Evgeniy Lefoshe – the European Colt
A diagram of Eugène Lefaucheux's Colt revolver, but chambered for pintle-loading cartridges and with an Abadie door on the frame. And such a revolver could easily have come into being if... if too many different circumstances hadn't prevented it. But the fact that Eugène had a great liking for the Colt is undeniable.
"In that case, monsieur, I'll offer you another model, a little cheaper. Here, would you like to take a look? We have a huge selection, at various prices... For example, this Lefaucheux revolver costs only eighteen rubles, but... (the clerk grimaced contemptuously)... but, monsieur, this model is already outdated. Only intellectual proletarians and psychopaths buy it now. Shooting yourself or killing your wife with a Lefaucheux is now considered bad manners."
A.P. Chekhov. "The Avenger"
A.P. Chekhov. "The Avenger"
stories about weapons. We continue our story about Eugène Lefaucheux's revolvers, but first we need to say a few words about his father, Casimir. He was born in 1802 and died very early, at the age of 50. But he managed to enter the historyIn 1836, based on his own design of a single-piece cartridge with a fire tube and cap, he developed a pin cartridge with a cardboard case and a copper base. In 1846, Lefaucheux patented an even more advanced pin cartridge, shaped like a copper cylinder with a cap inside and a protruding striking pin for piercing the cap. He also patented the "bundeleur" ("peperbox"), a revolver with a rotating barrel block, for this same pin cartridge. In 1851, it was exhibited at an exhibition in London, and immediately this type of revolver began to spread around the world, with 12-barreled monsters appearing alongside 5-6-barrel models. It's unknown what he would have invented had he lived a little longer, but whatever the case, he died in 1852, and his work was continued by his son, Eugène. Just a year later, the French army adopted a pin-action revolver called the "French Military Model 1853," which became the world's first military revolver chambered for a metal cartridge. Whether this revolver was more the work of the father or his son is now impossible to say. However, in 1858, the "French Military Model 1858" revolver was adopted, and this model certainly belonged only to Eugène himself.
Interestingly, Eugène himself was delighted with Samuel Colt's revolvers and was an ardent admirer. This is evidenced by the diagram (see the picture at the beginning of the article – V.Sh.), in which he depicted a Colt revolver, but modified to fire his father's pin-action cartridge.
In 1869, Eugène lost interest in revolver production (or the market was overflowing with them!) and turned his full attention to shotguns. Again, they were chambered for pin cartridges. And here's where difficulties arose. While it was easy to knock an empty shell out of a revolver's cylinder, how could one knock or extract a large, expanded shell from a shotgun's chamber? A solution had to be found. This is how the Lefaucheux shotguns, with their very interesting locks, were born.
Russian troops encountered Lefaucheux revolvers during the Crimean War. Official supplies from abroad began in the 1860s to Russia for the rearmament of the lower ranks of the Gendarme Corps. At that time, Lefaucheux ordered 4500 revolvers from the company, 1000 of which were manufactured in Russia at the Sestroretsk plant. Another 1600 revolvers were produced in Belgium by the manufacturer Tanner. In 1871, the Main artillery The administration ordered 500 Lefoshes in Tula, from the Goltyakov gunsmiths.
Well, now let's look at the photographs. Although our exhibition of "paintings" has only one theme - Lefaucheux revolvers, we will begin with the works of Casimir Lefaucheux, and then we will move on to the creations of his son Eugene and other masters who produced these revolvers under license.
Casimir Lefaucheux 24-gauge hunting smoothbore pistol. Weight: 1200 grams. Overall length: 320 mm. Barrel length: 180 mm. Cartridge: pin.
And this is how pin cartridges were loaded into this pistol!
Casimir Lefaucheux six-barrel pin-action revolver with a lower trigger
And this is how it was disassembled for reloading.
Perhaps the most common Lefaucheux revolver is the 1854 model (manufactured in 1855), military, 9mm caliber
Swedish Lefaucheux revolver. In 1863, Sweden purchased 1065 Model 1858 revolvers. These "regulation" Model 1863 revolvers are easily recognized by the three crowns stamped on the right side of the barrel. In 1872, Eugène Lefaucheux was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Vasa Order as a supplier to the Swedish government. Single-action revolver. Weight: 1090 grams. Length: 304 mm. Barrel length: 156 mm. Caliber: 11 mm.
The 1858 "N" revolver, meaning "naval." The "cavalry model" was very similar.
15mm Lefaucheux revolver
Lefaucheux revolver: 12mm six-shot, manufactured in 1869, and its cartridges. It is equipped with a protective cylinder cover (a rather rare feature) designed to prevent accidental collision of the cartridge pins in the cylinder during transport, as well as a protective ring. These two details, along with the engraving on the weapon, indicate high quality production.
