Rare Commercial French 1892 8mm revolver

Camp Cook

Camp Cook

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Any way of finding out what year this revolver was manufactured

A friend of mine's father passed away leaving behind a possibly antique revolver it is currently in the hands of the RCMP I'm hoping it is an antique

Chambered in 8mm, REVOLVER Manufacture d'armes de Saint‐Étienne 1892 120mm barrel 6 shot French manufacture serial #22950.

The following is from the RCMP constable I am working with.

There is definitely no letter stamped before the serial number. I see the serial number on two places, the underside of the barrel, and the cylinder. You're right, all the examples I can find online show a clear letter before the serial number.

The cylinder also contains the stamp "CJ", as well as "T" inside a circle. Overall, the pistol is much "newer" looking than many of the examples online, very little pitting and bluing pretty much intact.

The maker name is stamped on the top of the barrel, every other example I see so far shows it stamped on the side just above the grip.
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Only pictures I have so far.











 
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Considering the pistol its a copy of was issued in 1892 approximately, i would guess it was probably built after 1898. I have seen similar ones for sale and they were unable to find date of manufacture, but were estimated to be late 1890s to early 1900s.
 
Due to not being able to find the date on it the RCMP have now classed it as restricted.

Paperwork was initiated by the executor with the CFC just waiting to get the reference # now.

Once I get the transfer completed I'll be heading up to the RCMP detachment to bring the restricted's home.

I'm not giving up yet once I get my hands on it I will be doing everything I can to figure out the date of manufacture.

The RCMP are delivering the non-restricted firearms from the estate to me tonight.
 
Company is still active under the name Manufrance, maybe they would still have records of serial numbers.
 
Camp Cook said:
Due to not being able to find the date on it the RCMP have now classed it as restricted.

Paperwork was initiated by the executor with the CFC just waiting to get the reference # now.

Once I get the transfer completed I'll be heading up to the RCMP detachment to bring the restricted's home.

I'm not giving up yet once I get my hands on it I will be doing everything I can to figure out the date of manufacture.

The RCMP are delivering the non-restricted firearms from the estate to me tonight.
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Good luck being an antique make a huge difference.:)
 
Contact the verifiers in Ottawa, I have found most of them to be very helpfull and have seen many of these for sure. 1-800-731-4000 and follow the prompts, they may ask you to send pics and or start a process to help deem it an antique which is a good thing.
 
bobdbldr said:
Contact the verifiers in Ottawa, I have found most of them to be very helpfull and have seen many of these for sure. 1-800-731-4000 and follow the prompts, they may ask you to send pics and or start a process to help deem it an antique which is a good thing.
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Sounds like he's already in this process. Or taking another shot at it.

They are okay to deal with in my experience but you have to do all the legwork and research. Then possibly steer them in the right direction.
My 1871 rolling block pistol in 50army was at my father's house when he passed away and it was seized by the city police for safe keeping. (They didn't care who took the long guns though....) It was up to me to provide the evidence and prove to them that it wasn't a Uberti copy in 22lr which was the starting point for some reason.

Hopefully Camp cook can find the right markings or history that takes it out of the registration system. All the 1892's I've seen were the military configuration with dates stamped right on the barrel. Makes life easier!!
These were made until at least 1924 if I remember correctly so it might be a challenging project.

Currently have one inbound with a similar story. Registered but maybe shouldn't be. Not enough information to work with yet.
 
Proving DOM on these commercial revolvers is something I haven't been able to do. If you find a way it would be nice to hear about it.
 
bobdbldr said:
Sorry looked again it's 11.4 mm not 8. The verifiers sometimes have a cutoff serial # that they deem ended 1898, And make their decision on that barring any other info, they do this with some guns made before and after the cutoff date, worth a call!
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Ok are you looking at the Swiss 1878?
 
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