Belgium Pinfire Revolver

[Tony]

I have just bought a Belgium Pinfire revolver from auction

It looks to be in reasonable condition other than the indexing is out of alignment, I presume this is down to wear, does anyone know if it can be corrected?

From the same number printed on every moving part it looks to be original

Also, from the stamping on the pin that holds the cylinder, is that a ‘stick man’ or just my imagination?

Thank you

[millemigliadave]

Not sure about the 'stick man' - not seen similar. The indexing issue may be either a broken hand or if lucky simply a broken hand spring. These are reasonably easy to disassemble - HLE Books has a pinfire e-book that explains it with pictures.

Good luck with it - these are under-rated in my opinion.

[Christel]

Always liked pinfires, just something about them.

We used to have one on display above the counter.

[Gun Pimp]

I've got a similar one - had it for 60 years - what's it worth Tony?

[Tony]

Thank you millemigliadave, I will look out for that book

Hi Gun Pimp, I am not sure what it is worth, it probably cost me nothing, there were two shotgun cartridge belts, one by Barbour, have hardly been used by the looks of it and several medals, possibly worth more than I paid for everything

[millemigliadave]

I've got a similar one - had it for 60 years - what's it worth Tony?

They vary according to condition and folding trigger or not, maker marks etc. At a guess, the one here would probably fetch somewhere between 50 and 150 at auction.

Dave

[Tony]

Interesting, for myself however Dave, I didn't buy it with the intention of selling it, just to understand more about it

[millemigliadave]

Interesting, for myself however Dave, I didn't buy it with the intention of selling it, just to understand more about it

Absolutely! Some interesting background here on the pinfire cartridge and the Lefaucheux family :

https://hbsa-uk.org/home/about-the-hbsa ... revolvers/
https://lefaucheux.com/pinfire-ingenuit ... -unveiled/

Hope you enjoy reading! :)

Dave

[Tony]

I will enjoy reading this Dave, very much appreciated, thank you

Tony

[Tony]

Hi Dave, an interesting couple of hours, but no great success

The strip down was easy enough with no problems, although I couldn’t get the trigger out, obviously it went in, but there must be a knack to it, having three protruding parts and only a slot to get it out, but I could see that nothing would be gained by removing it

I couldn’t see anything wrong with the indexing mechanism, all seemed very good, my conclusion is sympathetic wear on the two necessary parts, it rotates easily enough, but stops before the centre of the hammer, although it did index perfectly with the hammer removed and just using the trigger

Putting it back together took a little longer, getting the springs in place while fitting the screws, all screws now facing the same way (my late father was a carpenter, one of the first things I remember him telling me)

Owning to all the light oiling it does feel a lot firmer and smoother, but that may be my imagination

One thing I have noticed is that the index is still slightly off pulling back the hammer, or squeezing the trigger, but if I squeeze the trigger as fast as I can, it does index correctly most times, but that could be just momentum taking over from the worn parts, pity because I don’t like to fail, but some things are not to be