I brought up an 1868 Tranter chambered for the.500 round from Uruguay. I'm getting ready to list it, but first I am trying to get a handle on when the first.500 Tranter guns were manufactured. I have written the following and would like you to comment on it.

All the numbers get a bit confusing, but this is about as close as I can get to the approximate date that William Tranter introduced this cartridge. 'WHEN WERE THE FIRST.500 TRANTER REVOLVERS MANUFACTURED? This revolver carries the serial number of 53345. All Tranter cartridge and percussion revolvers were in the same range of serial numbers after 1868. Another 1868 revolver, chambered in 320, with the relatively close serial number of 54524 was dated to 1876, so our revolver was made approximately that same year or perhaps in 1875. This also helps us date the Tranter.500 cartridge itself. Most articles on 19th century cartridges simply state that the.500 revolver cartridge was developed in the 1870’s.

We know from the chambering of this revolver that the.500 Tranter was in use at least by 1875-76. No bibliography tells us the total number of Model 1868 Tranters chambered for the.500 cartridge, and the most complete Tranter online site () lists five previous.500 Tranter revolvers whose serial numbers were identified as 3825?, 38384, 38411, 38883 and 40127. There was a gap in serial numbers in Tranter cartridge revolvers between 40,965 and 50,071, and the site tells us, “Serial No.37339 and serial No.52670 would only be about a year apart.” Six other.500 Tranters are identified in the 50,000 range: 50900, 53099, 53939, 54121, 54596 and 54956 (our Tranter fits in here). Three more.500 Tranters are identified in the 60,000 serial number range, these all made after 1884. The closest earlier identified date in this series of 1868 firearms, caliber unknown, was a revolver numbered 36158 and sold in 1872, and the next identified date was 1876 with serial number 54524, as mentioned above. Therefore with the gap in serial numbers it is logical that all of the serial 30,000 to 50,000.500 Tranter revolvers were manufactured in a limited period of perhaps three or four years which we assume to be 1873/4-1876. That would date the first Tranter.500 cartridges to either 1873 or 1874 with an outside chance that it was introduced in 1872.'

And here is a photo of the 1868 Tranter found, in pretty good condition compared to some other items found down south. The new reprint of the 1871 Greener book I mentioned in another post has a little blurb extolling the RIC.500 pistol cartridge as opposed to the.450. Eplan 5 professional download free. The Tranters in.500 pre-dated the Webley.

All of the original.500 cartridges I have are marked '.500', '.500 Eley' or '.500 Kynoch' and are virtually the same (including one example loaded by a German company). In general, except for proprietary cartridges, gunmakers hated to put their rival's names on their wares, so here in the U.S., you see cartridge markings like '.32 Colt New Police', which of course is a.32 S&W.

I have a 1860s Tranter revolver in working condition. Condition of weapon. This appears to have been made in London. Did you get my additional replies. The top of the weapon says 'GOGSWELL 224 STRAN LONDON, Serial Number is XXXXX Some of the scroll work does not match up with the broad sheet (instruction sheet) I have from the internet. The.45 caliber six-shot double action percussion revolver, serial number 8673T, was made by William Tranter of Birmingham England. It came in a case with all.