arms cavalcade 2014

APRIL 2014 ISSN 1325-779XAPRI

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02 ARMS CAVALCADE 2014

Contents� e Romance Of � e Blunderbuss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 04N.S.W.G.C. Gold Sovereign Side X Side Championship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Old Days, Old Ways, Old Guns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Pattern 1842 Naval And Coast Guard Pistols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Vintage Shooting Pocket Watch Fobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32� e Real War Horses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Indian Guns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Classifi cation Of N.S.W. Government Colt Model 1851 Percussion Revolvers . . . . . . . . 54Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

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OFFICE BEARERSChairman Harvey FacerDeputy ChairmanGeorge PsychasSecretary Terry HartmannTreasurer Ron Cook

REGISTERED OFFICEC/- Hartmann & Associates135 Macquarie StSydney NSW 2000

EDITORSPaul DuffyJohn Newton

COMMITTEEPaul DuffyMitch Frost Bill NewboldRon CookIan AndersonDominic HassettGlen � ompsonPeter CameronGary Locke

PHOTOGRAPHYIvan Fitz-Gerald

DESIGNMeldCreative

EDITOR’S NOTEPlease enjoy the 2014 edition. � e content is wide, from the Gold Sovereign Side x Side Championship at the NSW Gun Club in Sydney, the NSW marked Colt Navies, to the beauty of the guns decorated in India, and colonial history.

� is edition refl ects the interests of collectors in Australia, nineteenth century English, American and Colonial Australia. But enjoy the Vintage Shooting Watch Fobs and the story of the Real War Horses.

Wizzer Johnston promises to add colour and interest from Java in the next edition. He has been on the “sick list” recently, but is working on the 2015 edition.

My thanks to Ivan Fitz-Gerald for his continued professional help and guidance, also MeldCreative for the excellent design work, and my co-editor John Newton for the thorough editing work.

© No part of this magazine may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the editor or authors.

Visit our website at: www.antiquearmssociety.org.au

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ne memory of my childhood was the scary thrill of reading stories about pirates. Illustrations in books invariably showed them as dangerous, swashbuckling and daring – all the things a growing lad aspired to be. Generally depicted as unkempt hairy men with several

teeth missing, a red bandanna and a black patch over one eye, pirates carried a wide assortment of weapons of great interest to small boys.

But that was then. With the passage of years my adult perspective is rather different: history shows them as psychotic, murderous predators with no redeeming features whatsoever.

As Hollywood has proved many times however, pirates still clearly fascinate people. Along with the skull and crossbones fl ag, the weapons indelibly associated in the public mind with pirates are the cutlass and the blunderbuss

O

BlunderThe Romance O

BY BILL TAYLOR

– so much so that when I show a blunderbuss to a non-collector, they often ask “is that a pirate gun?”

� e mundane reality is that the blunderbuss was not an exotic weapon of the dark side of humanity but a rather common fi rearm used by coach drivers or for household defense. � e British Navy favoured them for boarding parties and the Royal Mail issued blunderbusses to its coachmen for many years.


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erbusse Of The


Blunderbusses derive their name from the Dutch “donderbus”,

which was recorded as early as 1598 in a patent application. � ey are large bore weapons with short barrels and belled muzzles, made of brass or bronze but sometimes of iron. From around the 1780s the English ones were often fi tted with spring bayonets. � e blunderbuss form persisted into the percussion era, but they were virtually obsolete by the 1830s, as their role was taken over by short barrel shotguns.

� ere is a common belief that a blunderbuss was loaded with handfuls of whatever was handy – nails, stones, balls – and that the bell mouth would spread the shot pattern more widely.

Various experts dispute this popular view, saying that they were generally loaded with balls such as swan shot. � ey have also established that the wide bell mouth has no particular effect on the shot pattern, which is determined more by the bore size and the load.

� e bell mouth probably served two purposes. It would have been quicker to reload, especially on a horse or a bouncing coach, and it would also have been very intimidating if you were facing the business end. � e baluster turns on many blunderbuss barrels resemble those on cannons, as if the ominous hole facing you were not menacing enough. � eir compact shape and large bore made them excellent close quarter weapons.


Around 1785 � eophilus Richards of Birmingham (a fi ne gunmaker and the father of William Westley Richards) made this typical blunderbuss. � e brass barrel is 36cms long, half octagonal and half round, with private proofs and the initials TR stamped between. � e width of the 16 bore barrel at the muzzle is 29mm. � e octagonal fl ats are nicely scroll engraved at the breech with a pattern that is repeated throughout the gun. � e solid sideplate is fi xed with two large sidenails and a third smaller screw – a pattern that is typical of earlier blunderbusses and fowling pieces, but which disappeared as styles became more simple.

� e fl at lock is engraved T RICHARDS and has a half cock safety bolt. � e fi ne walnut stock is crisp and retains its original fi nish, with the attractive handrail design that was overtaken in later models by a more mundane stock shape.

� e butt plate tang extends well up the stock and is nicely


The Romance Of The Blunderbuss


engraved. � e vacant escutcheon is an unusual design, with what is perhaps meant to be an eagle with outstretched wings (but looks more like a squawking seagull) on top. At the muzzle end a band reinforces the stock: it was obviously fi tted when it was made, as there is no sign of any cracking or repair to the fore end.

� e bit I particularly like is the trigger guard fi nial. It is in the pineapple format that started to appear in English design in the 1780s, but

with a difference: the pineapple is

three dimensional rather than a fl at engraved version. � e acorn was the fi nial form prior to the pineapple and was always shown in three dimensions, but the pineapple fi nial was adopted at the time that gun makers did away with fancy sideplates and escutcheons. � e new austerity had them fl at and fl ush with the wood – except for this one. � is is the only three dimensional pineapple fi nial I have seen.

You might expect this weapon to be rather clumsy, given the weight in the barrel. However it handles well enough to be pointed and fi red with one hand, and is short enough to be ideal for confi ned spaces.



� is brings us to its less common smaller brother – the blunderbuss pistol.

� is blunderbuss pistol predates the fi rst piece by a few years. Sold to me in England as a sleeper, it was covered with layers of grime and dirt that fortunately had protected it well, for careful cleaning revealed a very crisp and original piece - there are even some traces of colour hardening on the lock. It was made by another fi ne Birmingham gun maker, John Probin, around 1780.

It has a brass half octagonal and half round cannon barrel 15.2cm long of 20mm calibre at

the muzzle, and is engraved on the top

fl at J PROBIN. When removed from the stock the underside of the barrel reveals its original untouched condition.

What is immediately noticeable is the lack of any of the usual proof marks, but there is a partial stamp on the bottom fl at – a crown over C and another indistinct letter, which may be a mark of the Birmingham barrel caster Charles Freeth. Freeth was the major brass barrel founder of his day in Birmingham, and also a prominent maker of silver furniture for fi rearms.

� e pistol is 28.6cm overall. � e fl at lock is engraved J PROBIN with a safety

bolt and small roller bearing fi tted to the base of the frizzen: high quality is also evident in the excellent lockwork. � e trigger guard shows the acorn fi nial

that was soon replaced by the pineapple design mentioned

earlier. Although the fl at

sided walnut stock refl ects the simplifi ed


The Romance Of The Blunderbuss


design changes that swept English gunmaking in the 1770s, the traditional three screw engraved side plate is retained, engraved here with the stand of arms popular at that time.

� e pistol is compact and surprisingly well balanced, given the forward weight of the cannon barrel.

John Probin produced very fi ne guns and rifl es for the top end of the market, as can be seen from Keith Neal’s absorbing story of the Packington guns in Great British Gunmakers 1740 – 1790. His best pieces stood alongside those of John Twigg and Joseph Griffi n. � is pistol is not so grand, coming from his stock inventory for everyday use, but is nonetheless a very well made example of Georgian gunmaking.

One attractive feature of blunderbusses is that plenty of them have survived, so anyone looking for a good example can pick and choose from the major English antique arms auctions. Blunderbuss pistols are available in signifi cantly smaller numbers, and good ones attract a higher premium than their standard pistol contemporaries.


References1. Blunderbusses, D R Baxter, Stackpole Books 19702. Great British Gunmakers 1740 – 1790, W Keith Neal

and D H L Back, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1975


n 2006 four members of the New South Wales Gun Club, who enjoyed occasionally shooting clay targets with vintage side by side shotguns, proposed the idea that an annual competition be organised for like minded shooters.

At that early stage there was absolutely no indication that this casual

suggestion would develop into one of the most prestigious side x side competitions in Australia.

� e Club Committee gave the sanction for the event to be timetabled and for an appropriate perpetual trophy to be acquired. A member of the organising group suggested that the prize should be in keeping with the initial idea that the competition be for vintage shotguns up to 100 years old - and often older depending on barrel proofi ng.

IBY JOHN NEWTON PHOTOS MELISSA KING

Championship

NSWGC Gold Sovereign

Side X Side


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NSWGC Gold Sovereign Side X Side ChampionshipNSWGC Gold Sovereign Side X Side Championship


So, the ‘Annual N.S.W.G.C. Gold Sovereign Side x Side Championship was initiated.

� e winner’s prize was to be a genuine gold sovereign and the perpetual trophy, constructed by Tony Garland, proprietor of the Stockade Gun Shop at Terrey Hills, was in keeping with the theme.

As the date for the fi rst competition approached there was no guarantee that the idea was going to achieve general acceptance. Apart from a few of the Club’s sporting shooters who expressed interest we had no concept of the numbers of functional side x side shotguns tucked away in the back of gun safes. However, our concerns were allayed when, on that day in November, 2006, over eighty keen competitors arrived from all over the state, and beyond.

� e motto - ‘a day of fi ne old guns, great shooting and good fellowship’ has continued to be appropriate in the years since the inaugural competition.

Perhaps the most gratifying aspect of the event has been the unearthing of amazing old guns. At the commencement of each competition participants put their guns on display in the clubhouse for all to appreciate. Prizes are awarded for the ‘Best Restored Gun’ and the ‘Best Original Gun.’

Irrespective of whether the guns are top end Purdeys, Dicksons, Churchills, Holland and Hollands, Grullas etc or basic Greeners, Cashmores, Hollis or Jules Gervais, all are coveted by their owners. Many are family heirlooms and have been handed down through several generations.

However, it is the gun which has turned up unexpectedly which often takes pride of place. Many interesting guns have been discovered in old farm sheds, at country clearing sales and at auctions. � e quest for an appropriate piece has often been the highlight of the ‘Gold Sovereign’ experience.

