We just bought a small collection of Whitney Percussion revolvers...in it was this scarce U.S. Navy Marked Whitney Navy Revolver with a rare Conversion to .38 rimfire.  These are so uncommon that they are not even mentioned in Flayderman's Guide to Antique Firearms.  That said, these Whitney cartridge revolvers are still a fairly unknown chapter on the subject of Cartridge Conversions.

This particular one is US Navy marked and in the 19,000 serial range...right there in the Navy range...so we know it had a least one tour of duty with the Navy during the Civil War. The top of the barrel is marked "U.S." with a small anchor. Whitney New Haven address is nice and clear. This one was inspected by Captain John R. Goldsborough USN 1864-65. After the War, it appears that some large firm purchased these surplus Navy guns, spruced them up with Nickel and rimfire cylinders, and sold them on the civilian market. The conversion is slightly different than item #0871...it still uses its original unmodified percussion hammer and there is no backing plate at the front of the recoil shield as found on 0871.  Thus, this gun will still accept a  percussion cylinder.  We tried it and it works just fine!  This is similar to what you see with Remington Conversions...where this was most likely retailed back in the 1870s with both a cartridge and percussion cylinder. 

Overall condition is NRA Antique Fine+ condition with 60% original nickel mixed that's thinning out to a light grey patina. Screws still hold traces of original fire blue.  This one has a nice clean look to it.  Very Good walnut grips with no cracks...a few minor dings on the bottom from being used as a hammer. Nice working action.  Bore is still bright and shiny with very strong rifling but shows scattered light pits...looks like someone cut corners cleaning it left powder residue in the bore...should be Fine to Excellent because there isn't much wear... but will grade it as Good+.  Very good screws and sharp markings.  Nice example of a rare Whitney variation with scarce US Navy Property marks.

Item# 0872

SOLD