European Constabulary 11mm Revolver of the Berlin Police Pattern

11mm, unknown cartridge. 4" octagonal barrel. NS: 5. Blued finish, strawed hammer and trigger, checkered two-piece hardwood grips. Double action Webley RIC style solid frame revolver with fluted six-chambered cylinder, top strap groove rear sight, half-moon blade front sight, safety on the left side of the frame and a lanyard ring mount in the butt. Unmarked except for the serial or assembly number "5" on most parts, the maker's initials CJ on the face of the cylinder and on the frame under the grips and the engraved marking No/9 on the top strap. Clearly based upon the venerable Webley RIC, including the ubiquitous pivoting ejector rod concealed in the center of the cylinder arbor pin. The revolver also includes a frame mounted safety of the type found on German M1879 and M1883 Reichsrevolver. This combination of features is found on the Berlin Constabulary Revolvers of the late 19th century, but those guns are typically chambered for a nominally 9mm cartridge, while this one is normally 11mm, and probably intended for the same 10.4mm cartridge used in the Reichsrevolver. The lack of proof marks rule out Belgium or England as the source for this gun, and suggest that it may not have been produced in Imperial Germany, or if so was produced prior to the regulations regarding proof of non-military firearms. A very well made handgun from the late 19th century that may have originated in the disputed Alsace Loraine region, combining the larger caliber of a German military revolver of the period with the Webley RIC or Berlin Constabulary design.