As with all new endeavours there has been fi ne tuning required. Setting a program which is fair and suitable to competitors of differing shooting disciplines took some experimentation. � e competition needed to be reasonable to skeet, sporting and down-the-line shooters. Although initially contentious, a reasonable balance was struck with a mixture of targets being thrown.

� e guns used also caused some concern. � e original concept was that the competition was to be conducted in the spirit of the bygone days, using vintage guns with the characteristics of old guns. However, side x side shotguns are still being manufactured by notable gunmakers with all the features of modern fi rearms - single triggers, variable chokes, ejectors etc. � us, a compromise had to be made whereby the competition had

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various categories to cater for all side x side guns - vintage and modern. Old hammer guns are particularly popular. It is interesting to note that on many occasions the old guns have bettered their modern counterparts.

Eight years after the fi rst competition, the Gold Sovereign Championship continues to attract enthusiastic participation. Convenor, Hugh McMaster, still puts in a great amount of his time attracting sponsors, organising advertising, purchasing prizes and preparing the shooting layout.

� e names of some exceptional side x side shooters appear on the perpetual trophy - in particular Frank Searles and Andrew Shacklock who have each taken home the gold sovereign on more than one occasion.

As did our forebears in the past, we still have to contend with the capricious nature of the weather and this year, 2013, was notable in that regard. Halfway through the competition participants were intimidated by the most severe thunderstorm to hit Terrey Hills in quite some time. A lightning strike close to the clubhouse took out most of the electrics (and most shooters’ hearing !). However, the storm passed, fuses were replaced, and the shooting continued, after which the old - and not so old - guns were cleaned, oiled and returned to the gun safes to be brought out again for the next Gold Sovereign Championship.


NSWGC Gold Sovereign Side X Side Championship


Old Days, OlOld Guns

started collecting in the early 1980s, perhaps a bit later than many members, but still far enough back for things to be very different to what they now are.

At that time there was no requirement for a licence to own or use a longarm and there quite a

number of gun shops in George Street Sydney including Keith McKenzie’s “SYDNEY GUN EXCHANGE” quite a large establishment which specialised in antique fi rearms.

� ere was no requirement for a licence for fl int or percussion pistols either, but if you wanted to collect cartridge pistols you had to have a Pistol Collectors Licence.

Not too bad you might say, but the sting in the tail was that this licence only permitted the ownership of cartridge pistols manufactured before 1900 for which “ammunition was not commercially available” and so it was that many pistols that may perhaps have been manufactured either side of that date, (unlike the Colts whose serial numbers allowed precise dating), were held on licence by collectors who were “sure” they were manufactured prior to 1900. And after all who could say otherwise in the absence of precise dating information?

� e other effect of this particular rule was that if you were say, a Colt collector it gave rise to a sort of artifi cial

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BY BRUCE MACKINLAY


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Old Ways,

premium on guns that were in calibres which may have otherwise been seen as less desirable, such as.41 Long Colt and especially .450B (standing for .450 British or 450 Boxer depending on who you believe).

For those who may not be familiar with the .450B calibre it is was British calibre identical to the .45 Long Colt except that the case is considerably shorter and it is therefore sometimes referred to in America as the .45 Short Colt. Revolvers in this calibre have a step in the cylinder which reduces the diameter of the throat and so prevents the longer case of the .45 Long Colt from being chambered.

It is truly surprising how many of the .45 calibre Colt Model 1873 Single Action Army revolvers that were about in those days were in .450B calibre but

there must have been quite a few because that’s how they were registered, although to be fair most that found their way to Australia in the early days of the colony were, I believe of British origin, and in fact of that calibre.

I suppose it was at least partly because of these calibre restrictions that the collection of Webley revolvers was popular, as these were often in .320, 380, .450 or .455 calibres all of which were deemed to be “not commercially available”, although I do suspect that the fact that there were many different model Webleys made before 1900, many of which were available in fairly large numbers also probably played a part.

In any event one of our Society’s present members (you older members know who I mean) amassed what must have been at that time one of

premium on guns that were in calibres which may have otherwise been seen as less desirable, such as.41 Long Colt and especially .450B (standing for .450 British or 450 Boxer depending on who you believe).

For those who may not be familiar with the .450B calibre it is was British calibre identical to the .45 Long Colt except that the case is considerably shorter and it is therefore sometimes referred to in America as the .45 Short Colt. Revolvers in this calibre have a step in the cylinder whichreduces the diameter of the throat and so prevents the longer case of the .45 Long Colt from being chambered.

It is truly surprising how many of the .45 calibre Colt Model 1873 Single Action Army revolvers thatColt Model 1873 Single Action Army revolvers thatwere about in those days were in .450B calibre but

there must have been quite a few because that’s how they were registered, although to be fair mostthat found their way to Australia in the early daysof the colony were, I believe of British origin, and infact of that calibre.

I suppose it was at least partly because of these calibre restrictions that the collection of Webley revolvers was popular, as these were often in .320, 380, .450 or .455 calibres all of which were deemedto be “not commercially available”, although I do suspect that the fact that there were many different model Webleys made before 1900, many of which were available in fairly large numbers also probably played a part.

In any event one of our Society’s presentmembers (you older members know who I mean)members (you older members know who I mean)amassed what must have been at that time one of



the world’s best collection of Webley revolvers, which sad to say was later dispersed. However this dispersal did have its bright side, for it was during that process in early 1990 that I acquired the fi rst gun that is the subject of this article.

It is Webley New Model No 5 Army Express revolver introduced around 1881. It is in itself an interesting and fairly rare gun bearing more than a passing resemblance to Colt’s 1878 DA Revolver introduced a year or two earlier.

It has been suggested that it was introduced because there was a view in some quarters that the lack of a fi xed top strap on the contemporary break open Webley revolvers was a source of weakness.

Contemporary advertisements by the Army and Navy CSL Stores offered this model for “52shillings blued and 57shillings plated” describing it as “specially adapted for the colonies” and I must confess I can only wonder at what that description meant.

Should we, of colonial stock if we had been around then, have taken offence because it implied that we would not properly maintain a gentleman’s weapon, or on the other hand

perhaps, be fl attered by

the implication that we, being of more robust stature we required a more robust weapon?

In any event in 1884 this model was advertised as having been “adopted by the Transvaal Government” and I understand that all those found since with a South African connection are “plated” as is mine.

But putting all this aside there were several other aspects that attracted me to this particular revolver.

Firstly it was in great condition with all its original nickel plate, although there was a minor fault, easily rectifi ed, with the cylinder pin release catch. I have often found that guns with a minor fault such as this are often in a similar condition, probably because they have been put aside unused until they could be repaired and the repair was never effected.

Secondly it was serial number 921 which was very early in the production range.

� irdly although it was registered as being of .450B calibre there was no step in the cylinder which meant that it’s calibre was in fact the rarer .45 Long Colt although I did not feel the need to correct the registration in view of the already

mentioned restriction on calibres at the time.


Old Days, Old Ways, Old Guns

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Fourthly and to me, most importantly of all, it had a retailer’s stamp on the topstrap which read JAMES ROSIER 66 Elizabeth Street MELBOURNE and I have always had marked preference for weapons with an Australian connection. It may be this that accounts for the fact that although, at that time a proclaimed Colt collector I somehow seem to have acquired quite a number of Australian retailer marked revolvers by other makers such as Adams, Tranter, and in particular Webley.

� e other gun which I would also like to draw to your attention is also a Webley.

� is is one which I acquired a little earlier, in February 1989 in fact, when, again surprisingly for an Colt collector, I had already acquired one or two Webley WG Target revolvers probably because I believed then, and still believe, that they must be amongst the best made, best fi nished and certainly the largest target revolvers ever made.

Strangely enough the signifi cance of “WG” used by Webley as part of a model name seems to have been lost. Some claim it stands for Webley Government whilst others say Webley

Green although as they are unable to offer any information as to who “Green”

might have been it seems the former would be more

likely although I

am unaware of them ever being the subject of a Government contract.

But to get back to this particular revolver. It is a large blued one that had seen better days. It has the “church steeple” fl utes in the cylinder which were a feature of all the previous models but abandoned in the next model and it is stamped “WG Target Model 1893” on the left hand side of the topstrap and 450/455 on the left hand side of the frame.

� e main reason I purchased it was that it was a model of Webley WG Target, that I did not have in my collection although I also particularly liked the arrangement for adjusting the sights which was one I had previously not encountered.

� e rear sight is drift adjustable for windage as is usual on the target model, but what was new to me at the time was the front sight which is a blade fi xed in position by a screw which can be inserted from different sides of the front sight ramp. Under the screw hole on the left hand side is stamped “450” and under the right hand side “455”. By inserting the screw for one side or the other and through a different hole in the sight blade the height of the blade is altered and revolver is sighted for one or the other of those calibres. I thought this a rather ingenious system which I have also since found on a Webley 1896 WG Target Model.

I did notice that the fi ring pin of this revolver was not part of the hammer as was usual in Webley revolvers but was spring loaded within the frame so that it was what is known as a “fl oating” fi ring pin but I did not consider this of any real signifi cance at the time.


amongst the best made, best fi nished and cthe largest target revolvers ever made.

Strangely enough the signifi cance of “Wused by Webley as part of a model name seto have been lost. Some claim it stands forWebley Government whilst others say Web

Green although as they are unable to ofany information as to who “Gree

might have been it seems tformer would be m

likely althoug


Some time later on acquiring a copy of Gordon Bruce and Christian Reinhardt’s “Webley Revolvers” which is a revision and substantial expansion of the classic “Webley Story” by W.E Dowell I found described on page 127 and illustrated on page 129 an identical revolver to the one I now possessed which was said to be ” the only one known, perhaps built to special order”. � is was a surprise.

� e revolver illustrated in the book was one of many others attributed to an “Otto Schiffner” who I assumed, correctly as it turned out, to be a German collector of Webley revolvers.

In any event I wrote to him, in September 1989, in English care of the publishers of the book (with a pen and paper, as we did in those days as there was no internet then) asking whether he was aware of any other examples, and in due course received a very courteous reply in German with an apology for his reply in that language, and the explanation that although he a working knowledge of English he was not suffi ciently confi dent to reply in it.

Paul Duffy was kind enough to put me in touch with a German speaking member of the Society, who was happy to translate the letter for me, and so I became aware that Otto had a huge collection of Webley revolvers and in his reply, apart from soliciting my help in fi nding the one or two of the models he did not have, he said that he knew of no other examples of this particular model but since mine was serial number 5088 and his 5090 it might be supposed that there was a serial number 5089 of the same model in existence at one time. Perhaps it will turn up one day.

