The various Volcanic lever actions of the 1850s are highly important firearms in the development of lever action firearms and the evolution of a serious of firearms that led to the Henry lever action and the early Winchester rifles. This pistol is the 6-inch Navy "Belt Model" variant manufactured by the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company in 1855-1857. The company was formed after the failure of the Smith & Wesson partnership in 1855, and the new company only operated from July 1855 to April 1857 before being reorganized by Oliver Winchester as the New Haven Arms Co. This pistol is certainly one of the absolute finest examples of a plain Belt Model extant. Most had factory engraving, and very few retain much finish at all today, let alone the extraordinary amount of finish found on this pistol. Only around 1,200 of the Belt Model pistols were manufactured. It has a "pinched" blade front sight, notch rear sight in the dovetail at the back of the frame, the three-line "THE VOLCANIC/REPEATING ARMS CO./PATENT NEWHAVEN CONN. FEB. 14. 1854" marking on top of the octagonal barrel which has an integral magazine below, and "817" on the right side of the lever, left side of the butt, and inside of each of the varnished walnut grips. Provenance: The Mac McCroskie Collection

Excellent. The barrel and magazine retain 95% plus of the original blue finish and only display some light edge and handling wear. The markings remain crisp. The action displays very attractive aged patina and has a small indent by the trigger pin on the left, a small chip at the top front corner of the right sideplate, and some light handling and storage marks. The small parts also retain the vast majority of their original finish, and the hammer has rich original case colors. Aside from a small flake at the upper front corner of the left grip, the grips are also exceptionally fine and have nearly all of the original varnish finish, minor edge wear, and some light handling and storage marks. Mechanically excellent. This is a stunning example of a very important piece of the evolutionary tree of American lever action firearms and is sure to be a significant addition to any antique arms collection.