The London Armoury Company Kerr’s Patent Revolver is one of the most distinctive and recognizable of all Civil War era handguns. The side mounted hammer and removable lock plate were not common features in large bore handguns of the era and result in a unique silhouette. The Kerr patent revolver was invented by James Kerr, who was awarded two patents for improvements to Roberts Adams earlier revolver design. Kerr had been a founding member of the London Armoury Company, which was established on 9 February 1856 and of which Adams was the Managing Director during the late 1850s. It is interesting to note that Kerr was Adams’ cousin and had previously worked with him at Deane, Adams & Deane. Initially the London Armoury Company (LAC) focused on producing Model 1854 Beaumont-Adams patent revolvers with an eye towards obtaining lucrative English military contracts. When significant orders were not forthcoming, the company shifted its focus to manufacturing the British Pattern 1853 “Enfield” Rifle Musket for both the English government and private sale. This caused a rift within the company management that culminated with the departure of Adams from L.A.C. and the elevation of Kerr to the position of factory superintendent. With the departure of Adams, and the perceived need to offer some form of revolver for sale, the company purchased Kerr’s patent rights and started to produce the Kerr patent revolver in 1859. The first pistol was completed in March of 1859 and was tested at the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock on April 25, 1859. The pistol was typical of large bore English handguns of the era, in that it was 54-Bore (about .442 caliber) and had a 5-chambered cylinder. The guns were manufactured with barrel lengths that varied slightly, with the earliest guns having barrels around 5 7/8” in length and the later pistols having slightly shorter barrels that varied between about 5 ½” and 5 5/8”. While the large majority of the pistols produced were in 54-Bore, a small number of very early and very late production revolvers were also manufactured in 80-Bore (approximately .387 caliber). 

The majority of the pistols used a single action mechanism, not a double action mechanism as the trigger position in the center of the triggerguard implies. The hammer could only be cocked by pulling it back manually, but pulling the trigger could rotate the cylinder. This was a byproduct of the cylinder locking system, which relied on a pivoting arm that was actuated by the trigger. This arm locked the cylinder in place when the gun was fired. This was very different from the standard spring-loaded cylinder stop found in the frames of most American made revolvers. This system also eliminated the need to machine stop slots in the cylinder, as the rear face of cylinder was where the arm locked it into position. Only a handful of Kerr revolvers were manufactured as “self-cocking” (double action) revolvers, and they are extremely rare today. 

The Kerr also featured a unique, frame mounted cylinder arbor pin that was removed from the rear of the pistol, much like on the Colt 1855 Side Hammer “Root” designs, instead of the more common location at the front of the cylinder. This made the pistol easier and safer to manipulate when the cylinder had to be removed from the pistol. The early production Kerr revolvers had a small setscrew on the left side of the frame, forward of the cylinder that prevented the cylinder arbor pin from being withdrawn from the rear of the frame. The later production revolvers had a frame mounted spring on the left side, similar in appearance to the Model 1851 Adams patent safety, which retained the arbor pin. Adams had used a similar arbor pin retention spring on the frame of his 1854 patent revolvers.  Early production revolvers had a wide groove machined in the topstrap, while the later production guns had a flat topstrap without a groove. The early guns also had a loading lever that pivoted on a screw located at the lower front edge of the frame, under the barrel. The later production guns moved this pivot point higher and closer to the cylinder, making it somewhat stronger and allowing more torque to be applied to the lever when loading tight fitting ammunition. Most of these early features were phased out in the upper 2,XXX to middle 3,XXX serial number range, although some of the features appear somewhat randomly through about the middle of revolver production, suggesting that sometimes older parts were used to complete orders when time was of the essence. Sights were rudimentary at best, with a tiny notch rear sight at the rear of the topstrap and a brass post front sight with a tapered cone tip.

Although the design was reliable and fairly robust, the London Armoury Company did not find any British military contracts forthcoming for their pistol. Between the introduction of the Kerr in 1859 and the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861, only about 1,000-1,500 of the revolvers were manufactured, and far fewer were sold. Most of these pistols were sold commercially, both in Great Britain and in the US, with about 100 of the revolvers being purchased by an English Volunteer (militia) unit the 1st Sussex Artillery Volunteers. 

