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Looking Into Adding an Antique Revolver To Add to The Collection
Hi all, I’m in the market for an antique status revolver, as that’s all I can get since I don’t qualify for exemption. Basically I boiled it down to three potential contenders 1.) the German 1883 Reich Revolver, 2.) the 1889 Bodeo, and lastly 3.) the 1892 French Ordnance Revolver. My budget is roughly $3500-$4000, and I would like to know which one is best in terms of value, and ease of acquiring brass and bullet or factory ammo. How well do these revolver holdup to use, are any of them weaker than the others and more prone to breakage? From what I understand the 1883 was build like a tank but is not the most ergonomic piece.
Smokeless powder… Can I use smokeless powder in all of them? I intend to mostly use black powder anyways, it’s just nice to have that option. Is there any common issue with any of these revolver that I should be aware of before purchasing.
The 1892 is probably your best and most modern bet. There is factory ammo from fiocchi available for it, and it has a swing out cylinder. Albeit on the opposite side.
Can’t speak to the other two, but the French 1892 is built well enough and handles the factory ammo available, which I can confirm is smokeless.
The price is for them are definitely climbing, so my recommendation would be to be very discerning with what you’re buying, and if possible, buy it local in person so you can have a look at it. Check its condition, the internal parts if possible, etc because personally, I’ve had some very bad luck with buying antiques online with unscrupulous sellers. It’s very easy to externally, polish a turd and then sell it to some schmuck for big bucks.
That is so unfortunate that you had that experience, I’m guessing gunpost right? For me I would most likely end up having to get the revolver online. Do you know of any reputable sellers/ dealers?
The reich is solid and shoots .44 Russian. It’s a nice gun.
The Bodeo can also chamber 44 Russian in some cases otherwise you’re loading 10.4
Not a fan of the folding trigger, but it is what it is.
The 8 mm French ordinance 1892 revolver is definitely the best quality antique in my opinion that is available. They are extremely well-made, although they do have a slight weakness in the hammer mechanism which has been known to break occasionally.
A couple years ago they were only 1500 so this 3 to 4000 price seems a little
Crazy, through a wholesale or I saw them on sale for under 2000 a couple months ago, for mid quality ones that would definitely suffice as good shooters.
Unfortunately, the 8 mm French round is extremely underpowered with most loads being around 6-700 FPS with 123 grain bullet. If it’s close to the top end of the 700 FPS range then it’s similar and powered to basic 38 special load but in my opinion, the fiocci loads are probably just over 600 FPS.
I was comparing some 9 mm target loads versus some 8 mm factory and the 9 mm was way more powerful. Like 2x as powerful
I’ve loaded my own loads for the French 1892 that were closer to 1000 FPS with 123 grain bullets and they were excellent.
You might also wanna consider webley wg army or target as those are also excellent guns.
If you’re dead set on choosing between those guns and the easy choice is the 1892 but the factory ammo is really weak
That is so true, the Webley’s are another excellent choice. The main problem is most Webley revolvers tend to be a bit out of my budget ($5000 plus), and I personally would be prefer one that wasn’t modified for .45 acp.
Might I suggest as well looking at a French MAS 1873? Often reamed for .45ACP (don’t run factory though, reload low pressure smokeless), it’s about half the cost of most antiques, clocking in at around 2000-2200$ and is sturdy as all hell, despite its age.
Also, I recommend Menno on gunpost to buy from. I’ve purchased two of my three antiques from him (MAS 1873 and Swiss 1882) and he’s a no nonsense, honest seller who’s got literally the lowest prices on antiques, sometimes by over 1000$ that other sellers are selling. About once or twice a month he has a MAS 1873 revolver for sale.
Edit: and for fun, here’s a link of the antique Webley shooting (which while cool, repairs have been a pain in the ass with lots of home jobs to fix) https://www.reddit.com/r/canadaguns/s/adLhQGc3Q6
I would recommend the nagant 1887 or Swiss 1882. Both of these revolvers are double action and are capable of shooting factory 32s&w long ammo. French 1892 is also a great option, ammo is just a little harder to find.
I was also thinking of getting a Swiss revolvers too. Is it true the 32s&w case bulge after firing? I’m just wondering as someone that would mostly be reloading my own rounds
There’s a trick to prevent (or significantly reduce) bulging in the cases. Wrap one layer of painter’s tape around the 32 casing and when fired it hardly bulges. The casing I’m pointing to had tape on it. The others around it did not and are bulged.
That said, I still resize the bulged ones and they fired again no problem but their overall brass life will be reduced significantly
Awesome I’m glad! I left another comment in this thread with a few links to the different antiques I have shooting, if some videos help make up your mind (also, French MAS 1873, which I talk about in that comment, is a solid solid antique for literally half the going rate (usually around 2000-2200$))
The 32s&w long cases bulge after firing in both the Swiss and Swedish revolvers. The benefit of being able to fire that ammo is mainly for people who don't reload and only shoot factory ammo. If you're reloading, you can just make proper ammo for whatever gun you decide to buy.
Dont get the Reichsrevolver. Probably the worst revolver made in that era.
Single action only even though every other revolver in service in that period was double action, the hammer is super heavy and you have to shift your grip on the uncomfortable birds head grip to cock it, and the trigger is also super heavy. Only redeemable quality is that it shoots 44 russian.
Oh and it's probably the only loading gate revolver I've seen that does not have an ejection rod. They issued a wooden dowel with them as an ejector, insane.
French revolvers are among the best, Webely is a classic and very reliable and some can shoot smokeless. American double action revolvers have more fragile components but are very ergonomic and have good build quality. But beware of belgian copies, they're the 19th century equivalent of turkish copies today.
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u/SquidMeister12 Jun 24 '26
The 1892 is probably your best and most modern bet. There is factory ammo from fiocchi available for it, and it has a swing out cylinder. Albeit on the opposite side.
Can’t speak to the other two, but the French 1892 is built well enough and handles the factory ammo available, which I can confirm is smokeless.
The price is for them are definitely climbing, so my recommendation would be to be very discerning with what you’re buying, and if possible, buy it local in person so you can have a look at it. Check its condition, the internal parts if possible, etc because personally, I’ve had some very bad luck with buying antiques online with unscrupulous sellers. It’s very easy to externally, polish a turd and then sell it to some schmuck for big bucks.