[Max S.]

Hello everyone, I am trying to identify my grandfather's old revolver. It was stolen from my family and my father and I are trying to find out what kind of revolver it was so the search would be somewhat easier. This is the only picture we have unfortunately. All I can tell you about the gun is that you have to cock the hammer back before it can be fired, there is a small pin in front which releases the entire cylinder from the housing, or you could load it when you slide out a side piece that is beside the hammer. He found it way back in the 70s in the trunk of an old car in New Mexico. The barrel extends another inch or two behind that photo. Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time, Max.

[Lin Robinson]

You have, or at least had, a German Model 1879 revolver. I should be 10.55 mm in caliber with a 7.2 inch barrel. The barrel is "stepped" and octagonal until it reaches the longest section of barrel, which appears to be round. You have to use the cylinder pin to punch the empties out of the cylinder, which is a poor way to do it, but this is a very early self-contained cartridge revolver. It also has a safety. This would be a pretty valuable piece in excellent condition. It appears to be missing the lanyard ring which would have been at the end of the butt.

It is a good idea to take clear pictures of your guns and always record the make, model and serial number, if there is one. In some jurisdictions now, California in particular, a stolen gun which goes unreported can get you in serious trouble. I suppose they may also fine you if you cannot provide the serial number but someone who lives there can better answer that question.

Obtaining cartridges for the gun will be next to impossible so at least it won't be used to harm any one.

[Victor R.]

Glad you knew about that, Lin. I was curious and started looking and was mostly able to eliminate vs. determine. The only thing I had been able to figure out is that it wasn't likely of US manufacture, and was just heading down the "Germany" trail after seeing a Mauser of similar form, but not the same. Figured I'd check back for replies before diving further into it.

Interesting piece - the form first made me think S&W, but no break-top, so that ruled them out (well, at least the more common and well known/documented S&Ws). Nice bit of learning today.

[Max S.]

Wow you guys are good!!! Thank you very much Lin!! My dad and I searched for hours yesterday and there were many similar ones but never exact. Now if anything, we at least know what it was.. that means alot. It's been reported to the auth. of course and hopefully we can round it up. Pawned off we're sure. Yeah it was a beast.. when I was a boy I had to use two hands to lift it... sure bet it made a helluva noise. Thanks again everyone...

[Lin Robinson]

[Paul Mullins]

You can easily find ammunition for the Reichsrevolver. You can safely fire .44Russian loaded with black powder, fired mine many times that way.