Who knows about Whitney Navy revolvers?

drm2m

Sergeant
Joined
Oct 22, 2010
Location
Quebec
I have been looking for one.
Tinned finish Navy revolvers with barrel anchor marking or just a decent martially marked revolver.
Hard to find a nice one where I live.
Thanks.
 
First if you don't have it, I would suggest Daniel Williams great book "The Whitney Navy Revolver". There were over 10000 purchased by the Army and about 6000 by the Navy. Not a big percentage of tinned were around. I can only suggest frequently following the online dealers in antique firearms to get a feel for what is around and asking price. I don't know what black powder restrictions you might run into coming from the US into Canada. A couple examples of mine:
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I agree with @JOHN42768 Research all you can and when you find the one that needs to come home with you, you will know. Please keep us posted.
 
My Whitney story.
I had put an ad in the ‘Want To Buy’ section of a Canadian gun forum and got a response
from a dealer that had one. ($1,500 plus shipping costs)
I said that I would need to see good photos that show the condition of the revolver.
He very kindly sent me 27 photos.
Two issues caused me to walk away.(Yesterday)
-No barrel address—probably due to aggressive cleaning.
-The grips looked like replacements---not serial numbered on the underside as they should be.
Apparently this Whitney Navy revolver was purchased years ago at the Baltimore show.
The next five photos show this revolver.

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No barrel address.
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Serial number 4598.
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No serial numbers on the inside of the grips.
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This is the Whitney revolver that I tripped over on a Canadian gun Forum that caused me to start looking for one.
The owner's thread dated back to 2017 and the photos shown below are from that thread.
I had been trying to find the owner of this revolver for a week with no luck until I requested help from the forum webmaster.
Yesterday I learned that the owner of this Whitney does not want to part with it at this time.
SO---my quest continues!

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Some of my reference material.

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Location of serial numbers.
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I think so.
I think that the U.S. Post Office will ship to Canada as an antique.
The Canadian post office will not ship into the U.S. (I think)
 
I bought the book shown above today.
(perhaps a bit late?)

This is the description of the Whitney that I finally bought.

Here we present an antique Whitney Navy Model Percussion Revolver, made circa 1861 in New Haven, Connecticut. Eli Whitney Sr. established his Whitneyville Armory 1798 and produced firearms (among other things) by contract for the young U.S. government. Just prior to this, in 1793, Whitney invented the mechanical cotton gin, which dramatically changed the economic landscape in the U.S., namely in the South. While his invention was a labor-saving device, making the processing of harvested cotton extremely efficient and requiring fewer laborers, his machine caused the market for cotton to explode and more laborers were needed to plant, grow and harvest the crop. This resulted in a corresponding boom in the Southern slave trade. Great fortunes were created, and the population of the South became such that one in three Southerners were slaves. All this provided the fuel that would become the raze that was the American Civil War.

The Whitney Navy Revolver came about when Fordyce Beals—later of Remington-Beal fame—came to work for the company. He was the primary designer, which was indeed why the Remington-Beals Navy and Army Revolvers came to look so much like the Whitney. The Whitney has the distinction of being one of the first successful solid framed revolvers. As their production began before the war in about 1857, both the Union and the Confederacy utilized them in the American Civil War. One very notable character known to have used the Whitney Navy was Confederate Cavalry General J.E.B. Stuart. Many of these were purchased by the US government and by individual soldiers for use in the Civil War.

This one still features a good cylinder scene, which is quite scarce since the roll engraving was so light and they weren’t used lightly. The scene depicts a federal eagle, a lion, warships, and a shield with stars and stripes. The barrel is marked “E. WHITNEY/N. HAVEN”.

The overall condition is near fine. Traces of the original blue finish remain with an even gray patina throughout. The markings are legible. The numbers match. The walnut grips are in good shape. The bore is clean with sharp rifling. The action on this revolver is excellent, strong and crisp. Here is a very desirable Whitney Navy for your Civil War collection!
 
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Well my Whitney arrived today in Canada---and she now sleeps in my house.
I am quite pleased with what I see.
I had the grips off and the serial number 23090 is seen on both grips.
I believe it is a Second Model Navy 4th Type.

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