You get a lot for your money with a Moore revolver: a very attractive floral-scroll engraved and silvered brass frame, triggerguard, and grip straps were standard and the chamber holds seven .32 Cal. rimfire cartridges rather than six. It also reloads easily by swinging the barrel assembly and cylinder to the right, and using the removable ejector rod mounted under the barrel to get rid of empty cartridge cases. This one has a six-inch barrel and is serial number 2743. Flayderman estimated production at 5,000 to 8,000 from 1861 to 1863, with production shut down after loss of a patent infringement suit by Smith and Wesson. This revolver has standard Moore barrel address and correctly lacks the additional Smith and Wesson markings placed on the pistols after loss of the suit.

The pistol has good mechanics and rates about Fine for condition, with more than 30 percent finish, the silvering being particularly strong, about 90% or better, with just a few hints of the brass showing through on some edges, and a pleasing thin blue on the cylinder, which shows just a thin drag line. The grips have a nice deep reddish-brown color and finish with good surface and edges, just a few tiny dings on the butt flat. The barrel assembly has smooth metal and a crisp barrel address, silver gray in color with some darker gray spots and lighter lines along the edges of the octagonal barrel, typical of Moores, which frequently show loss of finish on the barrel assembly from holding on to it there while opening it and reloading.

The Moore was also carefully designed to highlight any inscription. The backstrap has scrolling floral designs coming up from the bottom and detailed fan shell engraving around the base of the hammer at the top, nicely framing any presentation or owner’s name. On this revolver the backstrap is professionally engraved in script, “G.M. Royce from / Alert Hose Co.”

Both the recipient and the fire company were from Rochester, NY. The Alert Hose Company had been formed in August 1858 and first named City Hose No. 1, stationed in the center of the city. The name was changed to “Alert Hose” (or “Alert Hose Company No. 1”) in June 1859, and first operated out of a room at Corinthian Hall in that city. Initial membership was to be 25 men. An 1888 history of the company says many saw military service, without specifying the specific nature, and that at one point during the war there were 20 members, of whom 10 were soldiers. Royce may have been a benefactor, but his actual membership is established by his presence on the 1888 roster as an “honorary member,” with an asterisk beside his name indicating he had, “become exempt by service in this company.” No dates are given for his service in fire company and we do not find him in rosters of Civil War volunteers, but given the production dates of Moores he was likely associated with the company in 1861 or 1862 and if the pistol was presented for military service it was likely in the New York Militia (or, after 1862, the National Guard State of New York.) Royce (1827-1902) was a Rochester saloon keeper in 1860, married and with a 7-year old child. By 1870 he was listed as a house carpenter, but returned to the hospitality industry as the Steward of the National Hotel in Rochester by 1878, and the Clinton House by 1888. He passed away in 1902 and is buried there.

This is a very attractive Moore revolver with a nice presentation inscription by a fire company, a service very much admired and respected at the time for dash and bravery, something that made them especially popular for early war military service in units like Ellsworth’s Fire Zouaves out of New York City.    [sr] [ph:m]

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