Hmm… St Louis - je me demande… Est-ce que ceci a pu être le raccordement français ? ?

© KIRIMON SEPTEMBER 2008

Clément "Guardian"

I am always on the lookout for the unusual – the rarity, the seldom seen – the odd hybrids… Of course they drive me nuts when I try to research them – but the joy is in the challenge! Mayhap I have a masochistic streak?

The revolver for sale here today surprised me – it is a single and double action military style revolver .44 calibre centre fire revolver with a rebounding hammer: yet it has an open frame… It has post 1893 Belgian proofs and the Crowned R proof indicating a rifled bore post 1894…

One can clearly see the Pinfire ancestry in the piece – but it is not just a Pinfire revolver altered for centre fire – the rebounding hammer is clearly a design feature, as is the more modern looking grip… A large calibre open frame centre fire revolver from the late 19^th / early 20^th century! Hmmm…

The revolver displays the following markings. See Pics.

EC ON FRAME Assembly/Sub Assembly punches

JP ON FRAME U/GRIPS Assembly/Sub Assembly punches

MN? ON FRAME U/GRIPS Assembly/Sub Assembly punches

CROWN/R ON BARREL Rifled bore post 1894

STAR/V ON BARREL Controller post 1877

STAR/V ON FRAME Controller post 1877

STAR/V ON CYLINDER Controller post 1877

CRWN ELG/STAR ON CYLINDER Proof mark post 1893

CRWN/C ON CYLINDER Manufactures/Foundry mark

‘5’ ON CYL/BARREL ETC Assembly number

With reference to the Russian firearms expert A.B. Zhuck, this revolver has been identified as the ’Guardian model of 1878’. He shows an exact copy of the revolver you see pictured for sale here today, except it is in a different calibre. (P162)

The manufacturer of this model is normally identifiable by a band "THE GUARDIAN AMERICAN MODEL OF 1878" engraved on the cylinder. This is the trade mark of Fagnus A. & Clement C registered on December 27, 1880, ‘for Pinfire cartridges – six shots, single and double action.’ (So they obviously were working over Christmas…)

FAGNUS & CLEMENT remained in partnership between from 1879 to 1883, after which time the company is taken over solely by Clément, only to be taken over again later by NEUMANN Frères.

Perhaps their most notable creation was the ‘FAGNUS’ revolver, adopted for Danish Officers in 1880, which was inspired if not heavily based on, the 11 mm M1873 French Chamelot Delvigne military revolver.

The Pinfire ‘Guardians’ are quite common – I have seen several, mostly in small calibre – 7mm seems most prevalent – and all had the distinctive stamping on the cylinder. In fact, this is the thing that sets them apart from the thousands of similar Lefaucheux style Pinfire revolvers produced in Liege at this time. The ‘Guardians’ of course were produced specifically with the American market in mind. The USA’s indigenous arms companies produced some fine weapons, but these were relatively expensive by the standards of the day, and arms made in Belgium were generally less costly and filled the need for a cheap way to own a firearm that may only occasionally – if ever - be needed to be the ‘Guardian’ of its owner… I do find it amusing and a little surprising that these usually retained their metric calibres, rather than the ‘Imperial’ standards used in the American market…

So – the historical background of the Pinfire Guardians is plain – but I had not seen until recently what must be the final phase in the evolution of these revolvers – the centerfire model produced post 1894 and probably well into the early 20^th century.

Initially one could think this is a strange configuration for such a late date, particularly as Clément actually patented and began production of a semi- automatic pistol in 1903! (Ref: Hogg) In actual fact when one peruses the Belgian gun trade catalogues of the 20^th century virtually all sold a small range of Pinfire revolvers alongside their more modern centerfire brothers, and it is not until about 1914 – at the beginning of the First world war that these tended to disappear – but even as late as 1925 I can find at least one major dealer still selling an open top Pinfire revolver in 7 & 9mm calibre.

Arms manufacturer such as Samuel Colt, Remington Webley etc, are well known for being very frugal, with their stock – throwing nothing away; this is why there are so many interesting ‘transitions’ between old and new models – they would use every old bit up before fitting newly made parts. It was of course a sign of those times – to be carful with everything – good business and common sense then – only in our present day disposable society does it seem odd… Although of course, times are changing again!

So, the reason for slow demise of the ‘obsolete’ Pinfire (and other patterns) in the Belgian gun catalogues is simple – they may have had to reduce the price – but they stocked them until they sold ‘em! No way would they throw them away, or ‘write off’ the stock as we would today!

This brings me back to this interesting Clément ‘Hybrid’ revolver for sale here today. The barrel assembly is indistinguishable from that of a Pinfire revolver – the frame however – especially with a rebounding hammer - is not…

In my opinion, FAGNUS & CLEMENT found they had large stocks of barrel assemblies for Pinfire revolvers (these would of course be subcontracted and produced independently of other parts of the piece) so they simply designed a modern frame and action to allow a centerfire revolver to be made that could undercut the competition price - remember half the piece had already been made – and doing this would add potential extra value to the essentially obsolete barrels.

The revolver for sale here today is as described above; it functions in single and double action and has a rebounding hammer with a powerful spring action. Indexing is perfect - with excellent frame to barrel lock up and very good cylinder lock with only a small amount of play. Fully functional side loading gate and spring locked ejector. Cylinder chambers are clear and clean showing pitting commensurate with black power use, as does the barrel which retains clear rifling. See Pics.

The blue finish – which I think is original – is fading to an attractive plumy patina with most loss on sharp edges. Different tones on the barrel and frame as you would expect from different manufacturing materials/time. Nice undamaged grips showing some original varnish.

Unlike the revolver shown in Zhuck's Encyclopaedia, this Clément ‘Hybrid’ unusually does not display the ‘Guardian’ logo on the cylinder – it is therefore reasonable to conclude that this is one sold into the European market, particularly as the calibre is the 11mm French Ordnance Revolver (M1873) round. This is one of the largest ‘.44’s’ with a .451 dia bullet, the distinguishing feature of the round being the very thin rim which hardly has enough lip to not pass though the revolver chamber…

This is an obsolete calibre. The age of this item, plus the fact that this calibre is regarded as ‘obsolete’ - means that it complies fully with UK legislation, and no license is required, as long as it is held as curiosity or ornament.

As you can see from the Pics, this is a large calibre military style revolver. Probably used in France or more likely some French colonies, in a police or security role.

Comes with the six totally inert 11mm French M1873 cartridges shown to enhance your display, and a repro cartridge box. Also included in the sale is the revolvers military style flap holster shown, which is in excellent condition and fits the revolver perfectly. I know nothing about holsters, but this one says BRAUER BROS MFC. CO ST LOUIS on the back. See pics.

Hmm… St Louis – I wonder… Could this be the French Connection??

Please note: - these cartridges are entirely solid. Their bases and primer seats have been bored out and destroyed; the entire cavity filled with high tech’ epoxy resin. They cannot fire – OR EVER BE MADE TO DO SO.

Any questions welcomed, and as always this item is sold with no reserve.

Please add £15.00 towards postage, packing and insurance.

© KIRIMON SEPTEMBER 2008