Columbus Fire Arms Mfg.

[zburkett]

The current American Rifleman (December 2019) has an interesting article on Confederate Columbus Fire Arms Mfg. revolvers. It includes a discussion of the authentication of the shown pistol. I found it informative with cross over to authenticating almost anything.

 

[sourdough]

Very interested. Do you have a link to the article?

Jim

 

[UCVRelics]

Link please

 

[zburkett]

You need someone much younger than me to know how to find and set up a "link". You are welcome to come by and look at my magazine.

 

[Lanyard Puller]

If you're a member of the NRA, you'll get it. It's a picture of their revolver and a page of general comments. No new information is given.

 

[JOHN42768]

Join the NRA. Support our rights

 

[zburkett]

Lanyard Puller, Actually, there was some information in the article that was new to me: But, what I found of most interest was the question of authenticity. I do wish they had included more photography of the markings and discussed why they said Columbus revolvers had a "half-round, half-octagon barrel" yet the shown revolver had an all round barrel.

 

[Story]

December issue postings aren't up yet, but for future reference

An Official Journal Of The NRA | American Rifleman

The world’s oldest and largest firearms authority, American Rifleman features articles, videos and breaking news on the latest guns, gear and ammunition.

www.americanrifleman.org

 

[Lanyard Puller]

I think what Phil Schirer implied was a round barrel in to an octagonal top frame {as opposed to a rounded top frame}, which composed the detachable front of the revolver. I think the marks, etc. were withheld intentionally, as he only had a limited space for his write-up and photo and he also is very aware of the many fakes {of rare guns} out there already, and they're getting better by the day.

 

[sourdough]

I think what Phil Schirer implied was a round barrel in to an octagonal top frame {as opposed to a rounded top frame}, which composed the detachable front of the revolver. I think the marks, etc. were withheld intentionally, as he only had a limited space for his write-up and photo and he also is very aware of the many fakes {of rare guns} out there already, and they're getting better by the day.

I think the description "half-round, half octagon" barrel is misleading because it is not, proportionally, whereas part round/part octagon barrel is more appropriate. Semantics on my part, maybe.

Insofar as intentionally not showing marks on original guns so as to deter fakes, the info is out there. I doubt many folks intent upon creating a fake would consider a publication like American Rifleman as the last word about an original Confederate revolver.

As an example, "Confederate Revolvers" (William A. Gary, 1987, p. 53) devotes five pages (with several photos) to the Columbus gun. In fact, the last chapter (14) of his book is devoted to spotting fakes of many types.

Regards,

Jim

 

[roundball1]

The current American Rifleman (December 2019) has an interesting article on Confederate Columbus Fire Arms Mfg. revolvers. It includes a discussion of the authentication of the shown pistol. I found it informative with cross over to authenticating almost anything.

I live in Columbus, Georgia. A local legend is that when our river walk was cut on the banks of the Chattahoochee, a cache of these revolvers was found. It was said that these were buried there so the Wilson's cavalry could not seize or destroy them when they took Columbus in April of 1865.

 

[sourdough]

Do you have any substantion for that? Very interesting to me, Sir!

Regards,

Jim

 

[zburkett]

Please tell us more, like what did they do with them?

 

[roundball1]

Do you have any substantion for that? Very interesting to me, Sir!

Regards,

Jim

I wish that I could substantiate that story. There is a lot of Civil War history here, though. An ironclad ram named the CSS Jackson was built here, on the river, as well. The Confederate Navy scuttled it and it drifted down river to what is now Fort Benning, dropping artifacts along the way, before it grounded on a sandbar and burnt down to the water line. It, along with many other artifacts are now on display at the National Civil War Naval Museum, here on Victory Drive. 80 field artillery pieces were cast here in our ironworks (now a convention center) and the JP Murray carbines were built here in what is now a gutted out YMCA building. Swords were built in what is now an elementary school. They redid our downtown broad street about 10 years ago and many Minnie balls and round shot were dug up by both the work crews and weekend relic hunters.