Whitneyville .32 RF revolver

[rta72]

Hey,

Ran across this revolver and reason I'm asking here is because it looks like a S&W Model 1 1/2 2nd issue. So is it a copy?

Frame is brass and barrel seems nickeled. A lower quality piece than what smith & wesson was? Not so durable as is it not steel? Also i see the barrel locking lug on the bottom of the frame but I see no tip up hinge?

Did not see much info on the internet, some auction and sellers ads on the piece. Worth of considering to get one? Any other info on the gun here?

Thanks

Ps. Pic is not the gun I saw. That one doesn't seem nickel plated.

 

[thadheth]

The name is a bit misleading......I believe if you look under "Whitney Arms," you will find that this is their pocket revolver, manufactured from 1871-79, and stamped "Whitneyville Arms." Barrels were blued or nickel. There were a couple of models with numbers like the S&W's.

 

[s&wchad]

There's quite a bit of information on these in Flayderman's book. They're usually marked Whitneyville Armory, CT and are attributed to Whitney Arms Company (as in Eli). Winchester bought them out in 1888 and discontinued the line.

It's not a copy of the S&W, but there is a vaguely resemblance. These were sold frame revolvers made in a different sizes to accommodate .22, .32 and .38 RF. An estimated 30,000 were produced and asking prices seem to range from $250 - $500.

 

[rta72]

Thanks for the posts. Well I guessed looking at the price range that they are not so rare as advertised in some of the sell ads. [emoji16]

Anyways it is very interesting and caught my eye. My first instiction was before reading the text that it is a Model 1 1/2 2nd issue, looks like it. Birds head grip, fluted cylinder, side plate looks the same. Also some of the seller descriptions say that it's Whitney Model 1 1/2. [emoji57] Maybe some influence taken from S&W.

But the mechanism is bit like colt saa? You pull cylinder pin out and cylinder comes off from the side? That look-a-like barrel release lug is just a hoax or not a hoax but has nothing to do with flipping the barrel up?

That brass frame was not an issue for the low powered 32rf I guess? Atleast they used to make brass frames in bigger calibers too.