"British Bulldog"

[Johnny R]

Any help on this would be appreciated. It was reportedly my Grandfathers who was a locomotive engineer in the Midwest during the early 1900s though the 40s.

[Johnny R]

Markings-

Is this a contract manufacture? I would like to know more about it. It was in his machinist chest with some great early 19th century tools. It has been in our house since he died in the early 80s and I never looked until today.

[Johnny Peppers]

I believe it was Webly & Scott that made the first "British Bulldog" revolvers, but they were widely copied. I don't see any British proofs on that one, so it may be a copy. It will have some type of proofs if made in Europe, but probably won't have any if made in the U.S.

[Bob Hritz]

I have one just like it. Most were Belgian knock offs and hold only small value to colletors.

Bob Hritz

[Johnny R]

Thanks, this has a tiny "L" with a crown over it on the frame near the base of the barrel. You can see it in the first images near the scratching

[JoeW]

That would be the Liege proof mark, meaning it's Belgian. Is it .44 cal? My father had a larger size one that fired .44 Bull Dog cartridges.

[Johnny R]

I will look at it tomorrow, it looked smaller like a .38 etc. Thanks

[robcox1]

Have you checked the bore? I used to own a Belgium made copy that looked a lot like yours. The fascinating thing about it was that it had grooves cut at the muzzle that only went back about 1/8". If you just glanced at it from the front it appeared to have rifling, but if you shown a light down it you could tell that it was actually a smooth-bore! It must have been a very cheap copy.

[Johnny R]

Have you checked the bore? I used to own a Belgium made copy that looked a lot like yours. The fascinating thing about it was that it had grooves cut at the muzzle that only went back about 1/8". If you just glanced at it from the front it appeared to have rifling, but if you shown a light down it you could tell that it was actually a smooth-bore! It must have been a very cheap copy.

It is rifled fro mthe bore to the to the breech chamber and is indeed .38. My Grandpa was a farm boy and tough to trick. It looks like a solid gun. He probably had it in his pocket when he entered Chicago rail yards etc.