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**LEE ENFIELD CONNECTIONS**American 1870’s Lee Arms Company ‘RED JACKET No 3’ .32 Rim Fire Calibre Factory Nickel Plated 5 Shot Single Action Revolver. Sn 22220 - 22220 James Paris Lee (August 9, 1831 - February 24, 1904) was a Scottish-Canadian and later American inventor and arms designer, best known for inventing the bolt action that led to the Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield series of rifles. The Lee Model 1879 rifle was his first successful magazine-fed rifle, which was adopted by China and the US Navy, and two later designs - the Remington-Lee M1885 and the Winchester-Lee or Lee Navy M1895 - were also adopted militarily and sold commercially. It is a portion of the Model 1879 that earned Lee his place in the pantheon of arms designers. Lee designed the first practical detachable box magazine - an item that would become an absolute requirement for military arms of the future. His bolt and magazine design was investigated by the British and in 1889, after extensive trials and tests, the British Army decided to adopt the Rifle, Magazine, Lee-Metford as a standard issue arm. This in turn developed into the Rifle, Short, Magazine, Lee-Enfield (or SMLE), the British service arm for many decades. In 1864 James Paris Lee established the Lee Arms Company. Known as the ‘Red Jacket No3 ’ Model, this revolver is one of many revolvers based on S&W and Colt Patents produced in the 1860’s through to the late 1870s with dynamic or quirky names to attract sales. This is an excellent original example of the ‘Red Jacket No3’. It retains its original factory nickel finish with small areas of wear consistent with age. It has a 2 ¼” octagonal steel barrel ( 6 ¼” overall). The barrel’s bore is clean with crisp rifling. The underside of the barrel is numbered ‘80490’. The top barrel flat is crisply marked ‘RED JACKET No 3’. The top of the frame is crisply marked 'The Lee Arms Co Wilkes Barre Pa'. It has a shrouded trigger, steel hammer and undamaged, attractive Mother of Pearl grips. The pistol has a blade fore sight and grooved frame rear sight. The pistol’s single action firing mechanism works crisply. The price includes UK delivery. NB As an antique obsolete calibre rim fire revolver no licence is required to own this pistol in the UK if retained as a part of a collection or display. Sn 22220 (drawers office)
£545.00
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