As the top of the barrel of my revolver was stamped “ARMY & NAVY CSL” I wrote (pen and

paper again) to an American collector who had access to the records

of � e Army and

Navy CSL Stores which were, and still are, held at Glasgow University in Scotland.

I have since been there and seen those records looking for information on behalf of another member ,but that, as they say, is another story.

In due course received from the USA a photoccopy (photocopying of these records is no longer permitted in the interests of their preservation) of the relevant part of the Army & Navy CSL sales ledger which revealed that my revolver was sold on 11th July 1893 to A.L. Clarke Esq for the sum of fi ve pounds seventeen and sixpence. It certainly cost me a lot more than that when I bought it but I suppose allowances must be made.

As the Army And Navy Co-operative Stores Limited was an organisation originally formed in 1871 by a group of army and navy offi cers to supply “articles of domestic consumption and general use to its members at the lowest remunerative rates” I thought it sensible to assume that A.L.Clarke Esq was a member of the armed forces..

A search of Harts Army List of 1893 revealed an Arthur Lionel Crisp Clarke who at that time was a 2nd Lieutenant in the � ird Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment and I also thought it reasonable to assume that he was the one who had purchased my gun.


Old Days, Old Ways, Old Guns

020 ARMS

might be supposed that there was a serial number5089 of the same model in existence at one time. Perhaps it will turn up one day.

As the top of the barrel of my revolver wasstamped “ARMY & NAVY CSL” I wrote (pen and

paper again) to an American collectorwho had access to the records

of � e Army and

an Arthur was a 2nd the Leicesreasonablpurchased

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Navy CSL Stores which were, and still are, held at Glasgow University in Scotland.

I have since been there and seen those records looking for information on behalf of anothermember ,but that, as they say, is another story.

In due course received from the USA a photoccopy (photocopying of these records is no longer permitted in the interests of their preservation) of the relevant part of the Army & Navy CSL sales ledger which revealed that my revolver was sold on 11th July 1893 to A.L. ClarkeEsq for the sum of fi ve pounds seventeen andsixpence. It certainly cost me a lot more than thatwhen I bought it but I suppose allowances must be made.

As the Army And Navy Co-operative Stores Limited was an organisation originally formed in 1871 by a group of army and navy offi cers to supply “articles of domestic consumption and general use

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ns


It is more likely that it was bought for target practice and perhaps military shooting competition.

It certainly had some later military association because the backstrap is heavily stamped with a government broad arrow between the letters D and D followed by A705 which I think most likely means that sometime later, perhaps during the Second World War II it was commandeered by the government for use by its armed forces or home defence but I have no knowledge of this aspect of its history as I have never done any research in this regard

It is always nice to add a another old gun to a collection, but surely fi rearms collecting must be about more than just acquiring another nice one and putting it in the safe . How much more rewarding it is to fi nd out something of its history and perhaps be surprised to fi nd you have unwittingly acquired a real rarity.


have unwittingly acquired a real rarity.


By searching some of the later Harts Army Lists I was able to follow his subsequent career which was as follows:-

Princess Louise’s (Argylle and Sutherland Highlanders) 2nd Lieutenant 6th June 1896 Lieutenant 4th May 1898 Captain 27th August 1904 Served in the South African War 1899-1900, and was present at the advance on Kimberley and engagements at Modder River, Magersfontein, Paaedeberg, Poplar Grove, Dreifontein,Waterval Drift, Houtnek,Bloemberg, Roodeport and Heilbron Mentioned in despatches. Queen’s Medal with four clasps. 1914-1919 Served in France, Belgium, Greek Macedonia,Sebia, Bulgaria, European Turkey,and the islands of the Aegean Sea Mentioned in despatches. Lieutenant Colonel 1920 Still serving ( DSM VM DSO) 1924 on the retired list. 1935 died

Of course it is unlikely that my gun I featured in any of these campaigns because it is after all a target model and with its 71/2 inch barrel and large frame rather bulky.

References1. Webley Revolvers by Gordon Bruce and

Christian Reinhart2. Letter from Otto Schiffner undated (late 1989)3. Army and Navy CSL sales register for April

to August 18934. Hart’s Army Lists of 1893,1897,1908,1920 and 1926

It is more likely that it was

By searching some of the later Harts Army Lists I was able to follow his subsequent career which was as follows:-

Princess Louise’s (Argylle and Sutherland Highlanders) 2nd Lieutenant 6th June 1896 Lieutenant 4th May 1898 Captain 27th August 1904 Served in the South African War 1899-1900, andwas present at the advance on Kimberley andengagements at Modder River, Magersfontein,Paaedeberg, Poplar Grove, Dreifontein,WatervalDrift, Houtnek,Bloemberg, Roodeport and Heilbron Mentioned in despatches. Queen’sM d l ith f l

ReferencesR f1. Webley Revolvers by

Christian Reinhart2. Letter from Otto Sch3. Army and Navy CSL s

to August 18934. Hart’s Army Lists of


Naval And CoaGuard Pistols

BY PAUL DUFFY

Pattern 18


he Napoleonic Wars fi nished in 1815 with the disbandment of the vast levies which had been raised under the threat of invasions, many thousands of fl intlock arms were returned to store, and the British Government found itself with a stock of weapons of the

old pattern suffi cient to supply the needs of the regular forces for many years to come, with a depleted treasury, and with the prospect of many years of assured peace. Contracts for new arms were cancelled, and expenditure upon small arms being limited to a small annual outlay for maintaining the Royal Manufactory at Enfi eld, which was chiefl y employed in repairing or reconditioning existing weapons.

Early in the 19th century the military authorities were slow in considering the introduction of the percussion system after their expensive and abortive experiments with Forsyth’s lock in 1807, the Ordnance took little interest in percussion devices, until after the Napoleonic wars. � e considered opinion was that percussion action in a high class sporting gun might be preferable to a fl intlock, but that it did not have suffi cient reliability and strength for military work.

In the 1830s the Ordnance Board heard that France had started experiments on detonating locks, and asked the Woolwich

T

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oast 1842



Committee for a report. � is body seemed to be at a loss to know what do to.

Enter George Lovell, who started as a clerk in the Royal Carriage Department at Woollwich. Transferred the same year to the depot at North Yarmouth, he remained there as a Clerk of the Cheque until 1816, when he was appointed storekeeper of the Enfi eld Arms Factory. He acquired considerable knowledge of the processes of fi rearm manufacture and factory control. He was widely read, could translate French and German technical papers, and was thus better equipped to take charge of an arms programme, if he so wished. And Lovell did. From the beginning

he set out to re-arm the British forces with

what he considered to be the best fi rearms in the World.

Lovell’s fi rst year of offi ce as Inspector of Small Arms in 1840 was a busy one. His duties now included the direction of the Government factory at Enfi eld, the supervision of work in the Ordnance small arms workshops in London and Birmingham, and the control of orders to the various contractors.

Lovell’s task was the design of the Sergeant’s musket, and other carbines. � at is a story for another time. � is story is about the Naval and Coastguard pistols, known as the Pattern 1842 percussion pistol.

In 1842, Lovell’s most successful year, he introduced two new pistols. Although the pistol had been abolished as a cavalry arm in 1838, the Lancers were allowed to retain one each, and each cavalry regiment was given an issue of


Pattern 1842 Naval And Coast Guard Pistols


ARMS CAVALCADE 2014 025ARMS CAVALCADE 2014 025

thirteen pistols for the use of Sergeant Majors and Trumpeters. � e musket bore pistol designed by Lovell for this purpose was a rather ugly job with a small butt, a side lock, a 9” barrel with a swizel rammer. Lovell had, of course, little scope in designing his pistols. Nearly all his sea service pistols had to be made from converted fl intlock materials, and the result was at least a dozen varieties with different locks, swizels, butt caps and furniture. � ose intended for the Navy or Coast Guard were fi tted with a belt hook on the left side. With this appendage removed, these 6” barrel pistols were issued to police and Land Transport Corps, and in 1852-53 to forces in Victoria, New South Wales and Van Dieman’s Land.

However the year before in 1841, a disastrous fi re ravaged the Tower of London and 280,000 stands of arms, including most of the new percussions arms were lost. � e fi re was fi rst

noticed at about half past ten on the evening of 30th October 1841, by a sentinel on duty near the Jewel Offi ce. He is stated to have

caught sight of a fi re in the round tower, which was near the

Armoury. He fi red his musket, and the Scots Fusilier Guards turned out.

Colonel Auckland Eden, the offi cer commanding directed the troops to turn out the nine Tower engines, which were soon assisted by fi re brigade engines arriving from every quarter. In spite of these efforts, the Round Tower was consumed, followed by the Armoury roof.

Colonel Eden and his men moved as many portable items as possible, but after a short time the ceiling began to give way and they had to leave. � e Small Arms workshops



were destroyed, but on 5th November, Lovell reported that he

had started work again in the buildings on the wharf. Despite the losses, new orders were dispatched and the production initially for the new Line muskets began the following year, thus being classifi ed as the Pattern of 1842.

As mentioned, Lovell introduced the two new pistols, one of which was the Pattern 1842 Sea Service Percussion Pistol in .56 calibre with a 6” barrel.

� e Pattern 1842 pistols do not feature strongly in the history of British fi rearms. However in British Military Firearms by Howard Blackmore a 6” Naval pistol is illustrated on the front cover and on plate 71 both the 9” and 6” pistols are illustrated. � ey are also illustrated in chapter IV � e Percussion Period in British

Military Pistols 1603-1888 by R.E. Brooker Jr. Both excellent books.

� e pistols illustrated here are:A pistol with a 6” barrel, lock

marked with a crowned GR, view mark, and Tower at the back of the lock and the remains of a sliding lock. No date. On the right side of the stock is the stamped B O when the pistol was sold out of service, and on the left side the initials TC, I presume for the stock maker, and a small, but defi nite maple leaf stamp. � e pistol is fi tted with brass furniture, round lanyard swivel. � e barrel has the usual view and proof marks, as does the inside of the lock.

� is pistol has a lock converted from fl int-lock, these are holes on the face of the lock which would have held the steel spring, and the nipple is drilled into a bolster attached to the barrel.

� is is one of the earlier pistols. It is similar to the 6” pistol illustrated on the cover and the third pistol on page 71 of Howard Blackmore’s book. � e main difference between them is the round lanyard ring on my pistol compared with the fl atter lanyard swizel on the pistols illustrated by Howard Blackmore.

