Kerr revolver?

[cwtalker15]

Here is a somewhat fuzzy picture of a Virginia Confederate supposedly holding a Kerr revolver. Hmmmmm.....It is hard to

tell for sure. I have never seen another CW picture of a Kerr anywhere. The Pratt Squad list of July, 1864 does document that Kerr revolvers were in use in Virginia. What do you think? Any other ideas of what it might be?

 

[Jobe Holiday]

IMHO, it really does look like a Kerr Revolver!
J.

 

[redbob]

A fairly good number of Kerr's were imported from England by the Confederacy. There is a very good picture of a Kerr on this month's cover of North South Trader's Civil War. It and the Joslyn had the distinctive side hammer and it was a sweet pistol.

 

[Patrick H]

I wish I knew. I'll be watching. In the meantime, I think we are seeing a halftone reproduction of a nice photo. Ergo, the dot pattern.

 

[Legion Para]

A fairly good number of Kerr's were imported from England by the Confederacy. There is a very good picture of a Kerr on this month's cover of North South Trader's Civil War. It and the Joslyn had the distinctive side hammer and it was a sweet pistol.

 

[Legion Para]

Expired Image Removed

 

[Private Watkins]

I'm probaby weigh off base here... but could he be holding a Starr M1858 rather than a Kerr? The reason I ask is because the hammer screw in the photo appears quite a bit higher than where the Kerr's should be; could it instead be the "knurled knob" found on a Starr "double action"...? Maybe it's just how the light is reflecting on the hammer itself...?

I defer to the most excellent experts on this site...

 

[Waterloo50]

I'm probaby weigh off base here... but could he be holding a Starr M1858 rather than a Kerr? The reason I ask is because the hammer screw in the photo appears quite a bit higher than where the Kerr's should be; could it instead be the "knurled knob" found on a Starr "double action"...? Maybe it's just how the light is reflecting on the hammer itself...?
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I defer to the most excellent experts on this site...

I'm still trying to learn many of the revolvers by sight, sometimes its difficult because of the low quality of the photos, have any of the experts ever suggested how they go about identifying civil war revolvers. I have looked for a thread on the subject but there doesn't seem to be one. I'm still relatively new to the subject of the Civil War and its weapons, I'm fairly good with guns of the old west but I would like to be a little more confident in my ability to identify weapons that I see on this forum in photos, I would be interested to know what parts of a revolver an expert looks at first to make an identification, when I try to work out what a certain revolver is I look at the shape of the hammer, barrel, stock and trigger, do the experts have a specific thing that they look out for?

 

[cwtalker15]

A favorite site of mine is http://percussionrevolvers.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=7ch6s02j6vvuv91sq22dqd0cq4&board=8.0 which highlights many of the classic revolvers of the Civil War with excellent pictures and good descriptions. Then you can google individual revolvers that pique your interest (i.e..Colt Navy 1851; Civil War Remington; Civil War Starr revolver..etc.) and compare images. Yes there are many variations among brands/types but you can learn a LOT through the internet. It is quicker and easier than reading books.

 

[Waterloo50]

A favorite site of mine is http://percussionrevolvers.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=7ch6s02j6vvuv91sq22dqd0cq4&board=8.0 which highlights many of the classic revolvers of the Civil War with excellent pictures and good descriptions. Then you can google individual revolvers that pique your interest (i.e..Colt Navy 1851; Civil War Remington; Civil War Starr revolver..etc.) and compare images. Yes there are many variations among brands/types but you can learn a LOT through the internet. It is quicker and easier than reading books.

That's very helpful. Thank you.

 

[JOHN42768]

A favorite site of mine is http://percussionrevolvers.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=7ch6s02j6vvuv91sq22dqd0cq4&board=8.0 which highlights many of the classic revolvers of the Civil War with excellent pictures and good descriptions. Then you can google individual revolvers that pique your interest (i.e..Colt Navy 1851; Civil War Remington; Civil War Starr revolver..etc.) and compare images. Yes there are many variations among brands/types but you can learn a LOT through the internet. It is quicker and easier than reading books.

Thank you for that swell site.

 

[Greyfalcon]

President Davis owned a Kerr revolver, btw. He gave it to his wife Varina, for self protection, during their evacuation of Virginia at the end of the war.

 

[Ralph Heinz]

I believe that the revolver in the photo is much too small for a Kerr. The length of the man's index finger from the web to the point of the finger would be about 3." Compare that to the barrel length of the revolver in the photo --a Kerr has a 6" barrel which would be two times the length of the man's trigger finger -- both of which can be seen in the photo and the barrel in the photo is not two times the length of the man's finger.

It may well be any one of a number of "Pocket" models -- even the truly ugly Remington-Beals Pocket Revolver. There were English "Pocket" model revolvers including a 4th Model Tranter in 80 bore (.38 cal.) imported by several dealers in the South.

I have a Beaumont-Adams .54 bore revolver which has a 5 3/4" barrel and it is a relatively massive revolver and holding it like the man in the photo, it is much larger than the one he is holding. It is the same size as a Kerr.

 

[Ralph Heinz]

In a hurry, I did not edit the above before posting it and the caliber of both the Kerr and Beaumont-Adams is correct as 54 bore but I should have added that this is .44 caliber in both revolvers. They are much larger when you hold one in your hands than what they appear in a photograph. The Kerr has a 5.5" barrel and the Beaumont-Adams has a 5.75" barrel. The Beaumont-Adams is 12.75" long overall. Two of my collector friends within a couple hours drive have Kerr revolvers but I don't have one yet.

If you are familiar with a Colt 1911 automatic pistol, the two English revolvers weigh the same as the Colt 1911 at about 2.5 lbs. They are not little revolvers by any means. A Colt M1860 Army weighs 2.75 lbs.

I have a Pocket model Adams in 120 bore (.33 caliber) and it has a 4.5" barrel and is more the size of the revolver in the hands of the Confederate soldier in the fuzzy photo.

Thanks to the latest Windows Update, I can't access any of my photographs and have to take my computer in next week to remedy this or I'd post photos of these revolvers here.