fnfalguy
.308 Win
I have a pair of black powder revolvers that I purchased used a while ago but never shot. They are both Euroarms Roger & Spencer revolvers in .44 and quite beautiful. One of them has plum coloring on the frame. One has definitely been used and there is some rust present, but it seems like it should clean up easily (photos of worst of it included). The other one may not have been fired, but cannot say for sure. That one has a bit of a buggered screw (photo included). There is one custom case that the previous owner made for one of them. The price for the pair is $750 and I may be open to trades. As these are black powder, FTF is fine and no need for an FFL. As a side note for those interested, there are conversion cylinders made for these in 45 ACP and I believe 45 LC.
paging @Robin as you wanted the first shot at these IIRC. If they don’t sell here, I will take them to the muzzleloader forum and bump up the price.
here is a bit of a snippet from an article on the web about them as they aren’t as common as some of the other revolvers out there.
A Brief History
In 1837 Amos Rogers and his partner, Julius Spencer, became partners in a farm machinery business, making guns as a sideline. In 1859 they began the manufacture of .31 and .34 calibre revolvers, based on C.S. Pettengill’s 1856 patent. When the initial backers ran out of cash they took over the patent and the production themselves, becoming Rogers, Spencer & Co. The Pettengill was a self-cocking revolver with an enclosed hammer, and the military ordered 5,000 examples in .44 calibre at $20 each including appendages (driver, nipple wrench and mould). The sample revolver sent to Springfield Armoury was found to be accurate with good penetration, the conical bullet going through three 1” pine boards and embedding itself in the fourth at a distance of fifty yards but it became very difficult to cock as the fouling increased. The result was that the revolvers were found unsuitable and the contract was cancelled. The company couldn’t afford this setback and offered to make modifications to the design and accept a reduced contract for 2,000 pistols. This was accepted and they were delivered between October, 1862 and January, 1863. Some 15% of these pistols were rejected by government inspectors due to poor workmanship or materials.
A Revolver For a ‘Quarter’
As the “big two” percussion military revolvers of the day, Colt and Remington, were both single action models, in the summer of 1864 Rogers and Spencer began development of their own pistol to challenge the market leaders. Using the barrel and loading lever assembly from the Pettengill they sent two of their new pistols to the Ordnance Department in September, 1864, and offered to produce five thousand examples at $12.00 each. The offer was initially rejected but later that year a contract was signed on the same terms, all five thousand revolvers being delivered by September 26th 1865. There are no records of any of these revolvers being issued to the troops as the War was formerly ended with Lee’s surrender on April 9th of that year, and the total shipment was put into storage where they remained until 1901 when they were purchased by New York military goods dealer Francis Bannerman for a little over twenty five cents each! By 1907 he was listing them in his military surplus catalogue for $3.85 each. The history of these pistols accounts for the fact that some examples can still be found today in near mint condition.
The Euroarms Reproduction
Probably swayed by the popularity of the original models, today’s shooters, when choosing a .44 calibre percussion revolver, seem inclined to opt for either the Colt 1860 or the Remington 1858, no doubt influenced by the variety of these models in the reproduction market. Both of these pistols have their merits and prospective followers but I would suggest that anyone looking for their first pistol in this class should give the Euroarms ‘Rogers and Spencer’ more than a cursory glance. Maybe not a winner in the good looks stakes, it has one or two advantages over its counterparts.
It’s a six-shot revolver with a 7½” barrel and overall length is just under fourteen inches, it weighs in as tested at 1.25kg. The test gun is fitted with a Lothar Walther barrel plus a front sight – a conical brass post on a flat, black base - which is dovetailed into the top barrel flat, allowing for some lateral adjustment. The rear sight consists of a groove along the top strap (a nice touch here is a copy of the original R&S markings) culminating in a sharp v-notch towards the rear end. This version is aimed at the more serious target shooter who still wants to shoot in the spirit of the original without resorting to fully adjustable sights. The original nineteenth century version had a case-hardened hammer and loading lever with the rest of the pistol blue. Euroarms offer a full blue version as well as the model tested here which is in their rust resilient ‘London Grey’ finish, a not-too-highly-polished stainless steel. Not for the purists, stainless steel does have advantages when it comes to resisting the attack from black powder residue. The hammer, trigger and all of the screws are black and the pistol has two-piece walnut grips. Fit and finish could be improved a little in some areas but overall this is a very nice pistol.
paging @Robin as you wanted the first shot at these IIRC. If they don’t sell here, I will take them to the muzzleloader forum and bump up the price.
here is a bit of a snippet from an article on the web about them as they aren’t as common as some of the other revolvers out there.
