1858 Army Starr Revolver year?

[Greendoor]

Thinking about purchasing this 1858 Army Starr revolver serial#18668
Based on serial number does anyone on the forum know what year this was manufactured. Thanks.

 

[Papabyrd]

Missing a lot of hard to replace parts. Unless it is dirt cheap I believe I would hold out for a better one.

 

[UCVRelics]

I would pass as its missing a lot of stuff such as the load lever and front sight

 

[Copperhead-mi]

Looks like a chunk of the frame is missing on the r. h. side where the barrel threads in to it.

 

[JOHN42768]

Keep looking, as stated above

 

[timeltel]

There is potential this is a cartridge conversion, I see no provision for percussion caps. The "missing piece" at the front of the frame held the loading lever retainer. The cylinder has been shortened, on the right side a loading gate appears to be attached to the recoil shield spacer. If so, a firing pin has been added to the hammer.

For movie buffs, as the character Will Muney, Clint Eastwood packed one around in "The Unforgiven".

 

[johan_steele]

The more I look at this the more I wonder if this isn't the remains od a cartridge conversion... if it's cheap enough go for it... otherwise save your coin for another project.

 

[timeltel]

Greendoor:
1858 to 1863(?). IIRC, 23,000 produced, allocated primarily to the U.S. gov't. Is that a cartouche at the bottom of the left side of the grip panel? I see some remaining blueing on the frame. With respect to appropriately preserving patina the old pistol might clean up pretty nicely.

If indeed a conversion piece the charging lever becomes dead weight, there is good reason to remove it. Most likely 44 rimfire. The romantically inclined might guess it to be a CW "war horse" that transitioned into the Indian Wars era.

 

[Papabyrd]

Giving it a closer look, this is a cartridge conversion Star. That is why the loading lever is missing First one of these I have seen. Might be a good one to get after all. May have been a cowboy gun after the war.

 

[UCVRelics]

Nope, The cartridge plunger is still missing and even with the original cartouche its doesn't have makers marks on the frame, so its still a boat anchor.

 

[Papabyrd]

Found A video on You-Tube of a Star conversion revolver. He said the cartridge conversion did not work well in these guns. He has owned two and when you shoot it even once it binds the cylinder where it is hard to cock on the second shot and you have to turn the cylinder by hand. If you would like to watch the video go here

 

[johan_steele]

Found A video on You-Tube of a Star conversion revolver. He said the cartridge conversion did not work well in these guns. He has owned two and when you shoot it even once it binds the cylinder where it is hard to cock on the second shot and you have to turn the cylinder by hand. If you would like to watch the video go here

It should be noted there were several different methods to converting these. I handled one today and was rather impressed with the method. The only change to the pistol was to the cylinder. The disadvantage I saw was that you had to remove the cylinder to reload.

 

[Greendoor]

It should be noted there were several different methods to converting these. I handled one today and was rather impressed with the method. The only change to the pistol was to the cylinder. The disadvantage I saw was that you had to remove the cylinder to reload.

Here's some more close up photos.