First Velo-Dog Galana
I think those who are interested in firearms weapons, have repeatedly come across references to compact revolvers as a means of self-defense, united by the common name Velo-Dog. Such a “name” was given to many compact revolvers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Such a weapon was conceived as a means of protecting cyclists from dogs, but many people also seriously considered such a weapon as a means of two-legged beasts, by the way, in vain. In this article we will try to get acquainted with the first Velo-Dog, which set the tone for other manufacturers and thanks to which, one can say, one more subclass of weapons was born. It will be about the revolver, created by the designer Charles Francois Galan.
Frankly speaking, in my opinion, the designer saw the problem where it really is not. So, apparently, being keen on cycling, Galán decided to take care of cyclists who are not loved by man’s friends. For some reason, the revolvers that were always ready for a shot did not suit the gunsmith at that time and he decided to create his own lightweight and compact sample means of self-defense from human friends. The main goals that the designer had set for himself were: compact dimensions, the absence of protruding parts for which clothes can catch on, meager weight and a weak cartridge (about the cartridge will be slightly lower) apparently that it would not be easy to shoot dogs, but that the animal would later another couple of hours tormented. With all due respect to the gunsmith, for me personally, such a weapon seems barbaric in its pure form, if a dog walks without a leash, then it is necessary to shoot not at the dog, but at its owner. Stray dogs a separate conversation. But back to the weapon. Interestingly, the first designer's revolver was not so unusual. Of course the weapon was not quite the usual form, but at least it had a safety bracket. The trigger of the revolver was hidden by the not so cute “hump”. The revolver itself was very small in size and weight. Further, the desire to remove all the protruding parts and reduce the weight with dimensions pushed the designer to a not entirely deliberate decision. The weapon lost its guard, and also received a folding trigger. Thus, the revolver became a practically useless piece of iron, since during the attack of the dog it was necessary, in addition to removing the weapon from his pocket, to also spend time preparing him for the shot. Needless to say that such a means of self-defense has shown its effectiveness in very rare isolated cases. Not good for efficiency and went to the cartridge used in the revolver.
The desire to make the weapon compact enough led to the fact that the existing versions of ammunition were rejected by the designer and he had to invent a new cartridge that would be thin enough not to increase the dimensions of the drum, but at the same time powerful enough. The only option was to create ammunition in a thin long sleeve, which was done by the designer. The basis for the cartridge served as a cylindrical sleeve with a welt with a cap of the central battlefield. It contained a small charge of gunpowder, as well as the most different types of bullets. We should also note that there were ammunition equipped with sand or salt instead of a bullet, and the latter were even more effective than shell bullets, despite the fact that the salt charge did not penetrate deep into the body of the enemy and virtually excluded any serious injuries. True, the effectiveness of such ammunition was inversely proportional to the layers of clothing and the thickness of the attacker's skin. In terms of their effectiveness, ammunition turned out to be similar .22LR, that is, practically ineffective, although the wound channels were deeper when using shell bullets, but the bullet deformation was minimal. The standard bullet weight was 2,8 grams. The kinetic energy of the bullet did not reach even the 100 Joule. It is not difficult to estimate the effectiveness of this ammunition when shooting at a really angry dog weighing more than 40 a kilogram, but for shooting rat-like friends of smaller ones, the cartridge would be quite effective. Looking ahead, we can say that the ammunition was not suitable for protection from people. In general, the cartridge is unusual, interesting, but more cat useless for the purposes, back to the revolver.
