From Civil War to Steampunk

This original American Civil War ferrotype image, which shows a young sergeant clutching an interesting revolver.  This pistol was made by the Savage and North Fire Arms Company and had a patent mechanism for double action fire that was to circumvent other revolver patents of the period. The Savage & North Navy Model pictured is a descendant of the even more interesting Savage & North Figure Eight revolver.  About 20,000 total were produced from 1861 to about 1865.  The Union purchased just over 12,000 guns, with 1,126 going to the navy and the rest to the army.  I am sure there were a number of private purchases as well from the remaining stock.

Armscollectors.com has an exceptionally well photographed specimen revolver with complete disassembly for your perusal along with superb notes and explanations.

I have handled several of these unusual guns over the years, both as dug relics and as fully functional pieces and found them to be rather clunky to operate and hold.  But I do admit they make a great steampunk gun.  The prices on them are still pretty reasonable given their rarity, and the 150 year age, you can pick up an average functional piece, sans finish for around $1,200 or so with top condition guns  up around $3,500 plus.  The Navy Figure 8 is much rarer and goes for a good deal more.

                                                                                                              CoastConFan