I thought you all might appreciate some history out of my grandad's gun collection: a Rollin White Revolver. I know they're not too rare having been produced from 1860 to 64, but still pretty cool nonetheless. I have read there is a little bit of variation in design, so hoping someone might be able to shed some further detail on our example. This is actually one of two my grandad has, then other one is mounted in a display on his office wall, and appears to vary a little in the design.
This particular gun has none of its silver plating left on the frame, showing instead a nice brass color all over. It appears to have been fit with a loading gate at one time, as evidenced by the screw on the right side below the loading channel, and a captive spring loaded plunger up near the top strap, that we believe was a gate retainibg device. According to my grandfather, this came to him as is from an old time Smith and Wesson collector some time ago, so no odea what the loading gate actually looked like or how exactly it worked, however based on the hardware, we believe it swung rearward to clear the loading channel. My grandfather in his bordem is now determined to create a replacement of some sort...
Also not present is an ejector, and I'm not sure it ever had one. It does however have a cylinder pin that seems to deviate from other examples, being longer and square cut off at the end. The pin has what appears to be a hand-cut slot in it, and threads into the frame. The top of the barrel is marked "Made For Smith & Wesson By Rollin White Arms Co. Lowell, Mass." It is my understanding these were produced for S&W as they could not keep up with production demand. The cylinder is marked "Patented April 3, 1855 & December 18, 1860". I believe that the 1855 date refers to White's patent on the bored-through cylinder, not sure about the 1860 date.
The action on this example seems nice, well fit and still plenty functional, though it will most likely never see another round though it. Caliber is a black power 22 short, so modern smokeless 22 short wouldn't be safe to try, though perhaps a 22 CB Short cartridge would be ok...( Anybody brave enough to try?) Overall, the fit and finish is very good, definitely a cut above other revolvers of the period that I have, from the likes of Hopkins and Allen and even a later example from Iver Johnson (US revolver Co). All in all, just a neat little footnote of Smith and Wesson history.
Tonight, after sitting idle from quite a while, this old gal was treated to a delicate cleaning and a coating with Rennaisance Wax for long term protection. When I took the photos both it and my fingers were a little greasy, so you might find my fingerprints in some of the pictures, enjoy!
Sent from my SM-N976V using Tapatalk
This particular gun has none of its silver plating left on the frame, showing instead a nice brass color all over. It appears to have been fit with a loading gate at one time, as evidenced by the screw on the right side below the loading channel, and a captive spring loaded plunger up near the top strap, that we believe was a gate retainibg device. According to my grandfather, this came to him as is from an old time Smith and Wesson collector some time ago, so no odea what the loading gate actually looked like or how exactly it worked, however based on the hardware, we believe it swung rearward to clear the loading channel. My grandfather in his bordem is now determined to create a replacement of some sort...
Also not present is an ejector, and I'm not sure it ever had one. It does however have a cylinder pin that seems to deviate from other examples, being longer and square cut off at the end. The pin has what appears to be a hand-cut slot in it, and threads into the frame. The top of the barrel is marked "Made For Smith & Wesson By Rollin White Arms Co. Lowell, Mass." It is my understanding these were produced for S&W as they could not keep up with production demand. The cylinder is marked "Patented April 3, 1855 & December 18, 1860". I believe that the 1855 date refers to White's patent on the bored-through cylinder, not sure about the 1860 date.
The action on this example seems nice, well fit and still plenty functional, though it will most likely never see another round though it. Caliber is a black power 22 short, so modern smokeless 22 short wouldn't be safe to try, though perhaps a 22 CB Short cartridge would be ok...( Anybody brave enough to try?) Overall, the fit and finish is very good, definitely a cut above other revolvers of the period that I have, from the likes of Hopkins and Allen and even a later example from Iver Johnson (US revolver Co). All in all, just a neat little footnote of Smith and Wesson history.
Tonight, after sitting idle from quite a while, this old gal was treated to a delicate cleaning and a coating with Rennaisance Wax for long term protection. When I took the photos both it and my fingers were a little greasy, so you might find my fingerprints in some of the pictures, enjoy!
Sent from my SM-N976V using Tapatalk