� e pistols are also similar to the coast guard and sea service pistols

illustrated on plates 63 and 66 of Robert Brooker’s book.

Both locks are stamped with a crowned GR, George

Rex, rather than a crowned



VR, Victoria Regina. So these locks were stamped before the death of George IV in 1830, and were made for a fl int-lock action before Lovell’s 1842 pattern. William IV reigned for only seven years, 1830-1837, followed by Queen Victoria.

� e second pistol is another with a 6” barrel, but lock stamped with a Queens Crown over VR and 1853 ENFIELD stamped on the left side of the lock are the initials BT and ENFIELD. � ese are view and proof marks on the top of the barrel.

� e lock on this pistol, 4.5” long is retained by a single screw from the left side, and a single screw at the front and of the lock. � is pistol also has a brass furniture, a swizel ramrod and a fl attened lanyard loop.

� is lock was made as a percussion lock. � e pistol is similar to the fourth pistol shown on page 71 in Howard Blackmore’s book, and fi gures 64 and 68 in Robert Brooker’s book.

� e third pistol, also with a 6” barrel and lock stamped Queens Crown over VR dated 1855, Tower and a view mark is stamped on the left side of the stock with J WILCOX and TIPPING & LAWDEN, and a B O stamp.

� e lock is the same size and retained in the same way as the second pistol. � is pistol has a belt hook, brass furniture, and a round lanyard loop. � ere are front and rear sights.




� is is sea service pistol similar to the pistol illustrated as number 4 on plate 71 of Blackmore’s book, and fi gures 64 and 98 of Robert Brooker’s book. � e pistol is in excellent, condition, it was never issued. I understand that it was deaccessed from the Tower many years ago.

I can imagine Lovell’s dilemma, the need to produce muskets, lack of funds, the loss of percussion arms in the fi re, so I can understand why he looked at his surviving stores, and the stores held by manufacturers. � e stocks appear to be a new design, quite different from the stock of the New Land Pattern pistol. However these fl intlock pistols used the Paget style bolted and stepped lock, and the New Land Pistol Lock.

� ere must have been supplies of these locks, so I can understand how the fi rst types of the new P1842 Lovell pistols were made with stepped, bolted locks from the Paget carbine and the locks from the New Land Pattern fl intlock pistol. � ey would probably have been stamped with a Crowned GR, or a Crowned WR Lovell had these locks converted to percussion ignition. Lovell concentrated on the development of the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfi eld Lock, away from the centre of London and the risk of fi re. Lovell was able at Enfi eld Lock to concentrate on the mass production of arms with product design, and newly arrived machine tools from America.



[Illustration of Paget Lock and Newland Service pistol lock]

Examples of fl int ignition locks are illustrated here. In the book by Barry Chisnall and Geoff Davis, British Cavalry Carbines & Pistols of the Napoleonic Era on pp 93, 156, 157 there are excellent illustrations of Paget carbines with 4½” and 5½” locks and New Land Pattern pistols.

In England the percussion revolver was adopted as a Naval weapon in 1856. So the P1842 pistol, a single shot muzzle-loading weapon was obsolete not long after it was introduced. � e army and navy were well aware of the new percussion revolvers from America and England.

� e 1856 model muzzle loading pistol, with a 9” barrel remained in use as the standard cavalry weapon until 1864.

� e 6” pistols were “in store” and available for issue towards the mid period of the nineteenth century.

And issued they were to the colonies. With the belt hook removed they were issued to police and Land Transport Corps to forces in Victoria, New South Wales and Van Dieman’s Land.

� e NSW Mounted Patrol was founded in 1825, but not well supplied by Governor Brisbane. � e Mounted Patrol was absorbed into the NSW Police after the passing of the Police Act 1862. � ese single shot pistols were no match for the percussion revolvers, and life in the colonies was changing.

Manning Clark in volume III of his History of Australia describes this period;

“In March 1850 Sir Charles Fitzroy made a fl ying visit to an iron foundry at Mittagong.

At Berrima and other centres people were talking about how they would

be able to market their goods once a railway was built ...”




While men were dreaming dreams of the future of humanity in Australia, Edward Hargraves came to the Bathurst plains on 12 February 1851. With companions they moved down the course of the Lewis Pond Creek searching for gold. He scratched the gravel, fi lled a pan with the earth, and washed dirt away till he saw the speck he was looking for. “� ere it is, he exclaimed. � is is a memorable day in the history of New South Wales. I shall be a baronet, you will be knighted, and my old horse will be stuffed, and put into a glass case, and sent to the British Museum”. � at did not happen to Hargraves, or his man, or his horse, for they were not destined to gain prizes in the great lottery of life. But something was about to happen to the land about which men of renown in China, India, Indonesia, Catholic Christendom, Protestant England, and Europe of the Enlightenment had dreamed their own great dreams. An iron rail was about to tether the mighty bush to the world of British industrial civilisation.

Before the iron rail joined the gold fi elds to the coast the police and law forces in New South Wales and Victoria were busy dealing with the consequences of the gold rush.

� e new police in New South Wales were smartly dressed in the military fashion of the day. But before the old Enfi eld muzzle-loading carbines, and pistols were replaced with Calisher and Terry breech-loading carbines and Colt Navy revolvers they had to cope with bushrangers who had already helped themselves to revolvers.

Peter C Smith in “Tracking Down the Bushrangers” recounts interesting tales from the bushranger years. For instance the Ben Hall gang rode into Bathurst, the administrative capital of the western part of New South Wales, with a population of 6,000, on a calm Saturday night in 1863. � ere were fi ve of them, their pistols concealed beneath their coats and they did not attract undue attention.

� eir fi rst call was at Pedrotta’s gun store, where they asked to see the latest revolving carbines. Not having any in stock Pedrotta showed them his supply of Colt revolvers, but the

bushrangers told him they had better themselves (meaning their English Tranter revolvers).

Another example was the encounter with Captain Moonlight near Gundagai. After an encounter which had lasted for about half an hour in which an estimated 120 shots were fi red, the Police took possession of nine rifl es, seven guns, the revolvers, one swizel gun, one pea rifl e, two pistols and two Bowie knives, as well as a lot of ammunition.

� e Police in New South Wales and Victoria were issued with Colt percussion revolvers after 1862, however the bushrangers often carried two, three of four revolvers, and the replacement of the 6” single shot pistol took some time.

So the P1842 single shot percussion pistol is part of the history of Australia. Some can be found marked with a letter and number which were issued to the Police in Victoria.

� ey were certainly issued to the New South Wales Mounted Patrol before the Police Act 1862, and probably in varying versions. � e earlier belted and stepped Paget style locks, and the later New Land Pattern style lock.

Remember that in August 1852 the fi rst steamship arrived in Sydney from England. On 12 September 1854 the electric telegraph was fi rst used in Sydney. Between 1851 and 1861 the number of white men increased from 437,665 to 1,168,149.

� ere was no need then for naval ships to carry racks of boarding pistols.

But the P1842 pistol is a handsome fellow.



Literature1. British Military Firearms by Howard Blackmore2. British Military Pistols 1603-1888 by Robert

Brooker Jnr3. Weapons of the British Soldier by Col. H.C.B. Rogers4. Catalogue of the Enfi eld Pattern Room5. English Pistols & Revolvers by J.N. George6. Pistols of the World by Claude Blair7. British Non Ordnance Carbines 1750-1980 by

Barry C. Chisnall8. British Cavalry Carbines & Pistols of the Napoleonic

Era by Barry Chisnall and Geoffrey Davies9. British Military Longarms 1815-1865 by D.W. Bailey10. A History of Australia III by C.M H. Clark11. Tracking Down the Bushrangers by Peter C Smith12. Thanks for additional photos to Lithgow Small

arms Factory Museum and Barry Chisnall and Geoff Davis from their book British Cavalry Carbines and Pistols of the Napoleonic Era


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The RealWar Horses

BY JOHN NEWTON


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he recent fi lm and stage adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s novel ‘War Horse’ engendered a general interest in the roles played by horses in confl icts of the past, particularly the First World War.

Obviously a two hour movie based on a fi ctional children’s story

cannot accurately or adequately portray the vast logistics required to acquire, train, transport, maintain and treat the millions of horses and mules utilised in warfare over the millennia.

� e military use of horses and mules, and other draught animals such as camels and oxen, goes back in time over four thousand years. � e ancient Hittites were writing manuals on the best methods

T

‘Bringing up the Ammunition’ Flanders, 1917, H Septimus Power, A.W.M, ART03333

of breeding and training horses for use in chariots nearly forty centuries ago. � e Hittites valued a mule (the cross between a jack - male donkey - and a mare) at three times that of a horse.

� e Greek leader Xenophon devised methods to best utilise horses in a cavalry mode - as did Alexander the Great.

� e modern depiction of horses in warfare has often been out of balance. As with ‘War Horse,’ the vast majority of stories and poems written and fi lms produced concentrate on cavalry mounts. � e millions of draught animals get little attention, even though it is accepted that they were the logistical support which made it possible for armies to survive. - “without them the guns would not have moved, they would have



run out of ammunition, the infantry would have missed breakfast, the distribution of mail would have ceased and casualties could not have been evacuated from the battle zone. Without horses the armies would have disintegrated.”

� e attention given to the mounted soldiers is understandable. � ere has always been a certain romanticism about the notable - and sometimes forgettable - feats of the cavalry. From the Battles of Hastings and Agincourt, through to the charges at Waterloo, Crimea and Beersheba, there has been millions of words written and generations of students have been schooled in the legends - sometimes myths - of these epic feats.

Most students in the mid to late nineteenth century could recite with passion the stirring lines of Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem, “� e Charge of the Light Brigade”. � e fact

that the event was a tactical disaster, as alluded to by Tennyson - “someone had blunder’d”- did not lessen the patriotism exhibited by those who recited it.

� e fact was that 673 of the Light Brigade took part in the charge to capture the Russian guns in the “valley of death.” One hundred and eighteen men were killed, one hundred and twenty seven wounded and sixty taken prisoner. At the end of the day one hundred and ninety fi ve of the horses were left standing.

� e French Marshall, Pierre Bosquet, summed up the general feeling of all who witnessed the failed assault - “C’est magnifi que, mais ce n’est pas la guerre. C’est de la folie.” - It is magnifi cent but it is not war. It is madness.”


