Hi all,
I picked this one up back in 2020 and finally got it out for a decent photo spread.
On its surface, this is a pretty standard Erfurt 1893 M83 revolver with a rough, but still serviceable, holster. The condition is pretty salty, but there is still some of the high polish blue on the frame. The lanyard ring is missing, as is often the case with these and there are a multitude of dents and dings, particularly forward of the cylinder. The serial numbers match and there is a cancelled Garde Reserve Infantry marking next to a Garde Artillery one.
While collectors refer to both the M79 and M83 as "Reichsrevolvers", this was never an official term. The M83 was meant to be the more handy version that corrected the pointed feedback received on the M79. (The revolver better suited as a club
) While Erfurt did not make M79 revolvers (Suhl Consortium, Mauser and Dreyse were the known makers), they were a prolific manufacturer of M83 revolvers. The M83 (and 79) served extensively in WW1, particularly with artillery and support units (some served even longer with EWB branded and 1920 property marked examples being known).
All that being said, I've got about a dozen other imperial revolvers; what makes this one cool is the vet provenance. I purchased this from a seller that was consigning for the grandson of the veteran- he wanted the revolver to go to someone who appreciated it. The seller offered the contact info of the grandson, which was also cool. I've attached some of the documentation I received. The veteran was Ward MacNeal, an AEF doctor sent to France with a commission to study trench fever as a captain, later rising to the rank of colonel. He remained in France until 1919, returning to what became a rather illustrious career in medicine. Dr. MacNeal was an early pioneer in cancer research, eventually serving as president of the American Association for Cancer Research 1933-34. (AACR is the oldest, and still largest cancer research organization in the US) In his annual address in 1934, Dr. MacNeal was one of the early proponents of cancer having a hereditary component- something which has saved lives and changed the way we look at prevention and early detection. Dr. MacNeal passed away shortly after WW2. I did find out that his research papers are housed at UMBC, my undergraduate alma mater; another neat connection.
In any case, some documentation the grandson had is attached below, including a copy of Dr. MacNeal's obituary.
I picked this one up back in 2020 and finally got it out for a decent photo spread.
On its surface, this is a pretty standard Erfurt 1893 M83 revolver with a rough, but still serviceable, holster. The condition is pretty salty, but there is still some of the high polish blue on the frame. The lanyard ring is missing, as is often the case with these and there are a multitude of dents and dings, particularly forward of the cylinder. The serial numbers match and there is a cancelled Garde Reserve Infantry marking next to a Garde Artillery one.
While collectors refer to both the M79 and M83 as "Reichsrevolvers", this was never an official term. The M83 was meant to be the more handy version that corrected the pointed feedback received on the M79. (The revolver better suited as a club
) While Erfurt did not make M79 revolvers (Suhl Consortium, Mauser and Dreyse were the known makers), they were a prolific manufacturer of M83 revolvers. The M83 (and 79) served extensively in WW1, particularly with artillery and support units (some served even longer with EWB branded and 1920 property marked examples being known).All that being said, I've got about a dozen other imperial revolvers; what makes this one cool is the vet provenance. I purchased this from a seller that was consigning for the grandson of the veteran- he wanted the revolver to go to someone who appreciated it. The seller offered the contact info of the grandson, which was also cool. I've attached some of the documentation I received. The veteran was Ward MacNeal, an AEF doctor sent to France with a commission to study trench fever as a captain, later rising to the rank of colonel. He remained in France until 1919, returning to what became a rather illustrious career in medicine. Dr. MacNeal was an early pioneer in cancer research, eventually serving as president of the American Association for Cancer Research 1933-34. (AACR is the oldest, and still largest cancer research organization in the US) In his annual address in 1934, Dr. MacNeal was one of the early proponents of cancer having a hereditary component- something which has saved lives and changed the way we look at prevention and early detection. Dr. MacNeal passed away shortly after WW2. I did find out that his research papers are housed at UMBC, my undergraduate alma mater; another neat connection.
In any case, some documentation the grandson had is attached below, including a copy of Dr. MacNeal's obituary.
