Revolvers like no other
Smith & Wesson system. The last word in gunshot science.
Triple action, with extractor, beats at six hundred paces,
central fight. I draw your attention, monsieur
for the cleanliness of the finish. The most fashionable system, monsieur...
Every day we sell ten for robbers, wolves
and lovers. Very true and strong fight, beats
at a great distance and kills his wife and lover right through.
As for suicides, Monsieur, I don't know of a better system...
The clerk raised and lowered the triggers, breathed on the trunks,
took aim and pretended to suffocate with delight.
Looking at his delighted face, one might think,
that he himself would gladly put a bullet in his forehead,
if only he had a revolver
such a beautiful system as Smith and Wesson. <…>
The other day - you probably already read - one officer
Purchased a Smith & Wesson revolver from us.
He shot his lover and - what do you think? -
the bullet passed right through, then pierced the bronze lamp,
then the piano, and from the piano ricochet killed a lapdog
and concussed his wife. The effect is brilliant
and does credit to our firm.
Anton Chekhov "The Avenger" 1887
stories about weapons. Among the great variety of revolvers of known systems today, the original designs of that particular time are somehow lost. And it is not surprising, already in the same XNUMXth century they were a curiosity or known only to a narrow circle of people, but what can we say about them today? But nevertheless, they are original, interesting, clearly show how bizarre and tortuous human thought is, and if so, then why not tell us about them today.
Well, you should start, perhaps, with a 12-shot Welch Navy revolver, developed in the USA by a certain John Walch. It was patented back in 1859, and if we look at it not too carefully, it may turn out that it is nothing special from the revolvers of that time and does not differ. It seems to be a traditional capsule revolver with an open frame, under the barrel a lever for tight driving of bullets, in a word, everything is in the best traditions of Colt or Remington revolvers.
What is so remarkable about this revolver that a patent was issued for it? Caliber .36, barrel 6-inch ... But the point is that it is a 12-shot. That is, the capacity of its drum is very significant! However, in terms of its dimensions, the Welch Navy looks like an ordinary six-shot revolver, except that the drum itself is a little longer.
The clue is hidden in his device. It’s just that in each of the chambers of the drum there was not one charge, but two - one after the other, that is, two shots could be sequentially fired from one chamber. Each charge had a separate brand pipe. And most importantly, for each such brand tube, this revolver had its own separate trigger, which was actuated by a separate trigger!
The hammers could be cocked both individually and simultaneously, which allowed their close location. In this case, the right trigger protruded forward in relation to the left. Accordingly, when pressed, the right hook fired first, which released the right trigger, which hit the primer in the brand tube of the first charge in the drum. Then, if the finger continued to move and reached the left-rear hook, it released the left trigger, and now the charge of the second chamber was ignited.
Thanks to such a device, with the simultaneous movement of the shooter, he could cock both triggers at once, and make two shots one after the other with almost a doublet.
The advantages of the revolver seem to be obvious, but its disadvantages were also serious.
Firstly, the charge of gunpowder in it was less than in a conventional revolver, which means that it was not as powerful as everyone else.
And secondly, such a revolver had to be loaded very carefully, and it is clear why: the slightest gas breakthrough was fraught with a double shot and a drum rupture with the most sad consequences. The second model with a drum for five chambers and ten charges was produced in the amount of about 1 copies, and no more such weapons were produced.
I must say that the problem of ignition of charges in the chambers of capsule revolvers was very acute. The bullet had to be driven tightly to prevent gas breakthrough, but the slightest cavern formed during casting and unnoticed by the shooter created a threat of bursting the drum. Therefore, the bullet had to be covered with "cannon fat" as well. Lubrication also eliminated powder deposits, but loading itself turned into a long and tedious procedure.
And then there was an American CB Allen, who designed a seven-shot .36 caliber percussion revolver, in which the drum was disc-shaped, and the trigger hit the primers from below. Of course, in such a revolver, the probability of replenishing the chambers adjacent to the firing one was reduced to zero. But here are the dimensions ... It is because of them that these revolvers (and guns) "did not go."
In 1855, Jesse Butterfield of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, patented his revolver, which then produced only 640 copies, although in 1861-1662. the government ordered him 2 of these revolvers.
Caliber .41, 5 shots, octagonal barrel with solid brass bezel. Drum, barrel and trigger blued. The design for those years is already somewhat old-fashioned, but the revolver was made very high quality. And the most original in it was a charger for ... capsules!
Inside a small container under the drum was a cardboard tube containing a stack of small paper discs. In the center of each disk was explosive mercury. On the removable lid of this container there was a small spring that pushed the discs up.
When the hammer was cocked, a small rod pushed the disc forward under the head of the hammer and over the chamber nipple, which was in line with the barrel. The system allowed to make about 30 shots without reloading. In the absence of primer discs, the revolver could also be loaded with classic primers. The Butterfield primer system was also used on several models of Sharps carbines, but nevertheless was not widely used.
And it also happened that a person wanted to get a patent at any cost. "I want a revolver! I want a patent for a revolver! And so, as a result, sometimes very funny designs appeared. For example, such as this Wesson-Levitt revolver, for which a patent was received in 1849. Again, look at him - everything is normal. A typical primer revolver.
The drum drive itself is unusual. In conventional revolvers, this is a toothed gear on its axis, which is acted upon by a pusher tooth associated with the trigger. Two helical gears are also used here: one is on the axis of the drum, the other is on the axis of the trigger. When the latter was cocked, its gear turned the gear of the drum and the drum itself.
But perhaps the most original revolver is this one - Whitney and Beals, the design of which was patented in 1854 by Fordyce Beals (a brilliant gunsmith who in 3 years will become the creator of excellent Remington military shock revolvers). And it was produced, and in three versions, by Eli Whitney from 1854 until the end of the 1860s. The first model (about 50 made) has a brass frame and is chambered in .31. The second model is identical to the previous one, but has an iron frame (about 2 pieces were produced).
The third model (here it is presented) also has an iron frame. They were made about 850 copies, and some had a 7-shot drum, and the rest had a 6-shot .28 caliber. Again, at first glance, there is nothing special about it. However, he received his nickname "Balance move" not in vain, because he really had in his design a very unusual mechanism for revolvers.
As it happened, in the early 1850s, Colt won a lawsuit against the Massachusetts Arms Company for infringement of his master patent, and all the gunsmiths involved in the manufacture of revolvers became very careful to avoid any infringement of the patents of the little colonel, whose enterprise in that time reached the highest level of its commercial power.
So Fordyce Beals did everything to bypass Colt's patents, and ... bypassed. Let's start with the fact that the trigger must be cocked with the thumb, that is, this is a single action revolver. There is also a half-cock for safe transportation.
But the most unusual thing is that there is no return spring on the ring trigger. It simply wobbles back and forth on an axle. Its upper part on the left side of the cylinder has two side levers, the bent upper ends of which enter the recesses of the drum, at the muzzle and at the rear end.
By pulling forward, the trigger causes the cylinder to rotate 1/12 of a turn; after which, moving backward, combines the chamber with the barrel. In this position, the trigger acts in the same way as the cylinder lock cam.
The pressure of the annular part of the hook on the protrusion of the trigger at the bottom of the frame releases the latter, and it strikes the primer. To load the drum has to be removed. The handle is too small for a good grip, and the size of the ring for thick fingers is too small, besides, all the mechanics work slowly. Well, then the .28 caliber itself had a very weak stopping effect. But ... this inventor still bypassed Colt!
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