The Real War HorsesThe Real War Horses


Visit most cities of the world, and many towns and villages, and it is not diffi cult to fi nd imposing statues of soldiers and their cavalry mounts. Eyes bright, ears pricked and foreleg raised they are memorable. To fi nd a memorial to a draught animal is much more diffi cult, even though their herculean feats and absolute necessity is deserving of much more appreciation.

Fortunately, there is the occasional exception and Australia can be grateful that it had a brilliant war artist, H. Septimus Power, whose paintings and sketches,

many of draught horses in W.W.1, evoke a feeling of national pride in the part played by these magnifi cent animals. Anyone who visits the Australian War Memorial in Canberra should be encouraged to stand and admire the Septimus Power painting titled - ’Bringing Up the Guns’, depicting a team of 101st Australian Battery horses hauling artillery to the � ird Battle of Ypres in 1917.

‘Bringing up the Guns’, H Septimus Power, 1917, AWM, ART03334



Another painting from the First World War helped to negate the notion that war was not a time to feel compassion for the animals involved. � ey had been shipped off to a hellish world as far removed and unfamiliar from their experiences as it was to the young soldiers. � is evocative artwork, by Fortunino Matania, is titled ‘Goodbye Old Man’, and shows a soldier removing the harness and farewelling a dying artillery horse. � e painting was commissioned in 1916 by an organisation named Blue Cross whose objective was to alleviate the suffering of animals on the battlefi eld. Still operational, now in the care of all animals, it carries on its role from a headquarters in London.

Horses have rarely been used as scapegoats for military defeats, rather they were often used to salvage or re-direct pride after a humiliating episode. A much documented example of this is the story of ‘Comanche’ - often referred to as the sole cavalry survivor of the Battle of the Little Big Horn River (Custer’s Last Stand). Historians agree that there would have been other horses which survived the massacre but that these would have been rounded up by the Indians after the battle.

Comanche was the mount of Custer’s seventh Cavalry offi cer, Captain Myles Keogh.


The Real War Horses

ABOVE: ComancheRIGHT: ‘Goodbye Old Man’, Fortunino Matania, 1916. Image courtesy ‘Blue Cross’, U.KFAR RIGHT: Second Boer War Horse Memorial, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa

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AABOVE: ComancheG


Two days after the disaster, burial parties attending the site found the badly wounded horse remaining with the bodies of the soldiers. � e initial decision to end the horse’s suffering was overturned out of pity and awe at the animal’s loyalty. Comanche was transported to veterinary care at Fort Lincoln. � e horse recovered from its seven wounds (four bullets were removed from its body). An edict was gazetted that Comanche was never to be ridden or worked again. � e horse became a national treasure and on its death from old age in 1891 was given a funeral with full military honours. � is occasion has been granted to horses only twice since - to ‘Black Jack’ (29 years military service), and to ‘Chief’ (offi cially the last cavalry horse - died 1968.)

Statistics on equine numbers in World War One vary greatly. Jilly Cooper’s book, ‘Animals in War’ indicates that over six million animals perished in the confl ict. � e vast majority of this horrifi c number were not battle casualties but as the result of disease, starvation and exhaustion.

� ese emotional, wartime animal mortality statistics cannot be looked at in isolation. As depressing as they are, it must be taken into account that even now, in relative peacetime, millions of horses, donkeys and mules are slaughtered each year to fi ll quotas for pet food, human consumption, and even fertiliser production - and most of this done with government and animal welfare societies sanction.

Recent media reports indicate that statutory authorities have given approval for the culling of more than 100,000 feral donkeys, brumbies and camels in central Australia.



Proportionally, earlier wars were far more disastrous for horses and mules than W.W.1. � e Crimea was particularly horrifi c with enormous numbers of the animals perishing before even reaching the war zones. � e trip across the Black Sea was a nightmare with vast numbers dying of sea sickness and what became known as ‘shipping fever’ - a form of equine pneumonia. On arrival the animals and men faced the worst winter conditions in the Crimea in living memory. � e horses and mules also suffered and died as the result of ridiculous military regulations. � e procedure known as ‘clipping’ was practised until sanity prevailed. All military horses and mules had their winter hair shorn, basically so that skin parasites could be detected and treated. � is was fi ne in peacetime when the animals could be stabled but in winter and in a foreign land with very rudimentary veterinary care it was extremely debilitating and thousands of horses and mules simply froze to death until the practice was modifi ed.

A sobering indication of the conditions prevailing in the Crimea can be viewed by Googling - ’Crimean War Photographs by Roger Fenton. 1855.’ � e poor condition of many of the horses photographed is very evident.

� e Second Boer War took a terrible toll on horses and mules. Of the fi ve hundred thousand animals transported to South Africa, four hundred thousand were shipped - many thousands from Australia. Tens of thousands of


The Real War Horses

tionally earlier wars were far more

The Real War Horses

ProportProportion ll

r Horses


these animals died en route.Again, on arrival the horses

were ravaged by foreign diseases. � e tsetse fl y created an enormous health problem. � e life expectancy of a horse or mule after arrival in South Africa was six weeks. Veterinary care, although improving, was still basic and the number of animals requiring urgent attention was staggering.

In the Boer War campaigns 60% of all horses and mules involved died (over 300,000). � ree per cent of human combatants died.

A memorial to the horses which perished is erected at Port Elizabeth on the Eastern Cape of South Africa.

It is interesting to note the differing sets of circumstances in the earlier American Civil War. � e battles were fought on home soil with a familiar climate and environment. Yet, offi cially, 1,500,000 horses and mules died in this confl ict -although many Civil War historians say that this number is understated by half. When the statistics are broken down, starvation and exhaustion were prime factors in such huge numbers of deaths.

Horses/mules were also more expendable. At the onset of the war it is estimated that both sides had access to over 850,000 horses and one million mules.

Vast numbers of animals fell to ‘friendly fi re’ Horses with minor wounds or simple injuries such as stone bruised hoofs were shot rather than having time taken to restore them to health. � e policy that horses were not to fall into enemy hands resulted in large numbers of animals being shot - even children’s ponies.

� e three day Battle of Gettysburg was savage on horses - 3000 to 4000 died. It is documented that on one day of the battle a woman who lived several miles from the battle zone awoke to fi nd

27 dead and wounded horses in her front yard.For every soldier who died in the Civil War

fi ve horses were killed.At the war’s end General Lee requested that

every confederate soldier be permitted to take his horse home, as this would assist survival in a damaged rural economy. General Grant acceded to this request.

In 1914 the British Army had access to only 25,000 horses. Incredibly, by 1917, it had 591,000


LEFT: A soldier resting against his horse, WW1RIGHT: The Blue Cross fundraising poster highlighting the plight of the horses on the battlefi elds of Europe touched the animal-loving British public and helped to generate £170, 000 in donations during the fi rst world war - equivalent to £6.5 million pound todayBOTTOM LEFT: South Africa War Memorial, Adelaide, South Australia


horses, 213,000 mules, 47,000 camels and 11,000 oxen. Between 1914 and the end of the War the Remount Division spent 67.5 million pounds on purchasing, training and delivering horses and mules to the front lines.

Initially these animals were obtained by impressment at home and then by local and international purchase. � e United States provided 428,000 horses and 275,000 mules; South America 6,000 horses and 1500 mules; Spain / Portugal 3700 mules whilst other countries such as Canada and Australia also provided substantial numbers.

Purchasing depots were established in Kansas City, St Louis, Chicago, Fort Worth and Denver. Horses preferred were between fi ve and seven years old. As in any large scale enterprise such as this, unscrupulous dealers tried the ruse of fi ling down the teeth of older horses to make them appear to fi t the required profi le.

� e vast majority of horses purchased were draught animals - 91% . ‘Light’ draught horses were 15 - 16 hands tall and up to 1200 pounds weight. � ese were used to haul ambulances, light artillery, ammunition and supply wagons.

� e ‘heavy’ draught horses - sometimes referred to as ‘shire’ horses - were harnessed in teams to haul heavy artillery. As the war progressed, and equipment became larger and heavier, the ‘heavy’ draught horses were phased out in favour of tracked mechanised vehicles and even locomotives.

� e ‘light’ draught horses and mules were in service with the British Army from beginning to the end. Over the course of the war 1,183,228 animals were involved .

Veterinary care had improved considerably since the South African campaigns and by 1917 the Royal Veterinary Corps claimed a success rate of saving 78% of injured and sick horses. � is sterling service earned the Corps the ‘Royal’ prefi x. � ese statistics are much more

positive than the sentiments expressed early in the war when a vet wrote in his journal - “� e only qualifi cation a Military Veterinarian needs is to be a good shot.”

With so many horses and mules being acquired it was necessary to employ and train large numbers of personnel to look after the animals and prepare them for the diffi cult tasks ahead. In August 1914 there were 121 Offi cers and 230 men in service with the Remount Corps. By 1917 this number had increased to 423 Offi cers and 20,560 men.


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TOP: One of ODFL Blue Cross HospitalsTOP RIGHT: Blue Cross horse ambulance, WW1RIGHT: Conditions on the battlefi eldBELOW: A Blue Cross surgeon operating on a horse of the French Army that was wounded by shrapnel, c1916


� e transport ships were obvious targets for the enemy over the course of the war. More than 6,600 horses and mules were drowned when their transport ships were sunk by German attacks.

For a graphic description of the torpedoing of a ship conveying horses and mules in W.W.1 read the chapter - ‘Archimedes Gone’ in Tom Keneally’s memorable novel - ‘� e Daughters of Mars’.

After the journey across the Atlantic from the U.S. many animals were in a weakened condition. Conditions below decks on the transport ships were far from ideal. � e Remount depots provided veterinary care, training and decent rations for the horses before they were shipped to France, given health checks, and signed off for duty.

1917 was a bad year for the draught animals. In April 1917 artillery gunners were short by 3500 horses. An entry in the log of the 167th Brigade, Royal Regiment of Artillery stated - ‘many horses are dying of sheer fatigue.’

Gunner Philip Sylvester wrote - ‘We moved forward, but the conditions were terrible. � e horses were up to their bellies in mud. We’d put them on a picket line between the wagon wheels at night and they’d be sunk in over their fetlocks the next day. We had to shoot quite a number.’ (Quote from ‘� e Forgotten Army’ Michael Duffy.)

John Singleton, in his outstanding treatise titled ‘Britain’s Military Use of Horses 1914 - 1918,’ reports that ‘gunfi re and gas accounted for a surprisingly small proportion of equine mortality.’

