Handgun, from around the 1860's, 1870's. I  have little knowledge of them. But, it would be a nice little piece of history. Anybody have one, can you post pics?  Can these be fired, I guess it would depend on condition. What are your thoughts?

What kind of handgun?
The condition dictates whether it is safe to fire.

Quoted: What kind of handgun? The condition dictates whether it is safe to fire.

Not sure. What kinda gun did Little Joe Cartwright use

Much depends on what type of gun it is. Some are either to valuble, or are just downright dangerous to shoot anymore. Some are perfectly fine, but only with low pressure blackpowder loads. Anything with a damascus BBL is usually a NO NO as the risk of bursting is greater even tho it looks fine. A Weapon made by one of the better Companies can be fine to shoot as long as they are checked out by a qualified person and it is in good mechanical condition. Make sure before you go shooting it that you can still get some of the parts like mainsprings and such, as some were quite fragile and if broken you are out of luck. If you are talking about a Colt SAA be prepared to spend thousands if not 10s of thousands for a good condition first Generation SAA. They are frankly way to valuble to shoot. I'd look for either a new reproduction of which there are some fine one's or look for at least a second or third generation Colt if you want one of those. A new Colt SAA will sell for around 1250-1350. Kinda steep but it all depends on what you want.  A good clone will go for 500-800 or so. Some are less but it's all in how well everything works together. Maybe the Ruger Vanquero would do for you. Start pricing the older ones and newer ones and see what is in your budget. Good luck.

Well, if you get a Colt or a Remington in good shape you can still fire them. Have it checked by a gunsmith first and do some research on how to load and fire them.

Quoted: Well, if you get a Colt or a Remington in good shape you can still fire them. Have it checked by a gunsmith first and do some research on how to load and fire them.

I'll do that. Just starting research, this is the place to start, anything from medical conditions to guns.

Generally:

Revolvers pre 1890's or so are black powder.

Note the Generally bit there.


There's a pile of one-offs during the period...if you mean collecting old Colts or old Remingtons and such...well, be prepared for sticker shock. They've climbed in value. 20-25 years ago things you couldn't GIVE away are now worth a large downpayment on a park-front condo in NYC.  No shit. I remember looking at a REAL Colt 3rd model Dragoon and seeing a $1500 price tag when I was 12 and thinking 'shit, that's a lotta allowance...I dunno...'

Now, I kick myself for not begging dad to give me a 2 year advance on my allowance And this was in like 1988!

I wouldn't even really consider shooting one, and this is a guy who takes out a bring-back Luger whenever, and is looking for 8mm Nambu for a Jap WWII pistol for plinking.  I like using firarms for their designed purpose, but those things (19th century revolvers, especially from pre-civil war to around the Spanish war) I'd clean and preserve.

Just me, though...

OBTW I looked at a Colt 1877 Lightning 2 weeks ago and came this close to buying it. However, the fact that the springs are almost nonexistant and tho it worked now if I shot it one would almost certainly break disuaded me. I bought a SA M1A NM instead. I'll still look for an older one myself but it has to be common enough to still have parts available. That will probably mean getting lucky and finding a deal, otherwise the price will be out of my range.

I saw one from the 1860's, lost the website, but it was $89000.00!!

But I did find this "bargain" for $2300.00: