A Highest Quality Cased Prussian Imperial Patent Adams Type Percussion Revolver. 8” overall, 3” octagonal 120 bore barrel with tiny dovetail front sight & fixed rear sight with a bulbous carved ivory grip. It has high gloss blue finish with a beautifully engraved & inlaid frame that has inlaid multi-colored gold & silver foliate arabesque patterns with a feather pattern on the sides of the top strap. Backstrap & trigger guard are engraved & inlaid to match. Right side of frame has serial number in gold & serial number 6120 is also in gold on cylinder which has an engraved scalloped front edge. Top strap has a beautiful, very fine scallop border & is inlaid in gold “IMPERIAL PATENT REVOLVER”. Oval buttcap & front end of cylinder pin are engraved to match. In its original green velvet lined, rosewood veneered casing with full set of original accessories, two matching numbered spare cylinders with gold inlaid serial numbers, tiny plain bag shaped flask, a 2-cavity ball & conical mold with sprue cutter, a wad cutter, a brass & iron bullet seater & a brass cleaning jag/bullet seater with turned knob. There are two covered compartments with ivory knobs, a rectangular one for caps & a triangular one containing bullets.
Serial number 6108. Circa 1855-60.
Extremely fine condition, shows little or no use. Overall retains 97-98% glossy bright original blue. Toe of front strap is slightly grey & has a slightly battered screw. Hammer tip chipped. Grip has a chipped rim around buttcap with a few age lines & retains a beautiful mellow patina. Mechanics are crisp, strong bright bore, dark in grooves. Cylinder in revolver has a couple of small flaked areas & a spot of pitting. One of spare cylinders retains about 98% glossy original blue & other about 85%. All accoutrements are fine & near original condition. Wad cutter & mold are in the white. A rare cased set in seldom ever encountered condition.
This item is registered for sale under the Ivory Act 2018 ref HJ21F2G8 UK SALE ONLY - NOT FOR EXPORT
During the 1850s and 1860s, variations of Adams pattern percussion revolvers were produced in the Prussian gunmaking center of Suhl. Some were simply inspired by Adams’ designs, while others directly infringed upon his patents. Some, like those Suhl-made Adams-style guns that are simply marked Imperial Patent on their topstraps, closely resemble Adams’ designs and have their profile but are actually produced with a two-piece frame and barrel. Adams’ primary patent covered the production of the revolver from a single forging with the barrel, frame and gripstrap all made from a single piece of metal. Thus, guns that looked like an Adams, but were produced with multi-part frames, were not actual patent infringement guns. Most of these Adams-inspired revolvers were unmarked as to their makers, making any chance of bringing a successful patent infringement case more unlikely, as proving the gun was produced by a specific maker was quite difficult.