On the Western front battle losses constituted about one quarter of the total number of deaths between 1914 and 1916. Horses died mostly from exhaustion and respiratory diseases. � e highest death rates were in East Africa where horse and mule mortality in 1916 was 290% of initial stock - again, as in the Boer War, due in large part to the tsetse fl y.

Remount depots to receive and prepare the horses were established at Woolwich, Dublin, Melton Mowbray, Arborfi eld, Chiddinsfold, Shirehampton, Romsey, Lathom Park (Ormskirk) and Swaythling.

� e impressive silver medal shown in this article was awarded to a Sergeant at the Lathom Park (Ormskirk) Remount Depot for his success in training a winning team of artillery horses.

Depots were also set up in Egypt and Salonika where many Australian horses were initially sent.

After August 1914 the British Army phased out the compulsory purchase of animals relying on a normal market system. Between 1914 and 1920 469,000 horses were purchased within the U.K.

In 1917 when the U.S. entered the war it was feared that the previous regular supply of horses and mules would lessen. However, it was estimated that the U.S. had a supply of 21 million farm horses and could easily cover British purchases as well as its own requirements.


Remount depots to receive and prepare the horses were established at Woolwich Dublin

Ih

Remount de


At the conclusion of the War 100,000 equines were repatriated to Britain. Public scrutiny was intense and many members of the British aristocracy lobbied Churchill to ensure that humane treatment was afforded to the battlefi eld survivors.

Many returned horses and mules were sold at auction and the market became oversupplied

Sadly, 45,000 of the horses made another trip across the Channel to be bought for a pittance by French butchers. A tragic end for animals which had served their country with distinction under horrifi c conditions.

A few equine survivors had a better ending to their military service. A team of four black artillery horses - veterans of the Western Front, transported the coffi n of the Unknown Soldier to Westminster Abbey. � is team, known as “� e Old Blacks’ was retired in 1926.

A group of returned offi cers pooled resources to purchase an old horse named David which had served in both the Boer War and World War One. He was rewarded with a peaceful (and no doubt pandered ) retirement.

It would be reasonable to assume, after considering the rapid development in mechanisation, especially in the area of transport

of troops and military support material between 1918 and 1939, that the previous vast use of draught animals would be relegated to the era of past history.

Not so. � e use of horses in World War 11 exceeded the numbers used in previous confl icts. Germany and � e Soviets alone had over six million horses as part of their armed forces. (Germany - 2.5 million; Soviet Union - 3.5 million.)

In two months on the Eastern Front, December 1941 and January 1942, Germany lost 179,000 horses.

When the Allied Forces captured the Po Valley in the north of Italy, thousands of cavalry and draught horses were found running free having been abandoned by the retreating German forces.

� e Soviet Army had eighty light cavalry divisions.

In 1942 the British Army was utilising 6500 horses, 10,000 mules and 1700 camels. A great number of these were used in the mountainous regions of Italy, Sicily, Burma .


The Real War Horses

At the conclusion of the War 100,000

al War Horses

At the


� e numbers of horses used by France (520,000) was greater than the combined total of Britain and the United States.

� e second World War was much more globally encompassing . Many of the theatres of war were comprised of extremely rough terrain which proved to be inaccessible to mechanised vehicles. Draught animals (even reindeer and elephants) were again utilised to access these remote and inhospitable battle zones. As well, the erratic and unreliable supplies of fossil fuel often made the utilisation of motorised vehicles very diffi cult.

� e United States put into service 16,800 horses and 3,500 mules during the course of the war - many used in remote areas of the Pacifi c and the Philippines. In 1944 - 45 the 10th Mountain Division used thousands of mules in the rugged terrain of Nth Italy. Most of these animals were commandeered from the local countryside.

� e U.S. army did not procure any horses after 1943 and between 1943 and 1945 only 45 horses were shipped from the U.S. to forces overseas.

Twenty thousand horses toiled under the Chinese fl ag while Japan relied on horses and mules for artillery and troop transport. Each IJA Division had 22,000 men and 5800 horses.

At present the British Army has about 450 horses in service. � ey are mostly ceremonial and used in displays such as the Trooping of the Colours.

Amongst the many statues and memorials in London’s Hyde Park is one paid for by public subscription. It is a memorial to all animals killed in wars and has the simple epitaph - ‘THEY HAD NO CHOICE.’


References1. Blue Cross2. Australian War Memorial,Canberra, Moj Nozhat3. ‘Britain’s Military Use of Horses, 1914 - 1918,

John Singleton4. ‘The Forgotten Army’, Michael Duffy

A

4. The Forgotten Army’, Michael Duffy


ozhat8,

A

cal countryside.ocure any

eees

ocure any en s


hese are three nineteenth fi rearms decorated in India, although not made there. All three are decorated in the gold Koftgari style.

� e fi rst is an English percussion, revolving rifl e, M1851, by Dean Adams & Dean. � e top of the action is marked Deane

Adams & Dean, 30 King William Street, London Bridge. � e fi rm is listed as being in this address from 1851-1860. Robert Adams fi rst patented a revolver in 1851.

It was a sturdy fi ve chambered self-cocking pistol, with barrel and solid frame forged in one. � e inventor was the manager for the London house of George & John Dean, and a gun-maker of some note. His pistol was shown at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851 and aroused great interest as a native competitor to the Colt revolvers shown there. As a result of the publicity for revolvers in general, a partnership was established between the inventor and John Deans (Senior and Junior). Rifl es and shotguns were made in small numbers.

� is revolving rifl e has a round barrel, with front sight and three rear sight settings, 100, 200 and 300 yards. � e hammer is enclosed. � e cylinder takes fi ve loads and is .59 calibre. � e

T

Indian GBY TONY WOOD

� e striking thing about this rifl e is the gold

decoration. � e frame and trigger guard are lavishly decorated with

gold fl oral and leaf motives , gold and gold wire which follows the original engraving. � e

cylinder, loading lever and barrel are lavishly decorated in Indian style, a gold Koftkari decoration. Under the front of the barrel and along under the barrel is some extensive gold writing in Urdu. � e decoration is shown on the illustrations.

� e second arm is a M1851 Colt Percussion revolver, .36 calibre. � e 7½” barrel is stamped

rifl e has a square fronted trigger guard, so that the frame could be supported when fi ring. � e shooter could not support the barrel in front of the cylinder. Stamped on the right side of the frame is “Adams Patent No 15041 R.” � ere is an inscription in Urdo stamped onto the top of the barrel, near the breech, probably with an awl, not engraved.


AC2014_pg46-53_Tony Wood.indd 46AC2014_pg46-53_Tony Wood.indd 46 3/25/2014 8:51:59 AM3/25/2014 8:51:59 AM

Guns

ADDRESS. COL. COLT LONDON. � e

revolver has a round trigger guard and has

matching serial numbers 33741. � is indicates being built in 1855. � e

one piece grips are in good condition and unmarked.

� is revolver has also been extensively decorated in the gold Koftkori style in India. � e gold on the backstrap is slightly worn, as is the loading lever. � e gold decoration on the cylinder frame and barrel is in excellent condition, and very striking.

� e cylinder is stamped with London view and proof marks, and there is no evidence of an engraved scene on the cylinder.

� e third piece is big, a Colt revolving shot gun, 5 shot, 10 gauge. A M1855 side hammer longarm. Colt had tried an earlier prototype, revolving shotgun in the mid 1830s, based on the Patterson cylinder, as well as prototype revolving rifl es. � ese prototypes were not pursued on a commercial basis.

In the 1850s Colt and E.K. Root were experimenting with solid frame side hammer pistols. S everal prototype rifl es were also made using the design. � e construction proved to be ideal, and in 1856 the New Model Rifl e was placed in production. Intended solely for hunting, and therefore of relatively small calibre, the new rifl e met with a mixed reaction.

A new model shotgun entered production in 1856. Not surprisingly, it was given a lukewarm reception by sportsmen more accustomed to single and double barrel shotguns. Due to this lack of interest, production was discontinued in late 1860 or early 1861 after about 300 had been made.

On the top strap there is marked Col. Colt Hartford CT. U.S.A. � ere are no other visible original markings. However the gun is also extensively decorated in the Indian manner with gold Koftkari, and writing in Urdu and English.

� e English decoration is worn but seems to read:

“T J KATI . SIDH . NATH .SING . PO ?? AMRA”1877

� is gun has a forestock, whereas the rifl e by Deane Adams & Deane does not. I hope no




Indian Guns

one actually fi red the shot gun while holding the forestock. � e blast from the cylinder could have been dangerous.

I have written this article to illustrate the gold koftkari decoration. � is was a style of decoration used in India for many hundreds of years, originally on daggers and swords, and on armour. � e Koftkari method is time consuming and methodical. � e metal fi rst has to be “hatched” or cut across with sharp and deep lines where it

is intended to place the pattern, which is then traced with a needle or wire. � e pattern

is engraved with a fi ne pointed tool called “cherma”. All the tools are

of the simple kind, a punch, a nail and a hammer being



all that was required. � e gold is drawn into fi ne wire wound on a bobbin. � e native workman commences by taking one end of it, which is very soft, and fastening it to the roughened surface by a few blows with his hammer and punch. He rapidly follows out the pattern, and bends the wire backwards and forwards as often as may be required, hammering it into the surface all the time until completed. � e piece is then exposed to a moderate heat. When polished off with an agate rubber, “Mohari”, cleaned with lime juice, the gold stands above the surface, and is very durable,. I understand that modern imitation of Koftkari work is done more superfi cially with gold leaf, and does not stand in relief or last so long.

I have been told that the Deane Adams & Deane rifl e, and the Colt shotgun were from the collection of the Nizam of Hyderabad. Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Occupying 650 square kilometres along the banks of the Musi River. Mohammed Quli Qutub, Shah of the Qutub Shahi dynasty, built the City of Hyderabad in 1589. � e early history of the city, in the 16th and early 17th centuries was centred on the diamond trade, and also became one of the leading markets in the World for pearls, steel, arms, printed fabric, and diamonds.

By the mid 17th century politics in the area were ready for another tectonic shift. � e Mughals were approaching. Hyderabad’s independence was eclipsed, and fell to the Mughals for several decades. Unfortunately



Indian Guns

Hyderabad declined, and its vibrant diamond trade was all but destroyed.

With the emaciation of the Mughal empire early in the 18th century, the Mughal appointed

governors of Hyderabad gained more autonomy from Delhi. In 1725, Chin Qulich Khan, Asaf Jah I, Mir Qamaruddin Siddigi (Qulich Khan) who was granted the title Nizam-ul-Mulk (governor of the country) by the Mughal emperor, defeated a rival offi cial to establish control over Hyderabad. � us began the Asaf Jahi

dynasty that would rule Hyderabad until a year after India’s independence

from Britain.� e rule of the seven Nizams saw again

the growth of Hyderabad both culturally and economically. � e city became the capital of Golconda.