A Brief History
In 1837 Amos Rogers and his partner, Julius Spencer, became partners in a farm machinery business, making guns as a sideline. In 1859 they began the manufacture of .31 and .34 calibre revolvers, based on C.S. Pettengill’s 1856 patent. When the initial backers ran out of cash they took over the patent and the production themselves, becoming Rogers, Spencer & Co. The Pettengill was a self-cocking revolver with an enclosed hammer, and the military ordered 5,000 examples in .44 calibre at $20 each including appendages (driver, nipple wrench and mould). The sample revolver sent to Springfield Armoury was found to be accurate with good penetration, the conical bullet going through three 1” pine boards and embedding itself in the fourth at a distance of fifty yards but it became very difficult to cock as the fouling increased. The result was that the revolvers were found unsuitable and the contract was cancelled. The company couldn’t afford this setback and offered to make modifications to the design and accept a reduced contract for 2,000 pistols. This was accepted and they were delivered between October, 1862 and January, 1863. Some 15% of these pistols were rejected by government inspectors due to poor workmanship or materials.
A Revolver For a ‘Quarter’
As the “big two” percussion military revolvers of the day, Colt and Remington, were both single action models, in the summer of 1864 Rogers and Spencer began development of their own pistol to challenge the market leaders. Using the barrel and loading lever assembly from the Pettengill they sent two of their new pistols to the Ordnance Department in September, 1864, and offered to produce five thousand examples at $12.00 each. The offer was initially rejected but later that year a contract was signed on the same terms, all five thousand revolvers being delivered by September 26th 1865. There are no records of any of these revolvers being issued to the troops as the War was formerly ended with Lee’s surrender on April 9th of that year, and the total shipment was put into storage where they remained until 1901 when they were purchased by New York military goods dealer Francis Bannerman for a little over twenty five cents each! By 1907 he was listing them in his military surplus catalogue for $3.85 each. The history of these pistols accounts for the fact that some examples can still be found today in near mint condition.
The Euroarms Reproduction
Probably swayed by the popularity of the original models, today’s shooters, when choosing a .44 calibre percussion revolver, seem inclined to opt for either the Colt 1860 or the Remington 1858, no doubt influenced by the variety of these models in the reproduction market. Both of these pistols have their merits and prospective followers but I would suggest that anyone looking for their first pistol in this class should give the Euroarms ‘Rogers and Spencer’ more than a cursory glance. Maybe not a winner in the good looks stakes, it has one or two advantages over its counterparts.
It’s a six-shot revolver with a 7½” barrel and overall length is just under fourteen inches, it weighs in as tested at 1.25kg. The test gun is fitted with a Lothar Walther barrel plus a front sight – a conical brass post on a flat, black base - which is dovetailed into the top barrel flat, allowing for some lateral adjustment. The rear sight consists of a groove along the top strap (a nice touch here is a copy of the original R&S markings) culminating in a sharp v-notch towards the rear end. This version is aimed at the more serious target shooter who still wants to shoot in the spirit of the original without resorting to fully adjustable sights. The original nineteenth century version had a case-hardened hammer and loading lever with the rest of the pistol blue. Euroarms offer a full blue version as well as the model tested here which is in their rust resilient ‘London Grey’ finish, a not-too-highly-polished stainless steel. Not for the purists, stainless steel does have advantages when it comes to resisting the attack from black powder residue. The hammer, trigger and all of the screws are black and the pistol has two-piece walnut grips. Fit and finish could be improved a little in some areas but overall this is a very nice pistol.
