Product Description
CASED ENGRAVED Antique TRANTER’S PATENT .320 CF Revolver JAMES PURDY LONDON
RETAILER MARKED British Proofed W/ACCESSORIES
Here we present an antique Engraved William Tranter’s Patent Double Action Revolver, made circa the early 1870s in England, and sold by James Purdy of London. William Tranter was a British gunmaker and gun designer famous for inventing the Tranter revolver. Tranter is best known in American firearms collecting for the revolvers that were imported by the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Their distinctive grip shape makes these pistols immediately recognizable. Many of the pistols produced were medium to large frame, such as this example, chambered in .320 centerfire.
Gunsmith William Tranter was born in 1816 in Oldbury, Birmingham, England. He was the oldest son of Thomas and Mary Tranter. He had four brothers and four sisters, and at the age of 14, in 1830, he apprenticed under the arms firm of Hollis Brothers and Company in Birmingham. Obviously, he acquired good talents, because in 1839 he left the Hollis firm and bought out Robert Dugard’s enterprise, also in Birmingham.
Famous users of the Tranter revolvers included Allan Pinkerton, founder of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, the North-West Mounted Police, the Confederate General James Ewell Brown Stuart, and Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. It is also known that Dr. Richard Jordan Gatling, inventor of the Gatling Gun owned a .38 caliber First Model Tranter Pocket Revolver retailed by Cogswell of London in 1857. This example is British Proofed and London Retailer marked “JAs PURDEY 314 1/2 OXFORD St. LONDON” on the top barrel flat.
The overall condition is very good. The action is functional but sticks at times. The bore is in fine condition, bright with sharp rifling. The grip is solid. The case is in very good condition and includes an oiler, screw driver and cleaning rod.
Own the original! This is a legitimate antique and not a reproduction.
Barrel is 3-1/8 inches.
Caliber: .320 Centerfire
Overall condition as seen in photos.
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$2800
#233730