POTD: The Best of What was Available – Griswold & Gunnison Revolver
Sam.S 08.18.23
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have the best of the Confederate revolvers. This is an 1862 Griswold & Gunnison revolver. Griswold & Gunnison really had their act together compared to most Confederate gunmakers. Their revolvers were solid quality, not the flaky junk other hobbyists were cobbling together in their garages. The G&G gun looked a lot like a Colt Dragoon, with a 7.5-inch barrel and brass frame. The grips leaned back at a subtle angle and the cylinders had a cool twisted iron pattern visible under the metal finish. Griswold was a successful business owner who’d built up a huge industrial complex in Georgia he called Griswoldville. With his partner Gunnison, who knew guns, they converted part of the place into a revolver factory in 1862. Pumping out around 100 guns every month, G&G churned out more revolvers than all the other Confederate operations combined. They had a good run until 1864 when Griswoldville got flattened by Union soldiers.
“This Colt Model 1851 Navy style percussion revolver was manufactured by Samuel Griswold in Griswoldville, Georgia, c. 1864. Griswold revolvers were close copies of the Colt Model 1851 Navy with a distinctive brass frame and round Dragoon style barrel. Griswold only manufactured approximately 3,700 revolvers for Confederate government contracts from 1862-1864. This revolver is a “Second Model” with half-octagon barrel housing. The brass frame has a large capping cut-out in the recoil shield that lacks a capping channel. The cylinder has six stops and safety pins. The twist lines which are a distinctive feature of Griswold revolvers are barely discernable due to the high condition of the cylinder which still displays most of the original milling marks.”
Lot 1135: Confederate Griswold and Gunnison Percussion Revolver – Exceptional Confederate Griswold and Gunnison Percussion Revolver. (n.d.). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved August 17, 2023, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/76/1135/confederate-griswold-and-gunnison-percussion-revolver.
