There's quite a bit of conflicting information regarding these revolvers out there. An often cited figure (not sure where exactly it's being cited from) states that the first 350 revolvers were delivered in 1897, and 5400 in 1898.
However, my 1887, with serial number 318, is stamped with the inspector mark PB. PB stands for Wilhelm Pontus Bruno, who was an inspection officer from 31/12 1892 - 1 / 19 1896, according to a historian on arms inspectors and stamps in Sweden.
If this particular inspector retired in 1896, does this not contradict the source that states they were first made in 1897? And, more importantly for owners of these firearms, it appears that if the revolvers were manufactured earlier than what is commonly accepted, then there are potentially hundreds or even thousands of these revolvers that were manufactured before 1898 and could therefore be classified as antiques.
So I'm making this thread to open the discussion on the manufacturing dates of these revolvers. Have any of you done research on them? Information that's out there is extremely scarce since it's a relatively obscure and low production firearm, and none of the information I could find referenced this PB stamp, and could not find anyone citing manufacturing dates before 1897.
However, my 1887, with serial number 318, is stamped with the inspector mark PB. PB stands for Wilhelm Pontus Bruno, who was an inspection officer from 31/12 1892 - 1 / 19 1896, according to a historian on arms inspectors and stamps in Sweden.
If this particular inspector retired in 1896, does this not contradict the source that states they were first made in 1897? And, more importantly for owners of these firearms, it appears that if the revolvers were manufactured earlier than what is commonly accepted, then there are potentially hundreds or even thousands of these revolvers that were manufactured before 1898 and could therefore be classified as antiques.
So I'm making this thread to open the discussion on the manufacturing dates of these revolvers. Have any of you done research on them? Information that's out there is extremely scarce since it's a relatively obscure and low production firearm, and none of the information I could find referenced this PB stamp, and could not find anyone citing manufacturing dates before 1897.
