Wild west and suicide special revolvers

Jim McDougall · 6th August 2025, 06:30 PM

Thank you so much Norman!
The BULLDOG has always been intriguing to me, maybe its the name, or associations with Victorian detectives, Sherlock Holmes etc. It seems these were .44 caliber, and indeed one of these Webley guns was carried by John Tunstall, Billy the Kids father figure.
Apparently a 'Bulldog' was used in the assassination of President John Garfield in 1881, and paired with Lincoln on the grips of the example posted by Glen in previous post.

Apparently Billy did take this from Tunstall after he was killed, and carried it for a period of time. Actually, it is not known what sort of revolver Billy had and records only refer to a DOUBLE COCKER, which could have been either a Thunderer, Lightning or indeed a Bulldog. He also had a Colt 'peacemaker' revolver, the ubiquitous six shooters of cowboy fame. Presumably the Colt and his Winchester 1873 were used 'on the range', while the COUBLE COCKER was his 'concealed' when in town.

These Colts, the Thunderer (.41 long); the Lightning (.38 long) and 'rainmaker' (.32long) were versions of these Colt DA revolvers (6 shot) double action.
The catchy names were NOT Colt designations, but part of the marketing hyperbole used by distributors. As noted, the 'suicide special' were called by as many as 150+ of these kinds of names.

6th August 2025, 06:30 PM	#6
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,477	small, concealed and deadly Thank you so much Norman! The BULLDOG has always been intriguing to me, maybe its the name, or associations with Victorian detectives, Sherlock Holmes etc. It seems these were .44 caliber, and indeed one of these Webley guns was carried by John Tunstall, Billy the Kids father figure. Apparently a 'Bulldog' was used in the assassination of President John Garfield in 1881, and paired with Lincoln on the grips of the example posted by Glen in previous post. Apparently Billy did take this from Tunstall after he was killed, and carried it for a period of time. Actually, it is not known what sort of revolver Billy had and records only refer to a DOUBLE COCKER, which could have been either a Thunderer, Lightning or indeed a Bulldog. He also had a Colt 'peacemaker' revolver, the ubiquitous six shooters of cowboy fame. Presumably the Colt and his Winchester 1873 were used 'on the range', while the COUBLE COCKER was his 'concealed' when in town. These Colts, the Thunderer (.41 long); the Lightning (.38 long) and 'rainmaker' (.32long) were versions of these Colt DA revolvers (6 shot) double action. The catchy names were NOT Colt designations, but part of the marketing hyperbole used by distributors. As noted, the 'suicide special' were called by as many as 150+ of these kinds of names. Attached Images