This unusual double-barreled "Le Ma"
Revolver "Le Ma" of the first model. Left view
- He is guarded by killers,
part-time – doctors.
– It’s strange, it’s usually the other way around...
Film “Injection with an umbrella”
part-time – doctors.
– It’s strange, it’s usually the other way around...
Film “Injection with an umbrella”
stories about weapons. It's amazing how many doctors and dentists there were in the past who traded their careers as doctors for a career as an inventor of new weapons. And they not only exchanged, but also succeeded in this field, although, it would seem, what kind of connection could there be?
Revolver "Le Ma" of the first model. Right view
That's all it was with the French inventor Jean Alexandre Francois Le Mas.
Coming from a wealthy bourgeois family, he was born in Paris in 1821. Then he received a medical degree from the Faculty of Montpellier and left France for New Orleans, to America - “the land of great opportunities.” And there he married, and not just anyone, but the daughter of a wealthy planter, also of French origin, which opened the doors for him to the local high society and gave him access to wealth. Now he no longer had to work to make a living, and he was able to devote himself to his true passion: the mechanics of gunsmithing.
As a result, already on October 21, 1856, he filed a patent for a revolver, which he then continued to improve and improve for the rest of his life, subsequently receiving six patents in France and six in Belgium in 1857 and 1871.
However, even before this, or rather, let’s say, already at the very beginning of his career as a gunsmith, fate smiled at him once again. After all, how many people who received patents remained with them in their hands. But it didn’t work out that way with Le Ma, whose wife’s relatives turned out to be Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, a career officer in the US Army (who in the near future became one of the greatest generals in the Southern States army).
They met in 1859, when Beauregard served as a weapons engineer in the American army. According to the terms of the agreement they signed, Le Ma was to be responsible for the production of his revolver, and Beauregard would ensure its promotion among high-ranking officials of the American army...
Drum of the first model
He was supposed to promote the 1859 model revolver, which was truly something new among all other revolvers of that time.
It was a capsule revolver loaded with paper cartridges. The highlight of the design, which distinguished it from other samples, was the second large-caliber barrel, which was also the axis of rotation of the drum. The drum was designed for nine chambers, that is, more than that of the Colt and Remington revolvers, however, because of this the barrel caliber had to be reduced: 10,4 mm versus 11,18 mm for the Colt. But the central barrel, the tenth in a row, had a caliber of 20 (.65 - 15,6 mm). It was not designed to fire slugs, but could fire large buckshot over a short distance.
Thus, “Le Ma” turned out to be the most multi-charged revolver in the United States on the eve of the Civil War.
The second Le Ma model. Right view
The second Le Ma model, disassembled
Drum of the second model. Front view
Drum of the second model. Back view
Beauregard actually managed to promote his relative’s revolver, the military tested it, and they even liked it, but... They still didn’t accept it for service.
It is known that the first Le Ma revolvers were made in Philadelphia, in September 1859, in the workshops of John Crider, but the work there was exclusively artisanal in nature. Large quantities of new weapons could not be counted on, and in April 1860 Beauregard sold his share back to Le Ma and left the company to concentrate entirely on his military career.
Well, Le Ma himself also soon sold three quarters of his company to the French doctor Charles Frederic Girard, after which his revolver began to be produced in France.
And with the outbreak of the Civil War in August 1861, Le Mas was finally able to conclude a contract with the Confederate government for the supply of 5 revolvers.
"Le Ma" produced by Gueri Kanat J.F. and Co. under the name "Baby Le Ma"
“Abadi door” of the “Baby Le Ma” revolver
"Baby" disassembled
Central barrel firing pin on the Baby trigger
LeMa himself at this time became a supporter of the “southern cause”, a colonel of the Louisiana state militia and an aide-de-camp to the governor of this state. Some of his revolvers, again, were produced in a handicraft fashion right there in Louisina, but the bulk came from Paris on the ships of the so-called “blockade runners.”
Le Mas did not have a good relationship with French suppliers, and the production of revolvers was transferred to England, to London, where revolvers for the army were produced by Aston Bros, and for the navy fleet – Tipping & Lawden company. The only difference between Army and Navy revolvers is the "M" stamp affixed to some (though not all) revolvers that entered service with the Navy.
"Le Ma" produced by Lefoshe. Right view
During the entire Civil War, only three thousand Le Mas revolvers were collected and adopted by the Confederate navy, army and cavalry. Despite the poor quality of the metal used to make them, they generally met with excellent reception from the officers and soldiers of the South, who valued them most for their extraordinary firepower. This remark especially applies primarily to sailors and cavalrymen, who, more often than other soldiers of that time, found themselves involved in hand-to-hand combat during boarding or mounted combat.
Among LeMa's most famous admirers was the legendary "Jeb" Stewart, the dapper commander of the 6th Confederate Cavalry. Le Ma was paid in cotton (!) at the rate of 300 dollars per revolver, so if he had managed to keep it and then sell it after the victory of the northerners, he would certainly have become a very rich man.
Revolver "Le Ma" of the third model chambered for central ignition cartridges. Right view. Total length: 259 mm. Weight: 1,4 kg. Caliber: 11,2 and 16,5 mm. France - USA. 1868
Several models of Le Ma revolvers have survived to this day.
The first model has a round barrel with an octagonal part in the chamber area, and the trigger guard is equipped with a finger rest. The curved handle is equipped with a cap with a cord fastening. The main spring located in the handle is very short. Serial numbers 1 to 450 are also marked with the Le Mat logo, consisting of the letters L and M written in italics within a circle.
The same revolver. Left view
Trigger with striker for cartridges in drum
Trigger with folded striker for cartridge in the central barrel
Central barrel bolt
At the request of the army, the second Le Ma model received a full-size octagonal barrel, with a lever for tightly driving the bullet attached to the left side of the barrel. The trigger guard has an oval shape, and the winding ring is integrated into the crown itself. On these revolvers, the Le Mat logo consists of the capital letters LM topped by a five-pointed star. The main spring of these revolvers is significantly longer than on the first model. All other characteristics are the same as the first model. Serial numbers for the second model range from approximately 950 to 2.
Marking of the barrel of a revolver of the third model
The “La Ma” revolver, manufactured by the Gueri Kanat J.F. and Co. company, is known under the name “Baby Le Ma”. It was an 8 mm capsule revolver. Total length 23 cm, barrel length 10 cm.
Eugene Lefauchet also produced La Ma revolvers, with a 9-mm caliber barrel chambered for pin cartridges and a smooth central 12-mm caliber barrel with primer ignition.
Revolver "Le Ma" chambered for central ignition double action
After central ignition cartridges appeared, Le Ma immediately adapted its revolver for this ammunition, and ordered its production to Auguste Francotte and about twenty other Liege manufacturers.
The revolver had an eight-round drum and a central barrel, as before, chambered for an increased caliber cartridge. But these revolvers were no longer as successful as the models used in the American Civil War, despite their terrifying appearance and still high firepower.
PS
The author and administration of the site express deep gratitude to Alain Dobresse (littlegun.be) for the opportunity to use his photographs.
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