When the British and the French spread their hold over India, successive Nizams won their friendship without bequeathing their power. � e Nizams allied themselves with each side at different times, playing a signifi cant role in the wars involving Tipu Sultan of Mysore, the British and the French. Hyderabad under the Nizams, was the largest princely state in India, with an area larger than England, Scotland and Wales combined. It was considered a “senior-most” princely-state. Development of modern facilities and industrialisation in the city started in the 19th century. � e state had its own currency, mint, railways and postal system. � ere was no income tax. � e Nizam amassed a lot of wealth.

� e Nizams during the late nineteenth century were;



1829-1857 Nizam IV, Mir Fakhunda Ali Rhan Nasir-ud-Daula

1857-1869 Nizam V, Mir Tahniat Ali Khan Afzal-ud-Daula

1869-1911 Nizam VI, Mir Mahboob Ali Khan

1911-1948 Nizam VII, Mir Osman Ali Khan

� ese three pieces are all percussion lock. � e Colt navy pistol was the 1851 model, and so was the Deane Adams & Dean rifl e. But the Colt revolving shotgun was made after 1856. � e two longarms are reputed to be from the collection of the Nizam of Hyderabad, but which one? Was it Nizam III who died in 1869? I have tried searching the records of the auction houses in London for a record of the sales of these arms, but with no luck. Although there is reference



Indian Guns

barrel and the zigzag line are identical to the gold decoration on the cylinder and revolver frame above the barrel wedge.

� e Wilkinson pistols would have been made in England in the 1830s. � e Colt revolver was later, in 1855. Colt had made a very good impression at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851 with his revolving pistols, so it is quite likely that visitors from India would have been impressed. Also English dealers would have had Colt fi rearms in their catalogues for sale in India.

But how did these Wilkinson pistols and Colt revolver come to be decorated, in gold, in India in an identical manner? � e motives and the zigzag line are identical. Robert Hales mentions that the Wilkinson pistols were decorated in the Punjab. Perhaps the Colt was decorated there as well. � e Punjab has had a vexed history.

to pieces from the collection of the Nazim of Hyderabad from time to time.

After writing this article I received a copy of the excellent new book Islamic and Oriental Arms & Armour by Robert Hales. On page 259 of his book, Item 630 is a pair of English percussion holster pistols with locks marked Wilkinson.

Robert Hales notes that the pistols were “all fi nely gold-damascened in the Punjab, India”.

Henry Wilkinson took over his father’s business in London on father’s death in 1820, and continued trading until 1861. � e interesting point is that the gold fl oral decoration on the Wilkinson pistols is identical with the gold fl oral decoration on the frame and barrel of the Colt revolver. On the Wilkinson pistols the gold motives on the



Literature1. Guns & Rifl es of the World, Howard L Blackmore2. Indian & Oriental Armour, Lord Egerton of Tatton3. Samuel Colt, Arms Art & Invention at the Wadsworth

Athenaeum Museum of Art, Herbert G Houze4. Colt. An American Legend, R.L. Wilson5. Adams Revolvers, W.H.J. Chamberlain and

A.W.F. Taylorson6. Firearms of the Islamic World, in the Tareq Rajab

Museum, Kuwait, by Robert Elgood7. Islamic and Oriental Arms & Armour A Lifetimes

Passion by Robert Hales

� e capital Lahore was occupied by the Sikhs in 1764, and in 1839 the Sikh army consisted of about 75000 men with additional auxiliaries available. � ey also had a strong arms building industry at Lahore, Sialkot, Gujurat, Shahpur and Kashmir. � ese are not pistols manufactured in India, but defi nitely decoratedin India.

As I mentioned I am interested in weapons of Islam, and all three of these pieces have been lavishly decorated in the Koftkari style, in gold in India.


etween 1861 and 1866 the NSW Government purchased at least 1000 Hartford Colt Model 1851 revolvers through Colt’s London agency. � ey were delivered in fi ve distinct batches, each distributed throughout a discreet serial number range. Eight different number series have been identifi ed,

marked in several different styles. Table 1 lists the different batches, the serial number range for each, and the markings within each batch.

Batch One (serial number range 125100 to 126000): � is batch of 250 pistols appears to be the fi rst of two deliveries on a July 1861 Government order for 500 pistols. � e pistols had steel back straps and trigger guards, and London proof marks. � ey were marked on the barrel lug in a single series, and all were issued to the Police, probably the Mounted Police.

B

Classifi cation Of NSW Go v

Colt ModePercussion R

BY MAL SOUTHWELL

In March 1862 it was reported that “� e mounted police are to be armed with the cavalry sword of the last new pattern, stated to be a most effective weapon for bush duty; also with

Terry’s breech-loading rifl e carbine, and with Colt’s revolvers.” (Queanbeyan Age).

ABOVE: New South Wales Government Navy serial no. 130324, marked “NS•W•G•↓•2”RIGHT: Batch one, RHS of barrel lugFAR RIGHT: Batch one, Police No 244, LHS of lug


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o vernment

del 1851n Revolvers

Batch Two (serial number range 128500 to 138300): � is batch of 250 pistols appears to be the second delivery on the 1861 order for 500 pistols. � e pistols had steel back straps and trigger guards and London proof marks, except for a small group clustered at the top of the serial number range (137300 to 138300) which may have had brass furniture and Birmingham proof marks. Batch two is marked in two series:

a) About 240 pistols were issued to the Police. � ey were marked the same as batch one, the number sequence continuing the numbering of batch one.

b) “Commissioner” Navies – About ten pistols from Batch two were rather crudely marked on the back strap and issued to New South Wales Government offi cials other than police. � e highest number confi rmed to date is number 4, which is accompanied by a holster stamped with an early version of the pre-federation Australian Coat of Arms. A group of offi cials who may have received them were the Assistant Gold Commissioners, of whom there were eleven in 1863. � e series has been dubbed the “Commissioner” Navies to distinguish them from the similarly marked pistols in Batch three.



Assistant Gold Commissioners issued licences and collected miners’ fees on the gold fi elds. � ey also adjudicated disputes over mining claims, and received gold for transport under escort to Sydney. � e Assistant Commissioners were usually escorted by Police Troopers while on their rounds, but would also have been issued with side arms. Holster wear on the grip of “Commissioner” pistol number 2 indicates service on horseback. � e Assistant Commissioners reported to District Gold Commissioners (three in 1863), who may have been issued with Sharps patent, Tipping and Lawden, four-barrelled pistols – Commissioner JG Grenfell was carrying one of these when fatally shot by bushrangers in 1866.

Batch Three (serial number range 151200 to 158600): � e “Government” Navies. � is batch of 250 pistols had steel back straps and trigger guards, and London proof marks. � ey were marked on the back strap in a single series from 1 to 250, with the prefi x “NSWG” (New South Wales Government). � e bulk of these pistols were issued to the Police and the Gaols. � ey are dubbed the “Government” Navies to distinguish them from similarly marked pistols in Batch two.

LEFT: Batch two, “Commissioner” No 2BELOW: Pre-federation coat of arms on holster accompanying “Commissioner” No 4

� e “Birmingham” Navies: Clustered on their own at the top of the serial number range for Batch two is a group of pistols with Birmingham proof marks. Serial number 137834,

unmarked, and with brass furniture, is held in the NSW Police Collection. � e cylinder from serial number 137808 is fi tted to Police navy serial number 184052

(Police no 303), and it is probable that serial number 138227 (Police No 475) also had Birmingham proof marks. � e highest serial number recorded in Batch two prior to the

“Birmingham” cluster is 133580. See note 2.

Batch three, “Government” No 109


Classifi cation Of Nsw Government Colt Model 1851 Percussion Revolvers


CLOCKWISE FROM RIGHT: All Batch four: Gaol No 37; Police No 19 A; Naval Brigade No 15; Naval Brigade, not numbered

� ese are probably the revolvers mentioned in a session of the NSW Legislative Assembly on 17/2/1864: “Estimated cost of 250 Colt’s revolvers, navy size, with ammunition, etc, to be procured from England - £1,369/10/11. Estimated cost of 350 Terry’s breech-loading carbines, with ammunition, to be procured from England - £2,500/00/01.” Ordered in

1863, the pistols were probably delivered in 1864 (SMH 6/5/1863). See notes 3 and 4.

Batch Four (serial number range 167400 to 169300): � is batch of up to 150 pistols had brass back straps and trigger guards, and London proof marks. � ey were marked on the back strap in three series:

a) Fifty were marked “Goal NSW” and issued to the Gaols. A letter in the archives dated 9/6/1865 from the Inspector General of Police implied that fi fty pistols were to be acquired for gaols service (ref Hughes and Rapley).

b) At least 46 were issued to the New South Wales Naval Brigade, which was formed in mid 1863 as part of the volunteer movement. By the end of

the year fi ve forty-man companies had been formed, four in Sydney and

one in Newcastle. � e offi cers of the Brigade were issued

with revolvers in 1866, indicating that Batch four was delivered that year (Empire, 24/9/1866).

Members of the Naval Brigade were issued with “carbines and sword

bayonets” (the carbines were probably Enfi eld Artillery

Pattern of 1853/58). � e Brigade

was commanded by a Captain, and each of the fi ve companies was offi cered by a Lieutenant and a Sub-lieutenant. Given that at least 46 pistols were issued to the Brigade, it appears that, in addition to those issued to offi cers, a number may have been issued to non-commissioned offi cers and/or other ranks.

At least one surviving Naval Brigade pistol was not given a number. Some pistols display variation in the size and positioning of engraving, and the use of italics is inconsistent.



ABOVE: Batch fi ve, Gaols No 54LEFT: Batch fi ve, Police No 252

BELOW: Hartford London Address on serial no. 153489, barrel 153486TOP RIGHT: Late New York Address

c) At least 26 were issued to the Police. It is believed that the letter “A” stamped on the back strap of these pistols denotes the Metropolitan Police District of Sydney - the 1867 Police Return of Firearms and Equipment attributes 26 pistols to the Metropolitan Police. Unlike Police stationed in the country, Metropolitan Police did not routinely carry fi rearms.

Records indicate that, at least in later years, many of the “Metropolitan” pistols saw service in country areas.