With the outbreak of the American Civil War, Caleb Huse, the South’s primary purchasing agent in England, engaged the London Armory Company to produce all of the Kerr’s Patent revolvers that they could for delivery to the Confederacy. It is believed that nearly all of the L.A.C.’s output of Kerr revolvers from April of 1861 through the close of the Civil War were produced on contract for the Confederacy, with about 9,000 pistols produced and shipped to the south during that time, and possibly as many as 10,000. It is also estimated that the London Armoury Company produced about 70,000 Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle Muskets during the same time frame. The estimate regarding revolver production is borne out by the extant examples with Confederate provenance or marks, which tend to exist in the 1,500 to about the 10,500 serial number range. To date, at least three separate Confederate government contracts have been identified for the purchase of Kerr revolvers. Two were army contracts, and one was a 1,000-gun contract for the Confederate Navy. The Naval contract was quite early, as a reference to the purchase of Kerr revolvers by CSN Commander James D. Bulloch was made in a diary entry by Confederate purchasing agent Major Edward Anderson dated August 6, 1861. Many of the army contract Kerr revolvers were financed through the Charleston, SC based firm of Fraser, Trenholm & Company and were delivered by their subsidiary John Fraser & Company. A minimum of 3,160 Kerr revolvers were delivered directly to Confederate arsenals by Fraser. In addition to the three government contracts, an unknown number of Kerr’s Patent revolvers were acquired speculatively for sale privately and to the Confederate government once they reached the south. This may account for the number of Kerr revolvers that exist today with unquestionable Confederate provenance, but without the JS/{Anchor} Confederate inspection mark. One of the standard indicators of CS importation and usage of a Kerr revolver is the presence of the enigmatic JS/{Anchor} that is often located on the front of the wooden grip of the pistols, below the grip frame tang. This is the inspection mark of John Southgate, who acted as a “viewer” (arms inspector) for the Confederacy. However, the absence of this mark is not necessarily an indication that the pistol was not a CS purchase. 

As the information above outlines that the majority of Kerr’s over serial number 1,500 and below 10,500 were produced on contract for the Confederacy. To date, the lowest numbered Kerr to bear the JS/{Anchor} inspection mark that I am aware of is in the lower third of the 7XX range, and the highest verifiable mark is just under 10,000. Over the years, a number of Kerr’s with spurious JS/{Anchor} marks have been noted, often found on guns that did not have them when they were first documented during the past 30 to 40 years but have had them magically appear over the course of time. The best concrete primary source evidence of how high the Confederate used serial numbers of Kerr revolvers reached is the “Squad Roll” of Lt. Julian Pratt of Company H of the 18th Virginia Cavalry. This document lists the revolvers in possession of his squad of cavalry in July of 1864. On the list are seven Kerr revolvers that range between #9240 and #9974. Since the Confederacy would continue to import Kerr pistols throughout the end of the war, and with the last documented shipment of eight cases arriving in March of 1865, it is not unreasonable to extrapolate CS purchases into about the 10,500 serial number range, and possibly slightly higher. It is interesting to note that two of the Kerr revolvers on the Pratt Roll are known to survive today in private collections, and revolver #9974 does not have a JS/Anchor mark! This indicates that the gun was a speculative purchase and not a government contract purchase, which would have received the JS/{Anchor} inspection mark.

While very scarce today, a number of Kerr revolvers were imported with a complete set of accouterments and accessories that would have been included in a cased set. According to the Payne Ledger, some 900 Kerr revolvers arrived at the port of Wilmington, NC on October 31, 1864. These guns also had the following accessories: 

“Spare Nipples & Cloth Bags, 900 Powder Flasks, 900 Cleaning Rods, 450 Steel Nipple Keys, 180 Bullet Moulds, 180 Mainsprings, 180 Trigger Springs, 90,000 Skin Cartridges, 108,000 Percussion Caps”. 

The guns were delivered by the blockade-runner Hope and were part of the consignment purchased through John Fraser & Company. 500 of the guns and their associated accouterments were subsequently delivered to the Selma Arsenal, and the other 400 and their accessories were delivered to the Richmond Arsenal. The presence of accessories like cleaning rods, powder flasks, cloth bags and the combination gun tools (listed as “steel nipple keys”), suggest that the guns were purchased as cased sets, and were subsequently repacked into the standard 20 guns per box lead lined cases that most Kerr revolvers were delivered to the Confederacy in. The powder flasks and cloth bags were certainly of limited utility for guns that were designed to be used with “skin cartridges”. Bullet molds were typically delivered to the Confederacy at a ratio of 1 for every 20 long arms but in this case, they were delivered at the ratio of 1 for every 5 of the pistols. The cleaning rods would certainly have been useful in the field, but this is the only report I can find of cleaning rods being purchased by the Confederacy for use with revolvers. All of this suggests that these accessories originated in cased Kerr revolver sets. It seems quite likely that additional cased sets were acquired on a speculative basis for delivery to the south as well. Today all of these accessories are extremely rare, most especially the special Kerr revolver combination gun tool and cone (nipple) wrench. 

