I'd recently been reading about Whitney Navy revolvers and wouldn’t you know it I ran across one locally. From what I could tell it seemed to be in good shape and was priced at what seemed to be a fair price compared to other ones I'd seen online. So I purchased it.

This is a Whitney Navy revolver, Second Model, 4th Type. It is all matching with serial numbers found on the loading lever, the bottom of the barrel, the back of the cylinder, on the underside of the trigger guard, on the bottom of the frame, and on the inside of each grip.

Further investigation shows that this is one of the 10,587 Whitney Navy revolvers that were purchased by the US Army during the Civil War. It is marked with a "B" inspector mark on the left side of the barrel, the right side of the barrel and frame, and on the trigger guard (it may have been marked on the cylinder as well but if so it has faded with time). There is the remnant of a cartouche on the left grip but it too has worn to where it is illegible.

Best estimates made by Daniel E. Williams, Jr, author of the book The Whitney Navy Revolver 1857-1866, has this pistol being produced in 1862. There were approximately 35,500 Whitney Navy revolvers produced from 1857 through 1866.

The Whitney Navy revolver's influence can been seen in the Confederate pistols manufactured by Spiller & Burr and T.W. Cofer, and by St. Louis, MO, Union sympathizers Shawk & McLanahan.

Even though I was not in the market for one, I feel that my purchase of this lesser known and influential revolver was money well spent.

Keep it up and you'll have quite a collection of Civil War era revolvers. The Whitney is neat, but I still like your Kerr revolver better.

With your Whitney being produced in 1862, I think there's little doubt that this is a handgun that saw the hostilities of the big show.

Beautiful revolver. If it could only talk.

Congrats. I don't know much about these guns, but it looks like you have a complete example.

That gun reminds me of when I first started going to gun shows many years ago. Some of the old timers would bring in old guns like that by the arm load.

I distinctly remember watching one guy grabbing 3-4 guns in each hand out of his trunk then putting them on the ground (asphalt parking lot) so he could close his trunk. My first thought was he was going to scratch up the finish, but then I realized the finish was long gone on those guns anyway. He was just adding to the patina...

Have not got a clue as to the collectors idea of these but when I first opened this thread my verbal response sitting here all alone was ... WOW!

I find it interesting history to be able to handle weapons from a conflict. Seeing such things in movies, etc. is certainly a part of the education, but handling them definitely adds a dimension.

I have an Italian replica of the Navy 1851 revolver and it is a beautiful piece of work (I am a machinist).
The “Ah Ha” moment comes when you shoot it. Lots of noise and smoke, relatively low recoil, all from a relatively large soft lead bullet.
The experience reveals a reality of the Civil war battlefield - Big, slow, heavy bullets hitting bone would have a devastating effect on a soldier. One hit would be all it would take. Shattered bone. Nothing left there to heal, only solution - amputate (if you were lucky enough to live)
Granted, there were plenty of flesh wounds where no bone was broken. Maybe they were the “lucky” ones. Still, infection after the battle would take thousands upon thousands.
Add to the experience of shooting the revolver - smoke. Everywhere. Accuracy goes out the window unless you were lucky enough to have a breeze in your favor.

So while studying history can be interesting, “hands on” can make it even more so.

Your Navy Revolver is an interesting piece. The makers never figured it would see the twenty first century. It may have changed hands and sides numerous times. Thanks for sharing.

I went to bed thinking of this old revolver. Wondered if and, it was indeed manufactured by Eli Whitney Jr. Some of the Colts of this era had a open top strap, better said, no top strap frames. I like your example more as it is much the same as the big strong Remington, which I fancy for a percussian gun. Ive always enjoyed reading about Whitney and his contribution to the industry with interchangable parts. Occurs to me they went a extra mile making its barrel octagon that long ago.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Keep it up and you'll have quite a collection of Civil War era revolvers. The Whitney is neat, but I still like your Kerr revolver better.

With your Whitney being produced in 1862, I think there's little doubt that this is a handgun that saw the hostilities of the big show.

Thank you. I have 6 Civil War pistols/revolvers so far (Model 1836 converted to percussion by A.B. Baker of Fayetteville armory in 1861, Colt 1851 Navy, Colt 1860 Army, Savage Navy, this Whitney Navy and the Kerr). They are all special and all saw service during the war. But I agree, there is something about the Kerr that I just love.

I'm currently searching for pistols that were used by the 4th Virginia Cavalry.

I know that most posts here are about modern handguns, but I like to share the historic ones so that others can see what came before. With so many manufactures before and during the Civil War, a lot of them have some interesting and unusual features.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mojojojo,

I had a chance to pick one up that had been converted to rimfire.
It was an Indian trade gun.

I regret not getting it now.

quote:

Originally posted by ScreamingCockatoo:
I had a chance to pick one up that had been converted to rimfire.
It was an Indian trade gun.

I regret not getting it now.

I've seen a few conversion models around so they're still out there if you're interested.