Author Topic: 1885 Rebellion Canadian Militia revolver  (Read 14327 times)

Offline RattlesnakeJack

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1885 Rebellion Canadian Militia revolver
« on: April 29, 2008, 10:32:00 PM »
Here are a couple of photos of the.45 caliber Colt Model 1878 Double Action I recently acquired, believed to be one of 1,001 revolvers of this configuration purchased by the Canadian Department of Militia & Defence at the outbreak of the North West Rebellion in 1885 .....

(Click to enlarge.)
   

The majority of the revolvers acquired by Canada were never marked in any distinctive way, and no complete record of serial numbers is known, so it is not possible to definitively confirm Canadian military provenance for most of them.  However, based on the serial numbers of the thirty or so known examples of these revolvers which eventually got stamped with an "M.D." mark, it is known that they were all manufactured in 1883, 1884 or early 1885.  Mine was made in early 1884, is the correct configuration for a Canadian Militia revolver, and was located in Canada, so it "fits".  I am awaiting a Colt Factory Letter which will hopefully confirm that it was shipped to Hartley & Graham, the New York outfitter that supplied them to the Militia Department.

For anyone who might be interested in additional information, here are scans of the entire chapter on the Canadian Militia revolvers from "Colt's Double Action Revolver, Model 1878", by Don Wilkerson:

         
         
Rattlesnake Jack Robson, Scout, Rocky Mountain Rangers, North West Canada, 1885
Major John M. Robson, Royal Scots of Canada, 1883-1901
Sgt. John Robson, Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, 1885
Bvt. Col, Commanding International Dept. and Div.  of Canada, Grand Army of the Frontier

Offline Silver Creek Slim

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Re: 1885 Rebellion Canadian Militia revolver
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2008, 07:25:49 AM »
Very nice revolver, pard.

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Offline Steel Horse Bailey

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Re: 1885 Rebellion Canadian Militia revolver
« Reply #2 on: April 30, 2008, 10:18:03 AM »
WOW!  I didn't know Colt was still making those!  It's new, isn't it?  ::)

It certainly LOOKS nearly new!
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Re: 1885 Rebellion Canadian Militia revolver
« Reply #3 on: Today at 06:15:26 AM »

Offline RattlesnakeJack

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Re: 1885 Rebellion Canadian Militia revolver
« Reply #3 on: April 30, 2008, 10:40:42 AM »
WOW!  I didn't know Colt was still making those!  It's new, isn't it?  ::)

Well "refurbished" is probably a more accurate description ....   ::)

I got a good deal on this because the barrel is apparently a replacement, and has been polished and re-plated (number doesn't match, though that is concealed by the ejector housing anyway, and the barrel stamping, although still quite good, isn't as "crisp" as it should be.) The rest of the nickel is in such good shape (albeit with a bit of visible wear) that I suspect it could be an early re-plating job, as well ... not so sure about that, however.

At any rate, it was a good price, and I can happily use it as a "shooter".  It groups very well, actually .... and might well be my main pistol for Muster this year! 

Unfortunately, notwithstanding a manufacture date well before 1898, it does not qualify as an "Antique" under Canadian gun laws, and thus is not exempt from registration.  The reason for that is that it is chambered in .45 Colt which is one of a few specified chamberings which prevent a pistol from having "antique" status on this side of the Medicine Line ....   :-\
Rattlesnake Jack Robson, Scout, Rocky Mountain Rangers, North West Canada, 1885
Major John M. Robson, Royal Scots of Canada, 1883-1901
Sgt. John Robson, Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, 1885
Bvt. Col, Commanding International Dept. and Div.  of Canada, Grand Army of the Frontier

Offline Steel Horse Bailey

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Re: 1885 Rebellion Canadian Militia revolver
« Reply #4 on: April 30, 2008, 11:22:24 AM »
Yeah - forbidden calibers.

Probably used in a high percentage of crimes, so they have to be regulated. 

Yeh ... that's it.  Our Government is trying to see things about the same.


None the less - congratulation on a fine acquisition!  A re-furb would be right up my alleyway, too!  I prefer "shooters" over 'hanger queens"  ...  or in this case, "safe queen!"  ;D
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Offline US Scout

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Re: 1885 Rebellion Canadian Militia revolver
« Reply #5 on: April 30, 2008, 04:17:07 PM »
As restrictive as Canadian gun laws are, it always amazes me that you're able to acquire all these really neat guns.

Well Done!

