Serial No. 422, Original Tin/Nickel Finish, Liège, Belgium
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An exceptionally scarce and complete example of the Confederate Late First Model LeMat Navy revolver, serial number 422, manufactured in Belgium during the early years of the American Civil War.
Invented by Dr. Jean Alexandre LeMat, with the early involvement of Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard, the distinctive revolver combines a nine-shot percussion cylinder with a centrally mounted 16-gauge smoothbore barrel, providing the operator with an additional grapeshot charge. The upper octagonal barrel is marked “COL. LEMAT’S PATENT” within an engraved panel terminating in fleur-de-lis ornaments.
Approximately 450 First Model LeMats were manufactured. Surviving examples are exceptionally scarce, with one specialist estimating that fewer than twenty remain entirely complete. This example retains its distinctive articulated hammer nose, loading assembly, spurred trigger guard, swiveling lanyard ring, and matching numbered components.
Of particular interest is its unusual original tin/nickel finish. A similarly plated transitional LeMat, serial number 946, was carried by Confederate naval officer Captain John Newland Maffitt of the CSS Florida and is illustrated in Doug Adams’s The Confederate LeMat Revolver, page 51.
Item Date: Circa 1861–1862, American Civil War
Measurement: Barrel length: 6.75"
Material: Iron and steel with original tin/nickel finish; checkered walnut grips.
Item Condition: Very good to fine. Retaining approximately 75–80% original tin/nickel finish, with areas of dark patina and surface oxidation. The rear barrel boss exhibits a crack on the left side. Mechanically complete, with matching serial-numbered components and original loading assembly. The rifled bore is strong and bright, and the smoothbore is clean, with minor pitting.
Literature: The Confederate LeMat Revolver, by Doug Adams
Price: $42,500
SKU 1333-28
For More Information, Please Contact David Hillier at 978-597-8084 or email drh@aaawt.com.