Historians - Want To Trace Antique Revolver History

Ken, try taking to one of the larger auction house's free appraisal days. We took some old paintings to Butterfields in San Francisco a couple of years ago. It's like going to an episode of "Antiques Roadshow". You could also call ahead and see if they have 1) a firearm specialist or 2) a Civil/pre-Civil war expert on hand that day.