The same revolver. View from the right. The very large hammer with a horizontal striker surface is clearly visible.
Colonel LeMat's revolver. It had two barrels, the second of which served as the cylinder's axis. The top barrel was rifled, while the center barrel was smoothbore. The cylinder held nine rounds, with one cartridge in the center barrel. It was loaded with Lefaucheux pin cartridges and, judging by the stamp ("EL" with a crown), was manufactured at Eugène Lefaucheux's Liège factory. LeMat revolvers were exported to the United States during the Civil War and used by the Southerners. Interestingly, LeMat (1824–1881) was a physician by training and, from 1857 to 1871, received six patents for his firearms inventions in France and six in Belgium.
This is his drum!
Lefaucheux often collaborated with other gunmakers and designers. This is one such work: the Lefaucheux-Cheynet revolver with a 21-round 7mm cylinder. It features a double barrel for firing from two rows of chambers. Also in 1864, Eugène Lefaucheux designed a 20-round revolver and received a patent for it.
Its trigger was made folding...
And this is what his double-row drum design looked like.
A very rare Degueldre pin-action revolver made by Lefaucheux. The cylinder moves forward approximately 3 cm when the lever on the right side of the barrel is turned downward. The maker's mark "EL couronne" (Eugène Lefaucheux) is on the left side of the barrel. The inscription "Degueldre Patent" is on the right side.
The lever had to be pulled down, and then the barrel and the drum would move forward.
There was a protective ring in front of the drum that prevented the cartridge pins from sticking out.
However, Eugène himself sometimes produced unusual revolvers. For example, this one, with an unscrewing barrel. Perhaps this way, it could be converted into a revolver rifle? All it took was a longer barrel...
This is how it was unscrewed...
Lefaucheux also produced revolver rifles chambered for his own pin cartridges.
Drum, hammer, trigger and sight, as well as a cleaning rod for unloading
Lefoshe also had this carbine with a bulky buttstock in his assortment.
Lefaucheux produced a surprising number of different types of 7mm revolvers... Here is a double-action revolver
Lefaucheux triple-action shotgun with half-cocking. Caliber: 12 mm, 10-round drum!!! A real rarity! Weight: 1130 g (empty). Overall length: 290 mm. Barrel length with drum: 155 mm. Drum diameter: 58 mm.
Norwegian revolver from 1864. Despite the advent of rimfire and centerfire cartridges in the 1870s, this Lefaucheux revolver remained a very popular weapon among Norwegian soldiers until 1890 and remained so even until 1920, that is, after the introduction of Nagant and Colt revolvers. In 1926, there were more than 1371 Lefaucheux revolvers in Norwegian arsenals. Weight: 1080 grams. Caliber: 12 mm, 6-shot, pinfire. Mechanism: Single action. Overall length: 310 mm. Barrel length: 156 mm. Cylinder length: 36 mm. Cylinder diameter: 42 mm.
The author had the chance to handle one of Lefaucheux's 7mm revolvers. Well, what can I say? If you stick it deep in your mouth, you'll probably kill yourself. And if you shoot yourself in the temple, the same thing. Or your opponent in the back from a distance of half a meter, no more. But otherwise... I don't know which of these revolvers they were shooting at, how they hit, or what the bullet's stopping power was.
In the previous article, the epigraph mentioned the Lefaucheux revolver, a knuckle-duster knife. There wasn't one, but there was a revolver with a folding bayonet-knife. And, perhaps, in theory, its handle could be used like a knuckle-duster. But in real life, it's unlikely anyone did this, because holding the barrel with the blade folded would be awkward. And a folded blade wouldn't have made it any more comfortable either. The Vainer brothers were mistaken, though...
15mm Lefaucheux "lf 521" pintle rifle. Overall length: 1130 mm. Barrel length: 685 mm. Length from trigger to butt plate: 360 mm. Length from butt to butt plate: 255 mm. Butt length: 152 mm, thickness 23,6 mm. Chamber: 47,5 mm. Weight: 2860 g.
The U-shaped breech is opened by two levers with knurled "ears" to the right and left of the chamber. The hammer rises with the breech!
We insert the stud chuck…
And here's how the spent cartridge is extracted with the same movement of the bolt. Then a new cartridge is inserted, the bolt is lowered, the hammer is cocked—and you're ready to fire!
Lefaucheux revolvers have been copied by many. For example, here's a Spanish military revolver from the Oviedo company, 1870, caliber 11 mm.
P.S. The author and the site administration express their gratitude to A. Dobress for permission to use his photographs.
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