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Offline RattlesnakeJack

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Re: 1885 Rebellion Canadian Militia revolver
« Reply #6 on: April 30, 2008, 05:34:47 PM »
Actually, General, I have come to the conclusion that, notwithstanding their idiocy, Canadian gun laws are less restrictive than such U.S. jusisdictions as California and New Jersey ......  Admittedly, there are a bunch of expensive bureaucratic requirements for licensing of gun owners and registration of most firearms (which any halfwit must admit are entirely ineffective in accomplishing their purported "gun control" goals) but provided we "jump through the hoops" we can acquire and use most firearms.  There are certainly no numerical limits imposed on us like our fellow members of the British commonwealth in places like the U.K. and Australia.

One excellent example provisions which seem to defy common sense are those relating to "Antique" firearms.  Keep in mind that, if a firearm qualifies for "antique status" up here, it is completely exempt from any requirement for registration and its owner need not be licensed, so it will definitely not be "in the system" for purposes of "gun control" ....  Even though Canada introduced a rquirement to register all handguns way back in the 1930's, the new rules have resulted in numerous handguns being "de-registered" because they now qualify as "antique".  That definition extends to any handgun manufactured before 1898, including a "cartridge" firearm, unless it:

- can discharge only rim-fire cartridges, other than 22 Calibre Short, 22 Calibre Long or 22 Calibre Long Rifle cartridges;
 
- can discharge centre-fire cartridges, other than a handgun designed or adapted to discharge 32 Short Colt, 32 Long Colt, 32 Smith and Wesson, 32 Smith and Wesson Long, 32-20 Winchester, 38 Smith and Wesson; 38 Short Colt, 38 Long Colt, 38-40 Winchester, 44-40 Winchester, or 45 Colt cartridges.


Now, I assume that this was someone's idea of listing "commonly and/or commercially available cartridges" (i.e. with the idea that it wouldn't be necessary to register guns that old unless they could fire the listed cartridges) but as you will note on a moment's reflection, the list is not extensive and misses many very effective cartridges that a pre-1898 handgun could well be chambered for, which are still commercially available and/or easily reloadable!  A prime example is the .455 Webley/Eley/Colt family of cartridges. 

In the result, it has become something of a "cottage industry" up here seeking out suitable handguns in less common chamberings so that they can be legally owned without registration.  For the most part, this is being done by legitimate gunowners who just want to avoid the hassle of licensing and registration, but I fear the day when the "ethnic gangs" and such discover this 'loophole', because it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what the result would be ....
Rattlesnake Jack Robson, Scout, Rocky Mountain Rangers, North West Canada, 1885
Major John M. Robson, Royal Scots of Canada, 1883-1901
Sgt. John Robson, Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, 1885
Bvt. Col, Commanding International Dept. and Div.  of Canada, Grand Army of the Frontier

Offline Big Jim Dandy

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Re: 1885 Rebellion Canadian Militia revolver
« Reply #7 on: April 30, 2008, 08:36:11 PM »
I have 2 German Reich Revolers, Caliber 11mm. German Ordnance (10.66 for the purists):

1. Model 1879 - Trooper's Model - (Big, Ugly, & a good club when empty!  ;D) Serial No: 18 - Manufactured 1879

Model 1883 - Officer's Model - Serial No; 108 - Manufactured 1883.

Both have Safety levers on the left side & are S.A. Revolvers!?

Both are in very good condition & could be shot if ammo was availabe. It ain't?????

Both have Antique Status & I have the letter from the CFC in confirmation of their status.

Rattlesnakejack is correct. I can legally sell these to anyone who wants to buy them. No Licence, registration or
firearms training required. :o :o :o

The top picture shown is of the M-1879.

The bottom picture is the M-1883 & is smaller & lighter, as befitting an Officer's Revolver! ::)



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First Lietenant with the 24th. New York Volunteer Cavalry Regiment - Civil War - Mustered out June 25th, 1865.
Regimental Adjt. - Seventh Cavalry - December 8, 1866 - February 21, 1867 / January 1st, 1871 - June 25, 1876.
Killed in action with the Sioux Indians near the Little Bighorn, Montana, June 25th. 1876.
Born: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

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Offline Marshal Will Wingam

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Re: 1885 Rebellion Canadian Militia revolver
« Reply #8 on: April 30, 2008, 09:15:02 PM »
That's a beautiful pistol, Jack. The 1878 DA is one of my favorites. Thanks for the great information.

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Offline Major Matt Lewis

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Re: 1885 Rebellion Canadian Militia revolver
« Reply #9 on: April 30, 2008, 09:31:08 PM »
Very nice....You going to shoot it at the GAF Muster?
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Offline RattlesnakeJack

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Re: 1885 Rebellion Canadian Militia revolver
« Reply #10 on: April 30, 2008, 10:30:34 PM »
Very nice....You going to shoot it at the GAF Muster?