Batch Five (serial number range 184000 to 189600): � is batch of up to 150 pistols had brass back straps and trigger guards, and London proof marks. � ey were marked on the back strap in two series, both engraved in script.

a) 100 were issued to the Police, the number sequence following on from the numbering of the “Government” pistols in Batch three.

b) Up to 50 were issued to the Gaols, the number sequence following on from the numbering of the Gaol pistols in Batch four. � e word Gaols engraved on the back straps of surviving pistols is misspelt “Goals”.




BELOW: “Hartford” style knurlingBELOW CENTRE & RIGHT: “London” style knurling

Barrel Address: All but one of the recorded surviving pistols display the late New York address on the barrel. � e remaining pistol, serial number 153489, has the Hartford London address (� e serial number on the barrel of this pistol, 153486, is probably a factory mistake resulting from the inversion of the fi nal digit).

Knurling On Hammer Spur – a survey of seventeen surviving pistols revealed that fi fteen

display variations of “London” style knurling, with an engraved border enclosing the knurling. � e remaining two display “Hartford” style knurling on the hammer spurs, indicating perhaps that their hammers were replaced during service.

Mismatched Serial Numbers – Many surviving pistols have mismatched parts from other government Navies. Some mismatching, particularly of cylinders, may have occurred during communal cleaning of police pistols in barracks or in the fi eld. Most mismatches, however, are probably attributable to the mixing and/or replacement of parts during maintenance and repair by armourers. Some pistols were cannibalised to repair others.

Some mismatch examples: (See Table 1)* Police pistol serial number 184052 (batch 5) has a cylinder from a police pistol

in batch 2, a barrel from a police pistol in batch 1, a loading lever from a police pistol in batch 2, and a wedge from a police pistol in batch 2.

* Police pistol serial number 188355 (batch 5) has a cylinder from a fellow pistol in batch 5, and a wedge from a police pistol in batch 3.

* Pistol serial number 153489 (batch 3) has a cylinder from a pistol in batch 4, a trigger guard from a pistol in batch 3, and the back strap and grip from gaols pistol no 54, batch 5.



LEFT: London proof marks on barrel lugRIGHT: Birmingham proof mark on pistol cylinder

NB: Pistols are classifi ed according to the serial number on the barrel lug or back strap upon which the NSW marking appears.

Batch number and size

Style & position of marking

Markings Issued to Serial no range (and date of

Manufacture)

Batch 1 (250)

Stamped on the sides of the barrel lug

NSW POLICE on RHS and No 1 (to 250)

on LHS

Police, probably the mounted

police

125156 to 125934(mid 1862)

Batch 2(250)

240 ±5 were marked as above

10 ±5 were engraved on the iron back strap

NSW POLICE on RHS and No 251 (to at least

485) on LHS.

N·S·W·G ·↓·1 (to a maximum of 15)

Police

Govt Offi cials, possibly to

Assistant Gold Commissioners

128554 to 138227(late 1862 to early 1863)

Batch 3 (250)

Engraved on the iron back strap

NSWG 1 (to 250) Police, gaols and others

151243 to 158567(mid 1863)

Batch 4(150?)

50 were engraved on the brass back strap

At least 46 (60±10?) were engraved on the

brass back strap

At least 26 (40±10?) were stamped on the

brass back strap

GAOL NSW over No 1 (to 50)

NAVAL BRIGADE NSW (or NSW) over No 1

(to at least 45). See note 5

NSW·POLICE·No 1 (to at least 26) A

Gaols

NSW Naval Brigade

Sydney Metropolitan

Police District

167425 to 169272(late 1863)

Batch 5(150?)

100 were engraved in script on the brass

back strap

At least 21 (50?) were engraved in script on the brass back strap

Police New South Wales 251 (to 350)

Goals (sic) 51 (to at least 71)

Police

Gaols

184033 to 189538(late 1865 to early 1866)

Table 1 – Classifi cation




Notes1: � e estimated numbers of pistols delivered in the fi rst three batches are well supported by the available evidence. � e numbers estimated for Batches four and fi ve are less certain, but appear reasonable given the markings on the surviving pistols, the markings recorded in the archives (police records, newspaper reports etc), and the number of surviving pistols. Least certain are the numbers of Naval Brigade and Police pistols in Batch 4, and the number of Gaols pistols in Batch 5. Tables 1, 2 and 3 may be amended or refi ned as further records &/or surviving pistols are confi rmed.

2: � e only recorded surviving Victorian Police Navies with Birmingham proof marks are in the same serial number range as the NSW “Birmingham” pistols. � ey are numbers 137711 (marked W20), and 137855 (marked W10). Both have brass furniture, and at least one of them, number 137855, has Hartford-style knurling on the hammer spur. A Victorian Police holster, number 137365, is also recorded.

It appears that a consignment of navies were sent to Birmingham for proof testing rather than to the London Proof House, and that a number of these were included in the second batch sent to NSW, and also in an early Victorian police purchase.

3: In 1862 in NSW there were 800 police of all ranks, divided into Foot Police, Mounted Police, Water Police, and a Detective Force. � e Government made provision in the forward estimates that year to appoint an additional

100 police in 1863 (Bell’s Life 2/8/1862) - it is unclear whether this number included 40 members of the Gold Escort, who were to be incorporated into the combined force in 1863 (SMH 30/10/1862, Newcastle Chronicle, 29/7/1863).

� e 1867 NSW Police “Return of Firearms and Equipment” records a total of 685 Colt revolvers. Some were transferred to the gaols in the late 1870s and 1880s, but others remained in police service, probably in remote areas, into the 1890s. 4: In 1864 there were 15 (Chief) Gaolers, and 145 male Gaol Warders serving in twenty gaols throughout NSW (NSW Legislative Assembly 23/3/1864). Presumably pistols were not issued to individual warders, but rather were made available to duty offi cers as required. If the Gaols Service received an initial issue of pistols from Batch three, it may have been less than 100, although Hughes & Rapley note an 1862 request to the Government for 200 Colt Navies for gaol service.

5: At least one Naval Brigade pistol was not given a number (ref photo).

6: Survival rate – about 8% of the NSW Hartford Navies are known to have survived.

One police survivor is counted twice. It has a barrel from Batch one (No 244), and a back strap from Batch fi ve (No 303).

At least four additional survivors are reported, but their Government markings are not known to the author.

Table 2 – Summary of the lowest and highest numbers reported to date from archival records and surviving pistols

Series Estimated number in series

Lowest and highest numbers reported to date

Lowest Highest

Batch 1: POLICE 250 2 244

Batch 2: POLICE NSWG↓ (Commissioner series)

240±510±5

2532

4854

Batch 3: NSWG (Government series) 250 9 245

Batch 4: GAOL NSW NAVAL BRIGADE POLICE (“A” series)

5060±1040±10

2271

374526

Batch 5: POLICE (script seriesGAOLS (script series)

100up to 50

25254

33671



Other Nsw Government Acquisitions – prior to the purchases detailed above the Government acquired a number of London manufactured Model 1851 Navies in the mid to late 1850s. All of the identifi ed survivors (about four) have police markings. Assuming a survival rate of 8%, the NSW Police may have acquired about 50 London Navies, possibly purchased locally.

A small number of � uer conversion Navies (converted to accept primed cartridges) were also acquired by the police, but there is no evidence to date that any of the pistols in batches one to fi ve were taken from service and converted to the � uer system.

Fraudulent Markings – at least two pistols with fraudulent NSW markings are known.

References1. Australian Heritage Colt

Percussion Firearms, by John R McLean ISBN 0-646346369-1

2. Col. Colt Downunder, by Hayden Hughes and Robin Rapley ISBN 978-0-473-21742-6

3. Colonel Colt London, by Joseph G Rosa ISBN 0-85368-350-6

4. Police Heritage New South Wales (CD), by Phil Patterson

5. ’51 Colt Navies, by Nathan L Swayze ISBN 0-88227-030-3

Series Number

Batch 1: POLICE 2,14,22,53,54,63,69,106,131,157,159,185,195,201,231,234,244

Batch 2: POLICE

NSWG↓

256,257,258,274,277,278,289,304,315,329,339,341,352,385,392,396,403,441,454,462,474,482,

2,4

Batch 3: NSWG 34,40,94,104,109,141,155,183,231,245

Batch 4: GAOL NSW

NAV BRIG

POLICE

22,37

7,15,27,28,35,43,45,one pistol is unnumbered

19A,24A,26A

Batch 5: POLICE

“GOALS”

252,303,308,314,321

54,63,71

Table 3 – Surviving pistols recorded to date

Further Information - the author welcomes further information which contradicts, supports, refi nes, or expands the classifi cation proposed above. Details of surviving pistols not listed in Table 3 are particularly welcome.Email: [email protected]

Acknowledgements - � is article is largely based on original research published by the gentlemen listed under. Several photos were kindly provided by John McLean. Any errors are mine.




Contributors

Bill Taylor has been collecting antique arms for forty fi ve years in Sydney, Canberra and Adelaide. He specializes in English fl intlock pistols, and still enjoys fi nding something good, hidden under a couple of centuries of grime. He also collects antique Japanese swords and fi ttings.

BILL TAYLOR� e Romance Of � e Blunderbuss

I have had a keen interest in fi rearms since I was a lad but did not start serious collecting until the early 1980s where my interest began with English double rifl es to which was subsequently added English percussion rifl es, Colt revolvers, (particularly the 1873 SAA), and Australian marked fi rearms.

BRUCE MACKINLAYOld Days, Old Ways, Old Guns

A collector for many years, originally British, Colonial and American arms. I then became fascinated with Islamic arms and armour, especially from India and Persia.

TONY WOODIndian Guns

I started with British military and sporting arms, as they were available, especially those with colonial markings. But I became fascinated with the art of the gunmaker and the complexity and culture of Islamic and Javanese weapons. Working with metal.

PAUL DUFFYPattern 1842 Naval And Coast Guard Pistols

Mal Southwell has been collecting antique arms since the 1960s. His main interest is in colonial arms.

MAL SOUTHWELLClassifi cation Of Nsw Government Colt Model 1851 Percussion Revolvers


arms for forty fi ve yearspecializes in English something good,

grime. He also collects

erbuss

ince I was a lad but e early 1980s where rifl es to which was

n rifl es, Colt revolvers, lian marked fi rearms.

uns

ritish, Colonial and ed with Islamic arms Persia.

ting arms, as they olonial markings. But gunmaker and the Javanese weapons.

ast Guard Pistols

que arms sinceial arms.

rnment Colt olvers


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