Saturday, January 27, 2024

Pennsylvania State Police want to know who dumped a replica Civil War revolver in the trash can at a Gettysburg Walmart. It's a 'legit firearm'

This weapon was found in a store trash can in Gettysburg (Photo: Pennsylvania State Police)
Some news outlets in Pennsylvania this week wrote that a Civil War revolver was found Tuesday by a Walmart employee in Gettysburg while emptying a trash can in the parking lot.

All of that is true – except for the fact that the weapon does not date to the war. It’s a replica made by an Italian company.

An incident report filed by a Pennsylvania State Police trooper described the gun as a Pietta 1851 Confederate Navy Revolver (the short report does not include the words Civil War).

Trooper Megan E. Frazer, a public information officer for the Harrisburg station, told the Picket in an email Friday that the unloaded firearm is believed to be a black powder-style .44-caliber revolver with a brass frame. She said the investigating officer did not believe the weapon to be authentic “based on machined markings and 2020 marked on the underside of the barrel," but called it a "legit firearm."

"It appeared to have been used," Frazer said.

Frazer said there were no leads in the investigation into how it came to be in a trash can in the city famous for the July 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, and whether it is tied to any Civil War venues or sites.

Jason Martz, spokesman for Gettysburg National Military Park, said nothing has been reported missing or stolen from its collections.

On its website, Pietta says the firm is “synonymous with the most faithful and refined reproductions of historical weapons and high quality hunting rifles.”

F.LII Pietta makes several versions of the Colt 1851 Navy revolver, one of the most famous firearms from the Civil War. They are listed as either Yank or Confederate, with .36-caliber and .44-caliber variations.

More Picket coverage

-- Gettysburg hopes Little Top will reopen in early July
-- Virginia's Henrico County buys farm that was scene of several Civil War events

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