Riechs pistol?

stumbled onto this today and could not walk away. All numbers match and appears to be functional. Any idea of value or rarity?

Not something you see everyday anyway nice pickup! Sure wish Craig Brown was still here he was the man of knowledge on these pistols. He also had alot of them too I think it was almost 40 or 50. From my research on them they were still used up too WW1 in the rear. But loading and unloading them is not easy. Too get your spent fired rounds out you used a metal stick too knock them out! Sam Colt would be jealous haha! Nor were they really that accurate but they did have some knock down power.

It seems weird but after the P08 and the broomhandle pistols the Germans never made any newer designed revolver pistols.

On a side note these also have a safely on them too. A rather uncommon neat feature on a revolver.

Old Reich's revolver isn't it ? Looks regimental marked don't see them much anymore last one I saw was in a friends WW1 collection several yrs ago and he has since passed gun sold I think can't remember if their smokless or not. timothy

Riechs revolver

My google-fu is weak but this is what I found. Prussian issue, consortium production made in 1882, all matching with a broken cylinder release latch. I have no idea on the unit markings hopefully someone else will be able to decipher them.

It is a pattern 1879 Revolver. Reichsrevolver is common, but not correct. It is a Revolver M/79.
The lined out unit marking is/was for the 2nd Hussars, 1st squadron, gun# 10
The other/later one is for the Feldartillerie Regiment No. 81, 4th battery, gun# 107

Awesome information thank you very much. Is ammo available for this pistol? The action locks up tight I may be tempted to shoot it with some light loads.

I shoot mine and find it easy to reload for this round. Virtually identical to .44 Russian and can safely be loaded with BP. These pistols are strong but I do not recommend any smokeless powder loads or anything other than lead bullets to keep ignition pressure low. .44 Russian BP loading data is a good start point.You can use .44 Russian brass or cut down .44 Special brass. Lead 44-40 pistol bullets work but they come in several diameters due to land/groove variations. Slug your bore for best fit. Bullets are available from cowboy action suppliers. You will need to crimp the case as recoil will unseat bullets and jam cylinder rotation. Again, I think it unwise to shoot any modern ammo in these guns. A good reference is "TheHandloader's Manual for Cartridge Conversions" byJohn Donnelly. Have fun.

M/79

Thanks for the heads up on reloading. Going to pick up some 44 Russian cowboy action loads.

Using the brass is fine but I would definitely not use commercially available .44 russian cartridges, even the cowboy action loads, unless you confirm the bullet diameter and that propellant is for use in BP weapons only. Most cowboy action shooters use modern replicas, not period pieces. My recipe is based on detailed research. You must be precise. "Close" is not good enough in ammo and the wrong loads can be dangerous.

Bullet diameters:
.44 Russian: .429"
10.6mm German revolver: .426"

Russian is larger and will cause higher pressures.

Send a PM if you want to discuss further.

M/79

Should have been more specific. I'll buy the cowboy action loads and pull them down to load my own. Going to slug the bore this weekend. I just hate typing on my phone.