Being able to shoot them would be a big plus..... see below for pinfire re-loading kit.
http://hlebooks.com/pinfire/prices.htm
If you were going to collect either pinfire revolvers, or BP British Bulldog cartridge revolvers (I'm assuming all examples being qualified as exempt antiques at law): which would you collect, and why?
Obviously, pepole collect what interests them: but what I'm getting at is more objective factors, such as variety, availability, price, likelihood of price appreciation over the next 20 years, historical associations, etc.
Jim
UBC's Police Pistol Manager
"Nasty, noisy things, revolvers, Count. Better stick to air-guns." Sherlock Holmes, The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone
Being able to shoot them would be a big plus..... see below for pinfire re-loading kit.
http://hlebooks.com/pinfire/prices.htm
GREAT site! Thanks, Mark!
Jim
UBC's Police Pistol Manager
"Nasty, noisy things, revolvers, Count. Better stick to air-guns." Sherlock Holmes, The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone
Hi Jim
Ive got 10 or so bulldogs in .44 and .320 of various types mostly Belgian made at a guess. I collect them because I can and you dont need a license, just wish i could shoot them as it would be simple enough to make the ammo.
I really do hate our gun laws.
Besides it was the gun that won the west.
If you have an interest in bulldogs then I can recommend a book by George Layman titled The British Bulldog Revolver , The forgotten gun that really won the west.
There are so many types and styles it would be impossible to stop collecting if you get the bug.
I've purchased both a pinfire revolver and a British Bulldog. I ordered them both from (US) Gunbroker and they're being mailed to me. (These are lawful transactions in the US: cartridge guns made before 1899, along with air guns and blackpowder guns, are not considered "firearms" at federal law and can be mail-order sold and shipped between private individuals).
I'm going to decide which type I like the best, after I look them over, and then collect ONE type. Only one. That's the way I must make my mind operate: if I allow myself to collect both...well, next thing I'll also be collecting .22 single shot rifles, and derringers, and old shotguns, and....
Jim
Last edited by Jim McArthur; 21-02-2009 at 09:59 PM.
UBC's Police Pistol Manager
"Nasty, noisy things, revolvers, Count. Better stick to air-guns." Sherlock Holmes, The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone
Last edited by Jim McArthur; 21-02-2009 at 10:00 PM.
UBC's Police Pistol Manager
"Nasty, noisy things, revolvers, Count. Better stick to air-guns." Sherlock Holmes, The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone
Jim
I believe Iam right in saying Big Nose Kate, Doc Holidays missus carried a Bulldog.
On the subject of collecting it can become addictive, once youve got one you just have to buy another, then two becomes three and so on.
Then one day you'll look at that single offering be it pinfire or bulldog and it'll look lonely all on its own so you'll just have to buy one to keep it company ,then off you go again because two isnt really a collection but your a collector and theres nothing you can do about it.
Good luck in fighting your soon to be addiction.
Peter
Yer right, Peter! Both of them arrived today. I expected to open the packages and find that one of them really "spoke to me" more so than the other: but they both did!
There's of course more variety of types with the pinfires, and they're more exotic...then again, the bulldogs are fascinating, and are closer forerunners of modern cartridge pistols...
Jim
UBC's Police Pistol Manager
"Nasty, noisy things, revolvers, Count. Better stick to air-guns." Sherlock Holmes, The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone
email...... stephenbarrow@ntlworld.com
Loiner, I'm in the US, and bought them via Internet auction from Gunbroker.com. Both pistols are exempt from regulation under both US and UK law, as antiques. (Here, anything made before 1899 is exempt - with rare exceptions, such are fully automatic weapons and short-barrelled rifles and shotguns).
I'm not sure how your law reads in this respect, but I do know from UK collectors that they are exempt under your law as well.
Pinfires and British Bulldogs have both been ignored stepchildren of the gun collecting fraternity, so they are still available at good prices. I paid only $149 for the pinfire, and $175 for the Bulldog.
Cheers, and I hope the collecting bug bites you, too!
Jim
UBC's Police Pistol Manager
"Nasty, noisy things, revolvers, Count. Better stick to air-guns." Sherlock Holmes, The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone