The Starr Arms Company in Binghamton, NY, was the third largest supplier of revolvers to the U.S government in the Civil War. This Starr .44 caliber double action army revolver dates about January or February 1863 and rates very good for condition. The finish is gone and there is some shallow peppering forward of the cylinder (typically from firing,) but it has generally smooth metal with good edges and lettering, and grips with good color and surface showing just minor handling dings and a partially visible inspector cartouche.

The pistol is complete and all original. The metal is gray for the most part, mixing with some brown, but the loading assembly, hammer and trigger show some deeper color from case hardening. The markings are very good: serial number 10548 on the cylinder; “STARR ARMS, Co. NEW. YORK.” on the lower left frame; and “STARR’S PATENT JAN. 15, 1856” on the lower right frame. The nipples are good, not battered, and the screw slots are not chewed up. Two of the screw heads show some very thin blue. The backstrap shows wear to gray from handling. The wood has good color and surface. There is a hairline shrinkage gap from age between top of the grips and frame, some slight wear to the finish around the base and some scattered dings on the sides and butt, but we see the outline of the inspector’s cartouche on the lower right grip.

The Starr company delivered 16,100 of these .44 caliber double action revolvers on contract from January 1862 to mid-1863, and another 4,950 in May 1864 on a separate purchase agreement, for a total of 21,050. Non-governmental sales are estimated at 2,000, for a total production run of about 23,000. This one is serial number 10548, putting it about January or February 1863 by McAulay’s tables of army purchases. Records do not always distinguish between these early double-action .44 caliber Starr revolvers and their later single-action pistols, but cavalry units known to have carried Starr revolvers include the following: 1^st NH; 7^th Michigan; 12^th NY; 2^nd Ohio; 1^st VT; 1^st MO; 8^th PA, 14^th PA; 13^th TN; 1^st WI; 8^th KY 1^st CO; 16^th IL; 2^nd IN; and many others.

The Starr double-action is an impressive cavalry side-arm and good example of mid-1800s engineering. This one is a good example of a regulation Union cavalry trooper’s pistol made in time for many of the larger raids and battles and would add to a cavalry collection.  [sr] [ph:L]

DISCLAIMER: All firearms are sold as collector's items only - we do not accept responsibility as to the shooting safety or reliability of any antique firearm. All firearms are described as accurately as possible, given the restraints of a catalog listing length. We want satisfied customers & often "under" describe the weapons. Any city or state regulations regarding owning antique firearms are the responsibility of the purchaser. All firearms are "mechanically perfect" unless noted, but again, are NOT warranted as safe to fire!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THIS ITEM, AS WITH ALL OTHER ITEMS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE,

MAY BE PURCHASED THROUGH OUR LAYAWAY PROGRAM.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR POLICIES AND TERMS.

THANK YOU!