Colt New House Revolver; Gambler Shooting Style

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

I just picked up an interesting small revolver.   A Colt New House .38.

 

 

The .38 in question is .38 Long Colt, which means it can also run .38 Short Colt.   It is in excellent mechanical condition and the bore is very clean.

According to Colt's Website, it was made in 1882, so it's a black powder only gun.

I have recently become fascinated by these smaller sized single action revolvers, of .32 and .38 caliber.  They are just interesting guns.  Many have a spur trigger, more than a few don't.  That many of them are 5 shot with no safety notch limits their usefulness as a main match revolver.   You could of course load them with four and load the 5th on the clock, just for the chance to use them, which might be a pain, but might also be fun.   Of course, many of them fall into that nebulous area of is it small main match gun, or a large pocket pistol?  We'll let that go for now.

Between what I have in my collection, and a few recent acquisitions, I am finding myself really interested in these things.   Colt, S&W, Merwin & Hulbert, Remington, and who knows who else all made things in this general category.  Calibers that I have found things in include .32 Short Colt, .32 Long Colt, .32 S&W, .38 Short Colt and .38 Long Colt.  Curiously, I have not found anything in .32 S&W Long, but I did find one modern made gun with a .32 H&R Magnum cylinder that you could rung the S&W Longs in if you want to, and I intend to do just that.  If memory serves, the S&W Long didn't come out till the early 1900's, so maybe that's why I don't find anything specifically in that caliber?  (I have seen some vintage double action pistols of this size, but no singles.)

Anyway, I really, REALLY find these guns to be interesting things to own and collect.   Regardless of if I ever use them in our game, I may take them up to an indoor range to test fire them and see how accurate they are.  Of course, some of these do need to be loaded with black powder, so I don't know if they allow that.  I'll have to call and check, I guess.   I will also admit that a couple of my guns of this type are currently with my gunsmith, getting fixed, but I am eager to get them all back so I can share them with you all, just for the fun of it. 

And finally, a couple of weeks ago, while talking about these types of guns in another context, I brought up the idea of an unofficial shooting style (akin to Josey Wales) where you would use two of these types of pistol, loaded with four rounds each, with the final 2 round being fired from a derringer.  It was suggested that this could be called "Gambler Style," and I think that's a good a moniker as any.  Shotgun and rifle would be any normal main match type.   Maybe, at the very least, it can be a single stage side match at a bigger shoot.  

Setting aside whatever way, if any, these guns can be used in our game, does anyone else out there find them to be interesting?   I know that for pocket pistols, most of us gravitate to DA pistols, but there are a good amount of these interesting SA guns.   Let's chat about them. 

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Edited November 29 by H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

Addendum...

I am not sure how it's doing it, but the New House DOES seem to be able to lock between the cylinders, at least when it's not loaded.   But only if the loading gate is closed.   If the gate is open, it's not locked.

Curious.

Edited November 29 by H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619

[Timothy]

What a wonderful find. A member of the new line series launched in 1873 available in rim and center fire calibers including 30 rimfire and 41 not long colt. A sister version the new police sported an ejector housing and i often wonder how many constables carried them openly in a holster, something never seen on screen. I'd love a range review if you cant find heel base bullets hornady hbwc 35s may work. The rear hidden bolt notches make an attractive design have fun and good luck.

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

18 minutes ago, Timothy said:

I'd love a range review if you cant find heel base bullets hornady hbwc 35s may work.

 

For .38 Short, and Long Colt, i use a .358" 150 grain RNHP from Buffalo Arms.   I either load it with Trailboss for use in safe for smokeless guns, or black/sub for guns like this one that require it.  The bullet is pretty much pure lead.  It of course works well in guns with a .357" bore, and the hollow base "bumps up" to grab the rifling in older guns with a .375" bore.

[watab kid]

interesting revolver i did not know existed , fun looking little revolver 

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

On 11/29/2025 at 10:30 PM, watab kid said:

interesting revolver i did not know existed , fun looking little revolver 

It seems that back in the day, almost all of the major gun makers, and a few of the also rans, made guns of this class.  By "class" I mean single action, small to medium frame size, .38 Long Colt or smaller caliber, and possibly with a spur trigger, but not automatically so.

As I have learned about and become more aware of more guns, I am impressed by the sheer amount of interesting stuff that exists.   The .38 Long Colt cutoff is entirely arbitrary in my thought processes, and it might not be exactly correct, as I did come across a version of this pistol in a .41 caliber.  

It is proving to be a fun new type of revolver to find example of.
 

[watab kid]

46 minutes ago, H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 said:

It seems that back in the day, almost all of the major gun makers, and a few of the also rans, made guns of this class.  By "class" I mean single action, small to medium frame size, .38 Long Colt or smaller caliber, and possibly with a spur trigger, but not automatically so.

As I have learned about and become more aware of more guns, I am impressed by the sheer amount of interesting stuff that exists.   The .38 Long Colt cutoff is entirely arbitrary in my thought processes, and it might not be exactly correct, as I did come across a version of this pistol in a .41 caliber.  

It is proving to be a fun new type of revolver to find example of.
 

i see where your interest comes from , the more i see here the more interest i have as well , so far i have one spur trigger S&W No 1  , i have a couple other small pocket pistols but im starting to see that there are a lot of interesting pieces out there , im thinking ill look more and dabble more , 

[Timothy]

Search the term suicide specials, the term they had earned the term by the close of the century. Colt discontinued them after numerous other companies began selling cheaper lower quality knock offs. 

[watab kid]

ive known that term since i was a kid , but generally applied to the cjheap pot metal throw aways of the 20s and 30s as well as beyond , you can tell when you pick one up if they were made well im not inclined to the really cheap crap . but i rayther like the good ones and inclined to buying a couple more along the way , 

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

4 hours ago, Timothy said:

Colt discontinued them after numerous other companies began selling cheaper lower quality knock offs. 

Well, that's I am looking into things made by Colt, Remington, Smith and Wesson, Merwin & Hulbert, Uberti, Pietta an the like.  I want things of reputable quality. 

[watab kid]

i think those will be the higher quality versions of these so im thinking you have the right search on , those are what i would buy these days as well , 

[Howdy Pardner]

I have one of these in 22 cal. Mine is not as nice as yours and well worn but I like it. If you haven't already, do a search for Colt New Line pocket pistol 1873 to 1877 schematics and you will find some interesting material about it

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

From what I have been able to garner, the New Line and the New House were two very similar, but different models.   Of course the data is limited online, so I might be making distinctions that did not exist at the time.