Rogers & Spencer Army
A large-framed and robustly made pistol, this .44 calibre 6-shot percussion pistol which was designed and intended for cavalry use, never quite made it to the front line.
Rogers & Spencer manufactured their Army revolver from a factory in Utica, New York between 1863 and 1865.
About 800 had been made for largely civilian use until January 1865, when the United States government contracted to buy 5,000 of the solid frame pistols. It was bad timing for R&S as delivery was made too late for US civil war service. They were warehoused for about 35 years and subsequently sold as scrap to Francis Bannerman and Son in 1901. Bannerman then sold the pistols to collectors and target shooters throughout the first quarter of the 20th Century.
Accordingly, a few of these 150 year old-plus original Rogers & Spencer revolvers like ours, can be found today in excellent or near mint condition.