I think it would have been sobering to stare across a Deadwood card table into the business end of this old Belgian beast between the 1880s and early 1900s. It sure qualifies as a belly gun; it's "Grandpa Saturday Night Special".

It's a .44-40 (.44 WCF) five-shooter, rugged, simple, crude and functional, made to sell cheap to guys who couldn't afford a Colt SAA or nice S&W top-break .44. I have several of these. They were guild-made, with no manufacturer's name, and most barrels are 4" or 6". When I bought this at a show years ago, I thought the barrel was cut down, but closer examination shows the length is probably original, as is the worn nickel and everything else. Most of these are badly pitted, but this one was hardly used at all and the bore is minty. I think they made the frames to fit a standard (S&W?) grip size. They bought those grips and very professionally removed the logos. Few of these guns survive with the original grips, but this one did. They were nitro proof tested, and I've fired my 6-incher with 4 grains of Bullseye and a standard 240 gr. Keith-type .429" lead bullet, which fits the bore perfectly. All springs on these things are heavy beyond belief, and everything was hand fitted from standard components, where one shop made the trigger guards, another the cylinders, another hammers and triggers, etc. Yes, those wacky trigger guard screws are original to this type. It does have a fairly safe rebounding hammer, for carrying full chambers, even with the old style cylinder locking, where it isn't really locked unless cocked. I don't think I'll be carrying this one, except maybe empty, as a backup club.