Thank you everyone for your input - very helpful and informative. So, I took it to the range to try it out. Unfortunately, when you apply light pressure to the trigger the hammer falls but the firing pin does not protrude far enough through the frame to punch the primer hard enough for ignition. If I really pull on the trigger I can get it to fire - and when it does it was pretty accurate by my amateur standards.

I took it by a local gunsmith to check it out and he said it has timing issues, trigger problems etc and he can't get to it for a couple of months...but when he does it could cost a few hundred to fix it. The person selling it just wants to get rid of it and said I could just have it if I want to eventually fix it up. Very kind person - I will be proud to put this quasi-army revolver back in action.

Thanks again - I will keep you posted on the resurrection of this old war horse.

Patrick