This is an about FINE condition example of German M83 Ordnance Revolver, also known as the M-1883 Reichsrevolver, produced by the Prussian national armory at Erfurt. It is interesting that until the adoption of the M79 Reichsrevolver, the direct predecessor to the M83, the standard military handgun used by the Prussian and other German kingdoms was a single shot, percussion muzzleloader. Even though the Prussian military had been using the incredibly advanced bolt action Dreyse needle rifles since their introduction in 1841, they felt little need to improve the arms of their cavalry, instead relying upon the lance and saber as their primary weapons, rather than the repeating cartridge handguns that had become a standard weapon for most western cavalry regiments by the early 1870s. With the exception of some Colt Model 1851 “Navy” percussion revolvers acquired by the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) as well as some Adams Model 1867 revolvers purchased to supplement their Colts, the late 1870s found the state of Germanic military handguns firmly entrenched in the 1840s! 

The M79 Reichsrevolver was developed as the standard military handgun for use by the militaries of the four German kingdoms: Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and Württemberg. It was 6-chambered, single action revolver with a 7 1/8” round barrel with a small octagonal section at the frame juncture, and a reinforcing ring at the muzzle, often referred to as a “cannon” barrel, with a rust browned finish. The revolver incorporated a safety lever on the left side of the frame and had a lanyard ring in the butt cap. The revolver was chambered for the 10.6x25R centerfire cartridge. The cartridge was loaded with a 262-grain lead bullet of about .44 caliber, propelled by a black powder charge with a muzzle velocity of 700 fps and 288 ft./lbs. of muzzle energy. The 10.6x25R is often compared to the S&W .44 Russian cartridge, which is nearly identical in size and power, and was initially produced by Ludwig Loewe & Company (the predecessor of DWM). The M79 was produced by three primary manufacturers. These were Gebrüder Mauser & Cie, who supplied the kingdoms of Bavaria and Württemberg, Franz V. Dreyse who supplied the kingdoms of Prussia and Bavaria, and the Suhl consortium of arms makers consisting of Spangenberg & Sauer, V.C. Schilling & Cie and C.G. Haenel & Cie, who supplied Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony. The M79 revolver remained in production from its adoption in 1879 through 1883, with a total of 84,931 being produced. 

In 1883, a more refined variant of the revolver was adopted as the M83 Reichsrevolver. The new gun retained the same basic design, with a single action mechanism and was still chambered for the 10.6mm x 25R cartridge. The most obvious change was the shortening of the barrel to 4 ¾” and the elimination of the cannon swell at the muzzle. The grip frame was also redesigned, making it somewhat more rounded and increasing the grip angle in relationship to the muzzle, and eliminating the buttcap on the bottom of the grip. Interestingly, the most deficient portion of the M79 design, the lack of an extraction or ejection system, was not addressed in the M83. Most M83 revolvers were blued rather than browned, and in the case of commercially produced guns for the private purchase of officers, the finish can sometimes be very impressive, rivaling that of Colt revolvers of the same period.

A total of 132,656 M83 Ordnance Revolver were produced between 1883 and 1896. The large majority of the guns were manufactured by the Royal Prussian Armory at Erfurt, where some 95,000 of the guns (about 72%) of the guns were produced over 13-year period. Of those revolvers, the majority (92,500) were destined for issue to the Prussian military and the remaining 2,500 were issued to the state of Württemberg. Three contractors also produced the guns, the Suhl Consortium (V.C. Schilling and C.G. Haenel of Suhl), Waffenfabrik von Dreyse of Sömmerda and Gebrüder Mauser & Company of Oberndorf. The Suhl Consortium manufactured 22,296 (about 17%), Dreyse manufactured 13,860 (about 10%) and Mauser manufactured 1,500 (about 1%) of the M83 Ordnance revolvers produced. Of the guns produced by the Suhl consortium, 10,000 were delivered to the state of Prussia, 7,296 were delivered to the state of Bavaria and 5,000 were delivered to the state of Saxony. The Dreyse guns were delivered to the state of Prussia (13,000) and Bavaria (860) and the Mauser guns were all delivered to the state of Württemberg. These large and well-made revolvers remained the primary issue handgun to German state military forces, along with the earlier M79 Ordnance Revolvers, until 1908, when they were superseded by the Parabellum-Pistole 1908, better known simply as “The Luger”. Even though the Luger replaced the M79 and M83 revolvers as the standard issue handgun, the revolvers remained in use through the World War I era, mostly with second line and reserve troops. 

