Quick Reload Revolvers
"... the fast one will not escape, the strong one will not gather strength, and the warrior will not save his life."
Book of Amos 2:14
Book of Amos 2:14
stories about weapons. Each weapon has its own advantages and disadvantages. The first capsule revolvers were deadly weapons in terms of their lethal force, but reloading them was a pain. Cartridge revolvers appeared, and it became easier to reload them. Easier, but only in comparison with how the caps were reloaded. Let's remember what had to be done in order to reload the legendary revolver, and it will become obvious that this weapon was essentially a one-time use. The shooter had no chance to reload it in the event of a prolonged firefight. None!
Many people understood this from the very beginning. This is how the Smith and Wesson revolver appeared with the simultaneous discharge of the drum. The revolver unfolded and the drum was discharged. A lot of such revolvers-clamshells were invented. But from the point of view of mechanics, such a revolver device was not optimal. After all, it was necessary to recharge only the drum. That is, in theory, it was with him that he should have worked without touching the revolver itself. But this simple idea did not come to the designers immediately. So today we will talk about how the gunsmiths realized that in order to reload just one drum on a revolver, it was not at all necessary to lay out the entire revolver! The thing seems to be obvious, but they didn’t think of it right away.
The first who came up with the idea to speed up the loading of the revolver due to more free access to the drum from the breech was, perhaps, the same famous Lepage, who used the original rotation system on the Lepage-Moutier model 1858 Mle1858 type 1 revolver the front of the revolver, along with the barrel and drum to the side, so that at the same time its breech opens. It was a fairly simple 12-mm six-shot cylinder chambered for center-fire, double-action cartridges.
Revolver "Lepage-Moutier" Mle1858 1st type. Photo https://qsy-complains-a-lot.tumblr.com
Lepage-Moutier "Baby" revolver circa 1860: single and double action version, six shots, 8 mm caliber (Lepage-Moutier centerfire cartridges); ring trigger; a lever with a piston for unloading the drum chambers; total length 221 mm; barrel length 121 mm. Photo https://www.thierrydemaigret.com
Model 1866/67 The 2nd type of single and double action, with a barrel length of 160 mm and a caliber of 11 mm, was more perfect than the 1st type model. Right view of the lever for unloading. Photo https://littlegun.info
And this is how the drum leaned back on it along with the barrel to the left side, and the sleeves were removed from the drum on the right side with the help of the extraction lever! Photo https://littlegun.info
Ammo for this revolver. Photo https://littlegun.info
The 1866 Lepage-Moutier revolver number 3 was equipped with an annular trigger. These revolvers were used during the war of 1870 by some wealthy officers of the French army (models of this type were produced under 11 mm and 9 mm cartridges, the latter were more rare. Photo https://laboutiquedejebnah.fr
Revolver model 1866 "Lepage-Moutier" number 3. This is how the drum leaned back on it along with the barrel. Photo https://laboutiquedejebnah.fr
Moore's revolver 1862. Photo https://littlegun.info
The inscription on the trunk. Photo https://littlegun.info
This is what Moore's revolver looked like when reloaded from above. Photo https://littlegun.info
At the same time, American Daniel Moore from Brooklyn offered his revolver in 1862. The device was similar to the Lepage-Moutier revolver, but was much simpler in every way. It was an excellent seven-shot revolver for .32 caliber rimfire cartridges, made on the basis of a patent dated September 18, 1860. It is not uncommon to read that this was the very first swing-out revolver ever produced. But it is not. Lepage still overtook everyone.
Rear view of the drum of a Moore revolver. As you can see, he moved quite a bit, but this was enough for the cartridge to be inserted into the drum chamber! Photo https://littlegun.info
When the trigger on the Moore revolver is in the half-cock position, it was necessary to press the corrugated latch located to the right of the trigger on the shield, after which it was possible to turn the barrel along with the drum for loading.
