I had just enough shekels.....

[Ray]

in my pocket to buy a 1990s era lightly used taurus .38 but I brought home this home instead.....

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Like charlie brown picking out a Christmas tree, I often come home with a three-legged mangy mutt figuratively speaking.

no serial number or manufacturer visible but there are symbols that are surely proof/import marks. The "BRITISH BULLDOG" stamped on the topstrap is evidence that it is certainly not British and likely belgian. Presumably .442 chambering. Both new, unsized .44 colt and russian cases fit right in four of the chambers. The fatter rim of the modern cartridges do not hinder the rotation.

A .454" ball rolls right through all five chambers. A .430" ball does not enter muzzle and goes down to its equator in the forcing cone and stops there. The double action does not really work. Single action works but needs a millimetre nudge to the right settle bolt into cylinder cuts. Using unprimed cases in the four good chambers you can see when the flashholes line up with the firing pin hole in the frame as the cylinder is nudged to the right.

As for collector's value this experiment is a failure from the get go. Ads from 1880 show them selling for $3. That's $94 today and I gave three times that amount. Yes, p.t. barnum might have been correct in his statement.

I think a .40 s & w case full of fff in the russian cases with enough wadding to ensure compression with a round ball on top is where I will start. Your thoughts ?

[GunnyMack]

My thoughts?
I would have gone with the Taurus.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Heck I like it!!!

[Ray]

I am thinking that four 120 gr. round balls at daisy bb gun velocities might get me safely down the drive to the mailbox and back. Certainly as well as a 6.35 mm self-loader but with the antique roscoe in one pocket there is not any reason not to have a mousegun or two in my other pockets for plans b or c

[Sarge]

Looks dangerous as hell and I like it, too.

[JimT]

Anybody can get a Taurus but how many have a "British Bulldog"? Great choice!

[Bill in Oregon]

Kudos, Ray! The "British Bulldogs" are a glorious species! I'd shoot it with black powder loads -- plus a helmet and a kevlar glove!

[Grizz]

NICE. it's the kind of gun one might find down in the bottom of a long forgotten sleeping bag, handed down without unrolling until . . .

[Oldncrusty]

.44 is greater than .35 in my math book.

[Grizz]

.44 is greater than .35 in my math book.

or, as some say, 45 is greater than 43, and I'm one of them . . .

[wecsoger]

Not that I'm wishing ill for anyone...

Imagine though, whilst on the way to your mailbox you've just experienced a negative outcome interpersonal relationship issue culminating in a miscreant upon the ground, punctured.

Then imagine, when the local constabulary show up, the look on their faces when you hand over that little bulldog.

And explaining to the miscreant (assuming not heading toward ambient temperature) that he just got capped with a genuine antique.

[GunnyMack]

Explain the 5th chamber, you said 4 good chambers...( not have 5 empties?, is it rusted up?)
The fact that it's an antique British Bulldog I get but the fact that it obviously needs a little work to get to 100%( parts availability)(cost more in smith fees get get it right than its worth maybe?)is why I said I'd have picked the Taurus.
I have sourced/ fit parts for a Colt lightning pistol and a Merwin Hubert but I sure as heck wouldn't want to have one as a carry gun which is what I figured you were after with the Taurus.

[Griff]

My mailman is such a friendly chap, I don't often greet him heeled... well, not visibly anyway!

[Ysabel Kid]

You made the right choice Ray!

I've been looking off and on for a .44 or .45 caliber bulldog type revolver, especially after creating .450 Adams rounds for my friend with a mint RIC revolver he inherited from his wife's grandfather.

Someday!

[Ysabel Kid]

Not that I'm wishing ill for anyone...

Imagine though, whilst on the way to your mailbox you've just experienced a negative outcome interpersonal relationship issue culminating in a miscreant upon the ground, punctured.

Then imagine, when the local constabulary show up, the look on their faces when you hand over that little bulldog.

And explaining to the miscreant (assuming not heading toward ambient temperature) that he just got capped with a genuine antique.

I'd pay good money to see that!

[Oldncrusty]

.44 is greater than .35 in my math book.

or, as some say, 45 is greater than 43, and I'm one of them . . .

As am I!

[Ray]

B.T.T.

The one tight chamber just needed that case to be sized. The other four were tried with new, unsized starline .44 colt brass.

Just got around to firing 5 primer only wax bullets out of it and hit all five on/near mark at five paces.

Now if I can only garner the courage to load and fire 5 with b.p. & r.b.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Do it!!!!!

[JimT]

PHOTOS!! WE WANT PHOTOS OF THE FIRING!

[Bill in Oregon]

YOUTUBE! Don't worry if it goes sideways, Ray. I have been a classic Youtube fail candidate for years!

[Ray]

To save the trouble of taking fotos or producing a video just use your imaginations. Visualize a wonky-eyed short round man who is so hopelessly caucasian that only vampires & albinoes are paler firing the above antique revolver with an obvious and pronounced flinch.

[Paladin]

Collection guns that have killed presidents?
Baltimore & Potomac Railroad Passenger Terminal, Washington, DC where U.S. President James A. Garfield was assassinated on July 2, 1881 Doctors discuss Garfield’s wounds Guiteau borrowed $15 and went out to purchase a Bull Dog revolver

[Ray]

Smithsonian file photo. Could it be the real bulldog used by Guiteau ? The govt. says the artifact is "lost". Can you imagine the number of pawn shop proprietors or their minions who have intimated that their example was/is indeed the guilty revolver.

" we pulled the grip panels and low & behold, C.J.G. was carved therein ! and only $1400 ! "

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[2ndovc]

Good stuff, Ray!

My dad has s couple of those along with a few Belgian made types. I'll have to get a couple of pictures the next time I'm over there.

I'd take one over a Taurus any day.

jb

[Scott Tschirhart]

Since I was a child, I wanted a RIC revolver that I read about in the American Rifleman.

Settled for a Charter Arms Bulldog….which was also a great choice.

[Bill in Oregon]

I am a Charter fan, Scott, but I, too, longed for an RIC after reading Jeff Cooper sing its praises 50-some years ago!

[Scott Tschirhart]

I would actually carry this.

[AJMD429]

Looks dangerous as hell and I like it, too.

LOL - that's why it sounds FUN...

[Scott Tschirhart]

I’ve always thought that the guard in front of the cylinder was a really thoughtful feature of some British revolvers.

Pushes your holster open whenever you put it away.