800 Colt Model 1851 Navy revolvers with 556 going to Upper Canada, the area of Canada now known as the Province of Ontario and 255 being issued to Lower Canada, the area known today as the Province of Quebec. The revolvers were issued to cavalry units, the markings on the grip show that this Navy went to the Wentworth Troop, trooper number 7. Now looking for more information on this troop.
Jim
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Excellent gun and information.
 
#8 ·
Any other marking is generally unsightly but I have to say that the Bristish proofs marks embellished the gun.
I love the configuration of the revolver ; Iron back strap & trigger guard (London type) like the loading notch and so on..
You're a lucky guy to have one of these 800 pistols.
lachiure
 
#9 ·
That's a good lick s they are hard to find. In my job as a Border Patrol Agent I finished up my career on the Canadian border. Surprisingly I found some good things up there. I usually will never buy a verbal story w/ a gun. Not this day & age. But, that being said I happened to cross paths w/ a Lummi Indian in the 1980'swho needed a lot of money & was offering a Colt London Navy 1851 w/ British military markings, & a rack # burned into the rt grip but because of the humidity up there the # rack number swelled out passed the rest of the grip he said it had been passed down through his family for generations but he fell on hard times & needed money. Did a little research & came up w/ the pig war where we almost went to war w/England. Seems the Brits laid claim to the San Juan islands w/ the lower part of the islands clearly were in U.S. territory. British soldiers were stationed along the islands but local Indians played havoc on sentries either killing them or stealing their belongings. The Lummis were in the area & most likely lifted this Colt from a hapless soldier. So, this one time, I felt the story he told fit all the requirements of being true. Seems a USC shot a Candian pig destroying his crops & the Brits arrested the USC. The US stationed troops in Bellingham WA. & Pickett was the commanding officer. It was a Mexican stand off but things were resolved when the Brits were shown the islands were indeed in U.S. territory.
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#11 ·
Interesting that the number has been removed from the barrel. I have seen a number of the London WD marked Navy's with mismatched barrels. Apparently the armorers were not overly concerned with matching numbers. The Pig War story does makes sense since there were British Marines stationed on the island.
Jim
 
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#12 ·
Hi Jcmh1 & Canine cop,
I believe the barrel is original to the gun but serial number on this part was removed for some reasons.. :)
All the features on barrel, like the address, loading notch, lever catch, rounded screw of the loading lever (entering by the left) are consistent to the London-London model and to the rest of the gun.
I may be wrong.
It's difficult to say based on pictures but a very closer look may reveal more informations.

Canine cop, what is about the serial number on barrel wedge, loading lever or inspector's marks ?
I have one for you coming next..

A continuation of the interesting post « Another London Navy » ;)
lachiure
 
#13 ·
Hi Jim,

Very nice gun you have there! I have pistol number 49 from the same troop. The London navies are fantastic guns in all respects. Congrats on a great find! I believe the Wentworth troop was stationed in Hamilton, Ontario (about an hour or so from where I live) on the shore of Lake Ontario. Great piece of history!

Brandon
 
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