Scrolling through the youtube comments, there's nothing but outrage and sanctimony that the owner of this pistol removed a chunk of rust to confirm the frame serial number. They seem to forget that the pistol, after being found on the battlefield in 1933, was lost for decades until he identified it. We are looking at the pistol only because of this "irresponsible" guy.

People just love to latch onto things to be indignant about. What the man did was minimal and served to further confirm the nature of the relic.

Why was this pistol left on the field by the Indians? I'm guessing the grip frame was stepped on by a pony. The Indians were not going to take a broken pistol when there were so many pistols and rifles in working order they could pick up. It's not as if they could take it to their gunsmithing shop and have the armorer order replacement parts.

At any rate, I'll leave all the huffing and puffing to the half-assed museum curators on youtube who didn't find this lost pistol.

Very cool.

Regardless of condition or the actions of the owner, an amazing piece of history.

Fascinating! But that cameraman needs some training.

Yes, shit camera work. Kinda frustrating towards the end.

I wonder how many other firearms from that battle are still around and in what condition

The 7th Cav. was documented as being issued about 300 SAAs prior to Little Big Horn. How many are in existence is anyone's guess and I would not be surprised that a few are in the hands of Indian families.
I would say a "Custer Colt" is the holy grail for collectors of martial Colt SAAs.

The find itself is amazing, moreso because of the documentation to go with it.

The process he chose, yeah, not so much. Crime labs are interested in developing leads to solve crimes, not in restoration or conservation, and may use destructive processes to evaluate evidence.

That gun is beyond all hope of restoration, so it would've been better to take the conservation approach involving rust conversion. The method he chose will actually promote further deterioration, unless he takes additional steps to prevent it.

Having said that, he bought and owns the relic, and I'm not going to waste any effort condemning him or lose any sleep over it.

If he was going to go the trouble of sharing the story of this interesting relic and showing the process he used, it would've been nice to use a more professional video/ audio set up and pushing for a more informative and quality presentation... but I still appreciate learning about this.

https://holabirdamericana.live...5-REVOLVER_i24628319

Sold for 33K in May, 2016. Since the video in my first post is dated December, 2016, and the narrator says he bought the pistol "five years ago at the Louisville Show of Shows" I guess that video as it exists now on youtube is a re-upload by someone else.

So, he knocked off a chunk of rust and the pistol sold for 33K. I notice, though, in the auction link, there is no mention of the owner performing the action we see in the video.




Yes, oh my. Just look at all the damage he did to this pistol.



The cylinder contains neither live cartridges or spent cases. You can see how the triggerguard strap is bent. I think the pistol was stepped on by an Indian pony while it was laying on its left side on the ground, then picked up and checked to see if it had any live rounds in it, which would be the only useful thing to the Indians.

Would be nice to see it conserved. It looks like in the pics that is has not been converted yet. All it takes is boiling it a few times..

Assuming it was rusted solid in the condition it was dropped, the hammer is in the half cock or loading notch, which could indicate it was in the process of being reloaded when dropped.

quote:

Originally posted by bigwagon:
Assuming it was rusted solid in the condition it was dropped, the hammer is in the half cock or loading notch, which could indicate it was in the process of being reloaded when dropped.

The mainspring is gone. The hammer will move freely without the mainspring (though, of course, not now). The idea that the pistol was taken out of the hands or dropped by the trooper at the moment he had expended cartridge cases and was about to reload it is the stuff of fantasies. The Indians removed all functional firearms and all ammunition from the battlefield. Likely, the cylinder was emptied by the Indian who picked it up after the battle.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

Originally posted by bigwagon:
Assuming it was rusted solid in the condition it was dropped, the hammer is in the half cock or loading notch, which could indicate it was in the process of being reloaded when dropped.

The mainspring is gone. The hammer will move freely without the mainspring (though, of course, not now).

Not exactly true. With the mainspring removed, the trigger spring will still hold the trigger against the hammer notches. It will fall back to the safety notch first, then half cock, etc. under some resistance from the trigger spring. Regardless of who or how, the gun obviously was unloaded by someone since it apparently contains neither neither live or fired rounds.

I saw a documentary a while back where researchers mapped out the battle by recovering spent cartridge cases. Fascinating stuff that pretty much debunked the "Last Stand" narrative. When I worked at a gun shop some years ago, an SAA came in the door that was early 1900s made. I asked my boss, a guy who was well versed in SAAs, why there were no more of them in existence. He said it was a combination of factors:
Metallurgy of the time was particularly susceptible to corrosion.
The corrosive nature of Black powder.
Lack of care and carry / use under harsh conditions.
Then guns were considered tools and as such there was no interest or desire to preserve them.
Too bad more of them arent around!

Assuming this guy bought the revolver in, say, 2005 or so, it had been missing but in somebody's collection for 70 or so years, longer than it was lost on the battle field. I have to bet that the seller in 2005 or so had no real idea of the history of the piece.

Somebody may have told him the family lore about how they snagged a pistol from Little Big Horn, and he didn't believe it. You have to be careful with tall tales told by Gramps... they have a nasty habit of having some truth in them.

W0W-thanks for posting this.

Fascinating story and history.

I visited the Battlefield earlier this year. Definitely an experience. There is a walking or driving loop with markers and things to read, and photographs from the era to compare with landmarks that are still visible today. There are markers where bodies were recovered as well. Highly recommended if you enjoy history of that sort.

quote:

Originally posted by hjs157:

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
I saw a documentary a while back where researchers mapped out the battle by recovering spent cartridge cases.

As I recall, unusually arid conditions in Montana led to soil erosion which unearthed many artifacts. From the position and array of recovered cartridge casings, it was determined the Indians were much better armed than historians previously believed.

When we visited there a couple of years ago, the tour guide told us that there was a fire a number of years back caused by a careless visitor. While an unfortunate event, the fire burned off all the prairie grass, and after it was over they discovered a large number of artifacts that had previously been lost in the grass and soil.

One of the most remarkable things about Little Bighorn is how they have arranged the markers as close as they could tell to the actual locations where the men fell. As a visitor, this gives a great perspective on how the battle played out and where significant skirmishes occurred. I've never been to another battlefield that was laid out quite like that, and I have to say that it makes it somehow more personal as you walk through the place and can actually see where men died fighting all around you. It's a very somber and reverent place.

As to the revolver from the OP, that's an incredible find and an incredible piece of history. While I believe such artifacts should be treated with respect, sometimes it's necessary to do things to verify their authenticity in order to ensure that they can be preserved for future generations. It's not like the gun is still in the actual condition that it was when it was dropped...the elements have seen to that.

I spent a summer working at the hospital on the Crow rez which is a couple hundred yards from the battlefield itself.

I've walked as much of that (battlefield) area as anyone has, at times with Crow guides, and have come to the conclusion that Custer was an idiot. He got lucky a few times during the Civil War and thought that he was a genius. Nope...he got lucky...until he didn't.

The history of this pistol is fascinating. To think that it was there...that day...and that now, 145 years later, someone is holding it...wow.

That kind of stuff just turns my crank.