From the Little Big Horn Battlefield

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butlersrangers
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From the Little Big Horn Battlefield

Post by butlersrangers »

The Smithsonian Firearms collection has this gem stored in the 'basement', but viewable online.

A S&W Schofield revolver, found loaded, on the Little Big Horn Battlefield in 1883.
Seems like it should be displayed at the Battlefield Museum.
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Knute1
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Re: From the Little Big Horn Battlefield

Post by Knute1 »

Sometimes it seems like museum business is funny business. There are likely stores of antique items in basements and attics of museums that would be of interest. An uncle of mine gave a museum a uniform that belonged to my great grandfather of the Boxer Rebellion. It was on display for a while and now has been in storage for years. The family wishes to get it back.

I wonder who had the Schofield, Native American or soldier? I thought the soldiers would be using the 1873 SAA, unless one was bought privately. A Schofield replica would be neat to have, a little out the range I'd like to spend being around $1,000.

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butlersrangers
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Re: From the Little Big Horn Battlefield

Post by butlersrangers »

Knute, the S&W Schofield was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1875.

Model 1873 Colt 'Peacemakers' and Schofield revolvers were in Army Service, simultaneously.
The .45 cal Schofield's cylinder required a shorter cartridge than the .45 LC.
The .45 Schofield cartridges could be used in the Colt 'Peacemaker'.
Obviously there was a revolver ammunition logistics problem, at times.

It is believed there were some Schofield Revolvers, with the U.S. Army in 1876, at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

Years ago, I seized the opportunity to buy some nice 'used' replica Army Revolvers, when traded-in at local gun shops.
I grabbed them, because I liked them, they were pretty and very reasonably priced. (They shoot good, too)!

I also picked-up a replica Schofield CO2 BB-gun. How Fun!
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Knute1
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Re: From the Little Big Horn Battlefield

Post by Knute1 »

I believe that the Army requested to have the Schofield be made in .45 Colt for logistics reasons. S&W wouldn't, otherwise it may have been better accepted. Some replica Schofields have been made in 45 Colt.

I would like a replica SAA Colt with 5-1/2" barrel, but have not graduated from cap and ball revolvers yet. Partly due to pricing. Recently purchased an 1851 Colt Navy by Uberti from Cimarron for $300 new. I have an 1860 Colt Army I obtained in the mid-80s. It was made by Armi San Marco in Italy. This company is no longer in business. It was sued by Colt for making a darn good replica of the SAA Colt. Armi San Marco beat the lawsuit, but went under paying lawyer fees.

I do believe the Schofield to be a better revolver due to faster reloading then the Colt.

The picture below is from an angle and distorts the relative sizes. The 1851 Navy is on top and is 36 caliber. It has faux case hardening, done with salts. The 1860 Army below is in 44 caliber and has a true case hardened frame. The 1860 Army was Colt's epitome cap and ball revolver. Light, but in the heavier caliber. Cap and ball revolvers are more work, but I find them enjoyable. I find the "open top" frame design more appealing.

By the way, that 7-1/2" barreled SAA replica on the bottom of BR's last photo looks like a good'un.
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butlersrangers
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Re: From the Little Big Horn Battlefield

Post by butlersrangers »

Percussion revolvers are fun, but a bugger to clean thoroughly!

I always thought it would be fun to have one of these big double-action Colts, as made for the Philippine Constabulary.
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Ned Butts
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Re: From the Little Big Horn Battlefield

Post by Ned Butts »

butlersrangers wrote: Sat Jan 15, 2022 6:01 am Percussion revolvers are fun, but a bugger to clean thoroughly!

I always thought it would be fun to have one of these big double-action Colts, as made for the Philippine Constabulary.
Same here

Doubly Reincarnated
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Re: From the Little Big Horn Battlefield

Post by Doubly Reincarnated »

Ned Butts wrote: Sat Jan 15, 2022 1:04 pm
butlersrangers wrote: Sat Jan 15, 2022 6:01 am Percussion revolvers are fun, but a bugger to clean thoroughly!

I always thought it would be fun to have one of these big double-action Colts, as made for the Philippine Constabulary.
Same here
As a lad of 14, I had one. Some genius sawed off the barrel to about 3 inches, making ejection a problem. No ejector rod or spring. Used a big nail with the head filed down as an ejector. Just carried the nail in your pocket. Same wonderful person then copper-plated the whole thing. Too big to be a belly gun. My grandfather took it away from me. Never saw it again.

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butlersrangers
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Re: From the Little Big Horn Battlefield

Post by butlersrangers »

Too bad it got taken away. I imagine the big Colt could have been 'restored' with a single-action army barrel and ejector-rod assembly.

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Re: From the Little Big Horn Battlefield

Post by Doubly Reincarnated »

butlersrangers wrote: Sat Jan 15, 2022 6:27 pm Too bad it got taken away. I imagine the big Colt could have been 'restored' with a single-action army barrel and ejector-rod assembly.
That didn't happen in 1954.

Knute1
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Re: From the Little Big Horn Battlefield

Post by Knute1 »

Well...a few months after the last post I had ordered and received from an FFL dealer this 1851 Colt Navy Richards Mason Conversion revolver in .38 caliber. It is a Uberti from Cimarron Firearms and will shoot 38 short colt, 38 long colt and 38 Special. This kind of solves the clean-up mess that the cap and ball revolvers have...sort of (I'll explain later).
A little history: Once Colt was able to sell cartridge revolvers with bored through cylinders around 1870 they had many left over parts from the Army and Navy cap and ball revolvers. (The government had stopped purchasing c & b revolvers after the Civil War ended.) To use these left over parts Colt started to convert them to cartridge type. This picture is of a replica of one. Colt also made a model 1871/1872 open top revolver with new parts in .44 rimfire (to compliment the 1860 Henry lever action in .44 rimfire). Of course, the famous 1873 Colt Army came out, but were mostly sold to the Army and not the general public for the first few years. The conversion Navy and Army models were more available to the public.
My Uberti revolver has Italian walnut grips. I have some black walnut with good figure that I'm thinking about making into replacement grips. So as far as the clean-up mess, modern 38 special cartridges shoot clean. But if pistol primers ever become reasonably available again I'll be getting some dies and making cartridges with black powder. There goes the clean-up advantage.
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