Must say I'm mighty tempted, Major .... at least if I can learn to compensate for how far off point of aim it shoots at CAS ranges!  (Sighted for 50 yards, just like an original SAA .... and as you can well imagine I'm not too keen on messing with the sight blade!)
Rattlesnake Jack Robson, Scout, Rocky Mountain Rangers, North West Canada, 1885
Major John M. Robson, Royal Scots of Canada, 1883-1901
Sgt. John Robson, Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, 1885
Bvt. Col, Commanding International Dept. and Div.  of Canada, Grand Army of the Frontier

Offline Rancid Roy

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Re: 1885 Rebellion Canadian Militia revolver
« Reply #11 on: April 30, 2008, 11:29:20 PM »
Rattlesnake Jack,

Very interesting and informative. Congratulations on a very nice purchase.
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Offline Steel Horse Bailey

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Re: 1885 Rebellion Canadian Militia revolver
« Reply #12 on: May 01, 2008, 09:09:57 AM »
I have 2 German Reich Revolers, Caliber 11mm. German Ordnance (10.66 for the purists):

1. Model 1879 - Trooper's Model - (Big, Ugly, & a good club when empty!  ;D) Serial No: 18 - Manufactured 1879

Model 1883 - Officer's Model - Serial No; 108 - Manufactured 1883.

Both have Safety levers on the left side & are S.A. Revolvers!?

Both are in very good condition & could be shot if ammo was availabe. It ain't?????

Both have Antique Status & I have the letter from the CFC in confirmation of their status.

Rattlesnakejack is correct. I can legally sell these to anyone who wants to buy them. No Licence, registration or
firearms training required. :o :o :o

The top picture shown is of the M-1879.

The bottom picture is the M-1883 & is smaller & lighter, as befitting an Officer's Revolver! ::)



Very interesting revolvers, Big Jim.  I kinda like the looks of the 1st one.  (I'm a sucker for full-length barrels.)

Can you get or reload ammo without much trouble?  I confess, that thanks to my old copy of the Barnes Ammo book, I have heard of the ammo, but have never seen any or know about it.



Rattlesnake Jack, I sure wouldn't modify the sights, either!  Aim low and accept misses!  ;)
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Offline Big Jim Dandy

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Re: 1885 Rebellion Canadian Militia revolver
« Reply #13 on: May 14, 2008, 06:23:21 PM »
Steel Horse Bailey;

Just saw your question today regarding the Reich Revolvers!

The round is almost identical to the the .44 Russian Round & I have shot both revolvers with this cartridge!

That's because my main match, SASS,  guns are a pair of Uberti . 44 Russian Model No. 3 Revolvers, with the the "fishhook" on the trigger-guard! I use a lite smokeless powder, loaded behind, either a 205 gr. or 240 gr., .427 lead bullet & they are very accurate! ;D ;D ;D

Don't shoot them too often, not that I'm worried about stressing them, as they are bulit like tanks! :o :o

Typical Germen Engineering, as they have a safety lever, on the left side! ::) ::)

They're both S.A.A. action revolvers! 8) 8)
Big Jim Dandy SASS#2548LTG
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Honoring a Canadian at the Little Bighorn;
William Winer Cooke - First Lieutenant of Cavalry
7th. United States Cavalry Regiment - July 31st., 1867
Brevet ranks; Captain, Major, Lieutenant-Colonel.
First Lietenant with the 24th. New York Volunteer Cavalry Regiment - Civil War - Mustered out June 25th, 1865.
Regimental Adjt. - Seventh Cavalry - December 8, 1866 - February 21, 1867 / January 1st, 1871 - June 25, 1876.
Killed in action with the Sioux Indians near the Little Bighorn, Montana, June 25th. 1876.
Born: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

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Offline Sir Charles deMouton-Black

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Re: 1885 Rebellion Canadian Militia revolver
« Reply #14 on: May 14, 2008, 06:43:02 PM »
I have an M83.  It might be a civilian arm as it has no provision for a lanyard swivel.

I use  handloaded Goex 3F same as .44 Russ.(.44 Russ cases & dies were .44 RMag.  I didn't worry about the crimp!).  it shot high so I tried a .440 round ball sized to .429.  It worked great, and was right on point of aim @ 5 yards.
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Offline Steel Horse Bailey

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Re: 1885 Rebellion Canadian Militia revolver
« Reply #15 on: May 15, 2008, 11:18:22 AM »
It's really great that you've found something (relatively) common you can shoot 'thru them!  Makes those old toys just that much more fun!  Nothin' worse than a cool gun that ya have but can't shoot because of lack of ammo!

