R&D Gun Shop has always been the leader in converting percussion revolvers to metallic cartridge.

Since 1967, Kenny Howell has been repairing and restoring original Colt cartridge conversions and other notable antique weapons. In 1982, R&D Gun Shop started manufacturing custom conversion revolvers based on replica percussion revolvers. These custom conversions included the Richards & Richards-Mason conversions of the ‘Colt’ Army and Navy revolvers. R&D Gun Shop also produced the first reproduction of the 1871-72 Open Top model revolver, as well as museum quality reproductions of the famous Remington conversions of the 1870’s.

In 1998, R&D Gun Shop patented a drop in conversion cylinder for the ‘1858’ Remington .44 caliber percussion revolver. This conversion requires no modification to the base gun and is styled after original examples of early Remington conversions. These have proven very popular with both Cowboy Action Shooters and mounted shooters of CMSA.

The revolver pictured on our home page is a Richards conversion of an 1860 Army revolver in .44 Colt that was built for Tom Selleck and used in the movie “Last Stand at Saber River”. A total of four identical revolvers were built for the movie. One is on display at the Cowboy Hall of Fame Museum in Oklahoma City, two are owned by Tom Selleck, and the fourth is in the R&D collection.

Tom Selleck has commissioned R&D for weapons for several of his movies, including, ‘Last Stand at Saber River’, ‘Cross Fire Trail’, and ‘Monte Walsh’. Other movie credits include the 1861 Navy used by Will Smith in ‘Wild, Wild, West’, ‘Man from Snowy River’, ‘Ride with the Devil’, and numerous other westerns.