Unit marked revolvers are encountered from time to time, allowing the identification of the unit to which the gun was issued. Although considered obsolete by World War II, some M79 and M83 Reichsrevolvers are reported to have seen use by the French resistance during Nazi occupation. The Germans even pulled some Reichsrevolvers out of mothballs at the end of World War II, during the fight for Berlin. 

This revolver bears a World War I unit marking. The backstrap is marked: 

1.F.M.18.148

This marking means Feld Artillerie Regiment 18, Leichte Munitionskolne, Waffe Nr. 148. In other words, this was gun #148 in the light munitions column of the 18^th Prussian field artillery regiment. The 18^th Prussian field artillery regiment was heavily engaged during the Great War and saw combat at such major battles as The Marne and Verdun.

This Unit Marked M83 Ordnance Revolve aka Reichsrevolver is in about FINE overall condition and was produced by the Royal Prussian Armory at Erfurt. The left side of the frame, below the cylinder is crisply and clearly marked:

{CROWN}

ERFURT

1893

Just to the left of the maker’s mark is the serial number of the revolver, 6335. The upper left side of the frame barrel juncture and the left side of the barrel are also stamped with the serial number 6335 and the left upper flat of the small octagon portion of the barrel is marked with the caliber gauge mark 10,55. Bores with gauge marks between 10,5mm and 10,6mm have been noted on surviving examples. The rear face of the cylinder is numbered 6335 as well. All of the small parts of the revolver are numbered to the gun with the last two digits of the serial number, 35, including screw heads. Numerous small proof and inspection marks are scattered throughout the revolver. The cylinder chambers are numbered in the style of 19^th century English revolver, with the numbers 1 through 6 stamped between the cylinder flutes. The revolver retains about 65%+ of its original blue overall. The frame retains the most finish with about 80%+ of its original blued finish remanning. The frame shows some wear, thinning and loss to the blue and the grip strap and backstrap show only freckled traces of finish and have a mostly mottled grayish brown patina. The barrel retains about 20% of its blued finish, with most of the bright blue remaining on the octagonal portion of the barrel with the round portion retaining only traces with a mottled and freckled gray and brown patina that is similar to the backstrap and gripstrap. The cylinder retains about 55%+ thinning, faded and worn bright blue. The metal is mostly smooth with some evenly scattered surface oxidation, with some freckles of light surface roughness. As noted,  the rear of the backstrap is unit marked 1.F.M.18.148, with the meaning of the mark explained above. The original lanyard ring remains in place in the bottom of the butt. The action of the revolver functions perfectly and is mechanically excellent. The revolver times, indexes and locks up tightly and correctly. The safety lever functions correctly, with the up position allowing the revolver to fire, and the down position locking the action and preventing the revolver from being placed on full cock. The bore of the revolver rates about FINE and is mostly bright with crisp rifling. There is some lightly scattered pinpricking along the length of the bore, and a couple small areas of light to moderate pitting noted in the bore. The two-piece walnut grips rate about FINE as well. They are solid and complete without of any breaks, cracks or repairs. However, they do show the expected scattered bumps, dings and handling marks from service and use.

Overall, this is a very nice condition example of an Erfurt produced, Prussian military inspected, First World War used M83 Reichsrevolver with unit markings. These large, somewhat awkward and anachronistic military revolvers are an important part of any German martial handgun collection. As more than one collector has noted, a M83 is the second gun in any chorological collection of modern era German military repeating handguns and realistically belongs right before a P08 Luger in that collection. This revolver has a great WWI unit mark to a storied Prussian field artillery unit’s ammunition train and will be a solid addition to your military handgun collection.

ON HOLD