New From So Cal & needing help w/ a .44 Navy Model BP

[NeverDull]

Well I need help. I just got a Black Powder .44 navy Model & I am trying to figure out what I have!  Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

[mcwoodduck]

I need tget out the GUN MARKS book but it looks like Italian black powder proof marks.
It is a copy of the rebel brass framed guns.
With the frame being brass I would not load it heavy.
30 grain of black max load or 24 grains of pyrodex
Use 451 to 457 round balls.  the larger alls will leave a lead rings when you cram them in the cylinder.
Fun gun to shoot.
With the pyrodex and the grease for the ullets it starts to smell like BBQ when shooting it.
Where are you in So Cal?  I just moved from Temecula a couple years ago.

[NeverDull]

I'm in Huntington Beach.

The firearm says made in italy. I just have had no luck finding the proofmark. It looks like a jagged circle with a star in the middle and a squashed beaver in a crest!!

[mcwoodduck]

The proof marks are in the lower picture.
My Proof marks book is at my friends gun shop on 6th street in Corona.
Next time you are headed out to Bass Pro in Ontario on  swing in to his shop.
Neat shop.
The club i belonged to has a black powder shoot on one of the weekends every month and those guys will be able to tell you 900 times more than I can.
PM me and I will tell you about the club.

[Sir Charles deMoutonBlack]

Look here for Italian markings on reproduction revolvers;

https://store.bluebookinc.com/Info/PDF/POWDER/MBPProofmarks.pdf

Your piece is not a copy of a CSA revolver.   Nor is it a copy of any original revolver. It is an imaginary but imaginative merger of an 1860 Army frame and cylinder with the grip and barrel group modified from 1851 Navy parts, created holus-bolus by Pietta.

With the brass frame you cannot use a cartridge conversion cylinder, nor should you use many  full capacity loads.  If you keep loads down to the 20 grain range you should have years of fun.

[Fingers McGee]

From the date code in the picture, the pistol was made in 1971.

From the grip shape, it might be a Pietta; but could be ASM or one of the other unidentified makers of the period.  As to current makers marks, date codes and proofmarks, the link Sir Charles provided will be of assistance to you.  If the barrel markings have 'San Marco', 'Marco', 'ASM', or 'SM'  in them, it was made by Armi San Marco.  There are other markings that could be on the back strap that would indicate the maker.

Being a brass framed revolver.  I would strenuously advise against useing any loads that exceed 25 grains of fffg blackpowder if you intend to keep it shootable for any length of time.  Heavy loads will batter the recoil sheild and loosen the arbor in the frame resulting in excessive barrel cylinder gap and a gun that rattles like a marble in a paint can.  Besides, you don't need more powder than that to hit what your aiming at.