# Pocket Revolver and ammo - any idea of date & manufacturer



## JamesT (Dec 5, 2015)

Good day 

I found this the other day. It is a pocket revolver. I don't recognise the makers stamp. It looks like ELC. 

For me an unusual style of ammunition. Calibre I measure to .3 approx. and the end of the cartridge is stamped ELEY so I guess British.

Any idea of the date?

Many thanks 

James


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

This is a pinfire revolver. It was made in Liege, Belgium. The "ELC" mark is actually read "E LG," and means that the pistol was proofed (_eprové_) in Liege.

Since it was cased so neatly, it probably was meant for a female purchaser. It might therefore be thought of as a "muff pistol," to be carried, ready to use, in an inside pocket of a lady's hand-warmer, fur muff. It may have been meant for the "carriage trade," since the grips seem to be ebony.
It loads through the "gate" shown in your picture #5. Empty cartridges are pushed out of their chambers using the pin which probably is attached to the knob at the bottom of this pistol's butt. It probably unscrews and pulls out.

_Do not attempt to fire this pistol!_

The revolver's hammer drops down upon the pin which protrudes from each cartridge, to fire it. The pin sticks up through the slot in each chamber of the gun's cylinder.
Since the cartridges are old, they may have deteriorated, making their primers either very sensitive, or very inert. Don't test them. _Don't press down on those pins!_
(The cartridges may be more valuable to collectors than is the pistol!)

The gun may have been made in the 1880s or 1890s, but pinfire pistols similar to this one were made and sold into the 1930s.


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## JamesT (Dec 5, 2015)

Hi Steve, Thank you so much for your very full answer. 

If I wanted to sell the ammo how would I make the rounds safe? 

All the best

James


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

I don't know how to make the rounds safe, or even if you should.
(I'm not a collector. But I suspect that the rounds are worth more un-safed than safed.)

Look on the web for a gun-collectors' site, and ask the people there.
There may even be a pinfire-gun site.

If there are _any_ other markings on the gun, no matter how indistinct, photograph them and put the photo up for all to see.
(For instance, there seems to be the Liege Tower mark, right near the oval with the E LG in it.)


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