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Old October 8, 2002, 02:36 PM   #1
clown714
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British Bull-Dog???

a buddy came over w\this pistol.

no idea about it

never seen anything like it.

on top of the barrel is"forehand & wadsworth".
5-shot
chamber dia..455"
cyl.length-1.292"
bbl.dia.-.3905"
serial#-633XX
any light you can shed on this would be appreciated.
thanks,

clown
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Old October 8, 2002, 02:40 PM   #2
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one more pic
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Old October 8, 2002, 02:46 PM   #3
Mike Irwin
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Wow, that looks as if it is in EXCELLENT shape!

Bulldogs was a generic name in Britain for small, large caliber revolvers, normally double action, from around the 1870s up through the 1900s.

Caliber was usually .44 or .45 -- .450 Adams, .476 Eley, and other calibers were common.

The F&W guns were made for American consumption mostly, I belive.

There is an American handgun cartridge called the .44 Bulldog. Probably what this is chambered for.
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Old October 8, 2002, 02:53 PM   #4
Kirk Keller
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Here's some info

Hope this helps...

http://www.ocyoung.com/American_firearms.htm

BRITISH BULL DOG REVOLVER .44cal
This is the exact Bull Dog revolver, built by Webley. HOWEVER, this is the British Bull Dog built by Forehand & Wadsworth. It has their patented Trademark on the box, and revolver. The head of a Bull Dog, plus trade Mark. serial No. 10xxx is nearly mint, in 99% original bright factory nickel. The checkered grips are perfect, and crisp. A real BONUS, it comes with the original Black Factory Box. Note: the inside label of box, it also advertises The Union Metallic Cartridge Company. This is a real SCARCE item with the original box ! PRICE $1,375



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Old October 8, 2002, 10:33 PM   #5
James K
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Wow! That has to be the most expensive F&W Bulldog I have ever heard of. Mostly, they go for around $100, even in pretty fair shape. Maybe I am wrong, but I think that will not sell very quickly.

Jim
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Old October 9, 2002, 12:14 AM   #6
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Regardless of info or worth, this is one guy who thinks that's a great looking weapon.
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Old October 9, 2002, 09:28 AM   #7
Kirk Keller
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Jim

I think the price breakdown goes like this...

Forehand & Wadsworth British Bull-Dog - $100
Really cool weathered box - $1,275

Knowing they just screwed you by selling you expensive paper? Priceless!

In most of the sources I found researching the pistol, I came across a ton of sales info that I thought was for this pistol but wasn't. Most of the sources I found were for a Forehand & Wadsworth Bull-Dog, which is a smaller 32 caliber pistol. These were selling for anywhere from $50 to $250. This is the only reference I could find for the British Bull-Dog so I have no idea if the price is valid or astronomical.

Items 14-169 and 14-172 at this link are the more common variations.

http://mori.studionet.it/armi/atlas/118.htm
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Old October 9, 2002, 03:31 PM   #8
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thank you

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Old October 9, 2002, 09:05 PM   #9
James K
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Most I have seen have no maker's name, although I have seen attribution to F&W before. Mine is almost identical in appearance to the one shown, but is in .38 S&W caliber. It is marked "BRITISH"[sight groove]"BULLDOG" on the top strap, but has no other markings except a neatly stamped serial number on the butt and the cylinder, so it is not English. (I will let it go for a bargain price of only $1195.)

The Standard Catalog says only that they were made by "unknown" British and American makers.

Jim
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Old October 9, 2002, 11:32 PM   #10
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Interesting!

I just found a line drawing of a Webley British Bulldog in Cartridges of the World, 4th Edition.

It's the spitting image of the guns pictured above.

The caliber it is associated with is the .44 Bull Dog.

"The .44 Bull Dog appears to have originated about 1880, perhaps a year or two prior to that. The first reference the author could locate was in the 1880 Homer Fisher Gun Catalog, reproduced in L.D. Satterlee's Ten Old Gun Catalogs. British Webley Bulld Dog revolvers are advertised therein. American companies loaded the round up to about 1938-39. The 1933 Winchester catalog lists it as for "Webley, British Bull Dog and H&R revolvers."

The Bull God type pocket revolver was quite popular through the late 1800s. The .44 Bull Dog cartridge was much superior to some of the rimfire calibers of that period. It provided reasonably good short-range stopping powerin a fairly compact weapon. However, it is solely a short-range self-defense round of little value for antyhing else. It is in the same general class as the .41 Short Colt. The cartridge has been obsolete for a good many years. Both black and smokeless loadings are encountered."

The ballistics list a 168 to 170 gr. bullet, a muzzle velocity of 460 fps., and a muzzle energy of 80 foot pounds!
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Old January 6, 2008, 01:53 AM   #11
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.32 with trademark

My friend was just given a .32 cal Forehand & Wadsworth British Bull Dog with the trademark stamp and some different markings than I've seen on others mentioned in the forums. All he knows about it was that it was carried by his grandfather post WWII in Germany and may have been a gift from his great grandfather. I'm curious if anybody has any basic information on the British Bull Dog from F&W and/or the markings as seen below?





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