Rugged and very well made, this revolver is way ahead of all its competitors. Unfortunately for Moore, his drilled-through top hat violated Rollin White's patent, which was then owned by Smith & Wesson. As usual, the company filed a lawsuit, as a result of which the four companies that produced Moore revolvers transferred to Smith and Wesson all 18 (!) Produced and unsold revolvers as compensation for damages incurred. After that, the following inscription was made on the barrels of the revolvers: “Manufactured for Smith and Wesson by Moore and Co. Patent Weapons.”
Another Smith & Wesson patent infringer was Bacon Hopkins, who released his revolver with a drum that leans to the right under patent 1862 No. 35419. In fact, this was the very first revolver with a folding drum.
Revolver Bacon Hopkins with a throwaway drum and nipple release. Photo https://www.ironhorseantiques.com
This revolver had a .38 caliber, was intended for officers and was called the "Marine Model". Only about 300 Hopkins revolvers were produced, and it was much easier to load than other revolvers of the time. But ... a drilled through the drum violated the patent owned by Smith and Wesson, and she, of course, stopped the production of this very promising revolver for that time!
View from the right of the retracted drum. Photo https://www.ironhorseantiques.com
Here again it is worth going back a little and thinking about the zigzags of human thought. What do we load on a revolver? Drum! Want to charge it quickly? But then, maybe it would be faster not to charge it, but to replace it with an already charged one?
A replacement drum was already included with the 1863 Remington revolver. And in the same year, Benjamin Joslin proposed his own version of a revolver with a replaceable primer drum, and he patented it back in 1858. One Freeman acted as manufacturer and sales agent, but he was unable to actually fulfill the first order for 500 units received from the US military, and the contract was terminated. Joslin started his own production and managed to produce 2500-3000 revolvers for sale on the commercial market. About 1100 of them were purchased by various branches of the federal military, including 225 in the US Navy - one of the few (if not the only) significant purchases of .44 caliber revolvers. Joslin's revolvers saw service at Shiloh and other battles, but judging by the available reviews, they had a bad reputation.
Joslin's 1858 revolver. Photo https://www.rockislandauction.com
In appearance, this five-shot revolver was an exact copy of the Colt revolver, but this is only at first glance. Please note that the trigger on it was lateral, L-shaped, and its axis was located on the frame on the right. In the center of this revolver was a knurled screw, which was the axis of the drum, and as soon as it was unscrewed, the drum was in your hands. Of course, it took time to unscrew this screw. But it did not go to any comparison with the time that would be required to reload all five chambers of this revolver. Moreover, they could, like the Colt, be loaded directly on the revolver with the help of the grenade launcher lever. But it was also possible to carry a spare drum in your pocket and, if necessary, quickly change the shot drum for a loaded one.
"Chain revolver" A. Fagnus. Photo https://littlegun.info
The idea of a drum being removed for loading seemed simple to disgrace not only to the American Joslin, but also to the Belgian Alexander Fagnus, who launched the production of revolvers with an extractable drum on a metal chain, so as not to lose it in case of something! The revolver had a solid frame and a lever under the barrel connected to the axis of the drum. When the lever moved forward along the barrel, the drum fell out of the socket, but remained on the chain, so that it could not fall to the ground.
Scheme of the device of the revolver A. Fagnus 1867. The axis of the drum and the lever fixing it. Photo https://littlegun.info
Scheme of the chain connection of the barrel and drum. Photo https://littlegun.info
The lever itself also served to use it to knock out the spent cartridge cases of hairpin cartridges from the chambers of the revolver, which would simply be impossible to remove in any other way. Then new cartridges were inserted into the drum, it was placed in place in the frame and fixed with a lever on the axis! Even a stock was invented that turned this revolver into a light carbine!
Revolver A. Fagnus disassembled. Photo https://littlegun.info
A. Fagnus revolver lever close-up. Photo https://littlegun.info
12-mm revolver A. Fagnus and butt to it. Photo https://littlegun.info
To be continued ...
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