DESCRIPTION: Scarce French M.1874 Chamelot Delvigne revolver intended for the civilian market. Externally, M.1874 commercial revolver is almost identical with French officer M.1874 revolver (except for the markings). Careful examination of the internal parts may reveal that they are not interchangeable with the military revolver parts. In fact, some of the M.1874 commercial revolvers have slightly different mechanism than M.1874 officer revolvers. The revolver was designed to fire a low pressure 11 mm black powder cartridge and should not be used with any other cartridge. There is no maker's address on the revolver. Fluted cylinder. Fancy checkering on the hammer and loading gate. Matching serial numbers. Very high quality of machining and metal finish. Handsome, black hardwood grips with diamond checkering (ebony?). Chamelot Delvigne was one of the most reliable revolvers of 1870-s. Joseph Chamelot of St. Giles was a Belgian inventor. Henri-Gustave Delvigne of Paris was a French inventor. Together, between 1862 and 1873, they patented twelve designs related to the double action revolver and its lock. CONDITION: Fine, with 82% of original, slightly thinning blue finish on metal. Blue is turning to light brown patina in some places. Couple of spots of light peppering. Small scratch on the left side of the frame (please, see pictures). Fading case coloring on the hammer, trigger and loading gate. The bore has worn rifling with frosting in the grooves. Cylinder chambers are in fine condition. The action works fine. All the markings and numbers are clearly visible on the metal. Wooden grips are in fine condition with some minor handling marks. Complete with lanyard ring. Antique. Serial# 49XX. (Ref. "Military Handguns of France" by Eugene Medlin and Jean Huon., pp. 35, also in "Les Revolvers Militaires Francais" by Henri Vuillemin, p.123).