With the conclusion of the American Civil War, the London Armoury Company quickly succumbed to the loss of its single largest customer. The company closed exactly one year after the end of the American Civil War, in April of 1866. It believed that the remaining factory assets and machinery were sold to a gun making company in Spain the following year. Kerr himself did remain in business for some time after this and assembled and sold Kerr revolvers from the existing stock of parts. This accounts for the post 11,000 serial numbered pistols occasionally encountered, usually in relatively nice condition. 

On a side note, collectors and researchers have long debated the correct pronunciation for James Kerr’s last name. According to Val Forgett Jr., gun collector, researcher and current owner of Navy Arms and Old Western Scrounger, his extensive research indicates that even the British disagree about the pronunciation, but the most correct pronunciation would almost certainly be KARR, while the next most common pronunciation would be KARE. The Americanized pronunciation is CUR.

The Kerr’s Patent Revolver offered here is a very nice example of a late production gun that may have been built as part of the last of the Confederate contracts, but which was almost certainly not delivered before the end of the war. The revolver is serial number 10949, and the cylinder has the matching serail number 10949 as well. While reasonable arguments can be made for Kerr revolvers into about the 10,5XX serial number range being delivered before the end of the war, it is unlikely that this gun would have arrived prior to the end of the conflict. The revolver is  clearly marked on the lock plate with the legend LONDON ARMORY Co. Earlier production revolvers did not include the abbreviation for “company” after “London Armoury”, but this addition to the mark started to appear in the low 3XXX serial number range and was the only lock marking in use by the early 6XXX serial number range. As would be expected with this lock marking, this revolver has the later loading lever pivot screw location as well. The right side of the frame is marked: KERR’s PATENT 10949. The left side of the frame is marked with the two-line oval cartouche of the London Armoury Company and reads LONDON in an arc over ARMOURY, which is arched in the opposite directly. The left upper flat of the octagonal barrel is marked near the frame with the initials L.A.C. along with the commercial London view and proof marks including a {Crown}/GP and {Crown}/V. Alternating {Crown}/V and {Crown}/GP proof marks are also found between the chambers of the cylinder. The topstrap of the gun is engraved in a single line with the retailer marking LONDON ARMOURY Co. The pistol is also marked with the typical London Armoury Company assembly numbers. The assembly number is 527 and the number is present on the face of the cylinder, inside the trigger guard, and inside the top and bottom of the frame, where the number is preceded by the letter “J”. These assembly numbers are often illegible due to wear at the face of the cylinder and inside the frame, and only the number in the triggerguard typically survives clearly readable. In this case all of the numbers are relatively clear and legible. As would be expected for a late production gun like this, there is not a “JS/Anchor” mark present on the face of grip. The action of the revolver is in VERY GOOD to FINE condition and the revolver operates as it should mechanically. The original loading lever is present and functions smoothly. 

The revolver remains in about VERY GOOD+ condition and has an attractive, if somewhat streaky brownish patina. The majority of the metal is mostly smooth, and the revolver retains clear and legible markings throughout. As noted, the metal of the frame and the 5 5/8” barrel is primarily smooth with some scattered areas of minor surface roughness, some small patches of minor light pitting and some freckled oxidized discoloration. The cylinder shows some more small patches of minor surface roughness and some very light pitting along with the streaky brownish-gray patina. Like most Kerr revolvers, the gun has a lanyard ring in the butt cap, and it remains in very good, completely functional condition. The ring and butt cap have a rich, dark and uncleaned attic brown patina. The original brass post front sight is present on the end of the barrel near the muzzle and remains full height, which is not common on these revolvers as the sight was often worn down from holster wear. The barrel retains its original crowning at the muzzle and sharp edges along the octagonal barrel. The bore of the pistol is in VERY GOOD+ to NEAR FINE condition. The bore is mostly bright with some lightly scattered oxidation and some frosting in the grooves but retains fine, crisp rifling throughout. The one-piece checkered walnut grip is in about VERY GOOD+ to NEAR FINE  condition as well and remains solid, complete and free of breaks, cracks or repairs. It retains mostly crisp checkering and shows some scattered minor bumps, dings and marks with some minor wear to the sharp edges of the checkering. 

Overall, this an attractive late production example of a crisp Kerr’s Patent Revolver. If this gun was 1,000 serial numbers earlier, it would be in the top part of the Pratt List range and would be priced at least $1,500 higher. As it is, the gun probably just missed the chance to be used during the Civil War, although it may well have been made before the war ended. It is a nice, crisp gun that displays very well and is very attractively priced. It looks no different in a display than a Confederate delivered example and it can be added to your collection for about 30% less! Don’t miss your chance to get a nice Kerr Revolver that displays wonderfully and for a very nice price.