I have a Jap Type I rifle in 6.5 mm like that.  http://members.shaw.ca/nambuworld/typeipix.htm  Yes - Lee makes an inexpensive die set, the bullets (size) are fairly common, and Norma makes cases ... at over $2 each!  If I win the Lottery ....



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Offline RattlesnakeJack

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Re: 1885 Rebellion Canadian Militia revolver
« Reply #16 on: May 23, 2008, 12:47:07 AM »
Today the Colt factory letters for my M1878 Double Action and M1911 arrived ... and I am pleased to report that they do seem to confirm my understanding and belief that both handguns were acquired by the Canadian Department of Militia and Defence for military service ....
 ;D


As expected, the letter regarding my M1878 shows no direct connection to Canada, but it does confirm that the revolver was one of 25 in a shipment to Hartley & Graham in New York on September 5, 1883.  Interestingly, it gives the finish as "blue" .... but the fact that the revolver bears a high quality and apparently old nickel plating would actually tend to confirm my belief that it was one of the revolvers sold by H & G in 1885 to the Canadian Government, since that order specified that the revolvers were to be nickel plated.

As noted by Don Wilkerson on page 251 in his chapter on the Canadian North West Rebellion revolvers (scans in above post) it seems clear that Hartley & Graham partially filled the Canadian order for 1,001 revolvers with left-over stock from a large number of .45 cal. Model 1878's with 7 1/2 inch barrels they purchased in 1883 (probably in response to inquiries from the Canadian Government that year about this model of revolver which hadn't resulted in a contract at that time.)  Even if they still had all 266 nickeled revolvers of that configuration in stock from their 1883 purchases, and if all of the large quantity (640) of nickeled revolvers of that configuration acquired from Colt in April of 1885 also went to fill the Canadian order, they would still have been short of the total order by nearly 100 revolvers.  Wilkerson notes that three specimens in his survey of Canadian-purchase M1878 revolvers were nickel-plated (as specified by the Canadian order) but had acquired blued by H&G in 1883, leading to the inescapable conclusion that the company must have had a number of blued revolvers in inventory nickel plated to complete the order.  It seems likely that my revolver is one of those .....

As for my 1914-production M1911, the letter confirms that it was sold to the Government of Canada, and was included in a shipment of 1000 pistols on October 31, 1914, to H.W. Brown of Quebec, Canada, the government purchasing agent for its acquisition of a total of 5000 pistols in 1914 for WWI service ......  As is common with these pistols, mine bears no Canadian Government inspection or ownership marks - because many (if not most) of the total were re-sold to commissioned officers.  As previously reported, my pistol is documented as the personal sidearm of Major. W.A. Mitchell of the Canadian Army Service Corps, who served on the Front, ultimately as Officer Commanding No. 5 Company, Divisional Train of the 2nd Division, Canadian Expeditionary Force .....

Rattlesnake Jack Robson, Scout, Rocky Mountain Rangers, North West Canada, 1885
Major John M. Robson, Royal Scots of Canada, 1883-1901
Sgt. John Robson, Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, 1885
Bvt. Col, Commanding International Dept. and Div.  of Canada, Grand Army of the Frontier

Offline Marshal Will Wingam

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Re: 1885 Rebellion Canadian Militia revolver
« Reply #17 on: May 23, 2008, 11:04:53 AM »
Cool information, pard. Outstanding photos of a couple historic pistols. Thanks for sharing with us.

The fact that your 1878 was most likely plated by the dealer is a nice bit of historical information. I have an 1873 SAA that was modified to ejectorless and sold in 1888 by J. C. Petmecky of Austin, TX. Most collectors would not value it since it was modified from original but I'll just enjoy it as it is since it is also part of history. Sometimes monetary value isn't as important as history.

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Offline Steel Horse Bailey

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Re: 1885 Rebellion Canadian Militia revolver
« Reply #18 on: May 23, 2008, 10:48:53 PM »
VERY interesting!!  Rattlesnake Jack, thanks again for the cool photos and history lesson!

I haven't seen any "stab" crimp ammo for a while.  Is it Canadian?
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Offline RattlesnakeJack

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Re: 1885 Rebellion Canadian Militia revolver
« Reply #19 on: May 23, 2008, 11:55:47 PM »
British actually, Steel Horse.  Here's the headstamp -




Also, if you can believe it, Canada still had military-issue .45 Colt (i.e. "Long Colt") ammunition in WWII ....... There were still Boer War vintage Colt New Service revolvers in service!

   
Rattlesnake Jack Robson, Scout, Rocky Mountain Rangers, North West Canada, 1885
Major John M. Robson, Royal Scots of Canada, 1883-1901
Sgt. John Robson, Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, 1885
Bvt. Col, Commanding International Dept. and Div.  of Canada, Grand Army of the Frontier

 

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