The end result of the designer’s creativity, which made really very good weapon models, can be somewhat shocking and disgusting, however, the weapon fell in love with the consumer, which is, frankly, strange, however, then many strange things found public acceptance. Generally, looking at any revolver with a hidden trigger, there is a feeling that something is wrong with it, but looking at Velo-Dog Galanda, I would like to quote one famous character: “And now Brokeback! I said, HUMMER !!! ". Indeed, the hump over a hidden trigger does not seem to stand out, but somehow disfigures the weapon. Even an artistic decoration for which a lot of space appeared on the surface of the weapon does not save, although if you take the finishing as a whole, it is impossible not to note the skill of the people of that time. The picture is complemented by an overly long drum of weapons. If you take modern revolvers for rifle cartridges, and there are such, or revolvers just for long ammunition, everything looks albeit unusual, but harmonious, but in our case it does not. Perhaps the reason for this is a short barrel of a revolver, which was comparable in length to the length of the drum. The picture was completed by a folding trigger, which was formed under the frame of the weapon and was not fixed by anything except its tight turn. The pistol grip did not spoil the overall appearance, but it did not make it better, very often it was also decorated with artistic carvings. The barrel of the pistol was an octagonal section had on itself a rounded front sight, on the frame of the tide was made the rear sight. Under the barrel there was a ramrod on the axis of the drum by means of which the spent cartridges were pushed one by one. On the right side behind the drum there was a folding door through which the weapon was reloaded one by one. On the outer surface of the drum, in addition to the notches for fixing the drum during the shot, there were also notches to facilitate the weight of the weapon as a whole. Although a new weapon was unusual, it still looked quite tolerable, and when the weapon was worn in a bag or pocket with other objects for a long time, and even more regularly used, it very quickly lost its presentation and turned into a product resembling the work of an unresponssed milling machine. the fault is too soft metal, which, however, did not cause low reliability and durability in view of the weak cartridge.
Despite the unusual appearance from the point of view of its design, the weapon was quite ordinary. So the basis of the revolver was a self-cocking trigger mechanism without the possibility of pre-cocking the trigger, since the trigger was hidden in the frame of the weapon. This left an imprint on the convenience of handling the revolver, in particular, when reloading, it was necessary to turn the drum, which was possible only by pressing the trigger. Thus, in case you shot 1 once, it would not have been possible to remove the cartridge case and replace it with a new cartridge, without removing the drum completely from the scope of the weapon, or without shooting the remaining ammunition. Even in spite of the fact that in self-defense, quick reloading is not necessary, since there is no time for it, the subsequent fussing with the revolver obviously gave little pleasure to the gun owners. The choice of ammunition for the first shot was excluded, because the first one could make a “warning” shot with salt or sand, but it was impossible to immediately switch to bullet cartridges without first shooting. It is worth returning to the trigger design of the revolver. Since the trigger was fixed in its extreme positions only at the expense of its tight turn, with the passage of time it loosened up and could open on its own, respectively, an accidental pressing could occur, which would lead to a shot. One effort when pushing the trigger to the designer was not enough to ensure the safety of the handling of weapons, for this reason a safety device was inserted into the design of the pistol to block the course of the trigger. Thus, in order to make a shot a person must first expand the trigger, remove the weapon from the fuse and only after that shoot. I keep quiet about such trifles as remembering that you have a revolver, get it and aim it. In general, somehow does not fit with the fact that this revolver was supposed to be a means of self-defense cyclist. While pressing the trigger, the drum turns, cocking and cocking the trigger. In the rearmost position of the trigger the drum is fixed, and the trigger breaks down and hits the primer. In general, everything is simple to disgrace. Thus, you can make five shots in a row, then you have to remove the spent cartridges one by one with a ramrod and insert new cartridges in their place, which, of course, is difficult with self-defense.
The advantages of this revolver include its really low weight, which is only 300 grams. The dimensions are not so simple, on the one hand they are not so big, on the other hand they could be smaller. So the length of the weapon is 132 millimeters with a barrel length 47 millimeters. A drum with five chambers was quite enough to provide resistance to the attacker, of course, provided that normal ammunition was used, which, as we know, was not. The weapon really didn’t have any details with which to catch on the clothes, nevertheless, many wore this gun in original wallets, which further increased the time for preparing the weapon for firing. Also to the pluses can be attributed to the almost no return when shooting. It is also noted separately that the revolver was comfortable enough to hold, despite its low weight.
Weapons have much more minuses than pluses and they are more significant. First of all, it should be noted a very long time to bring a weapon into combat readiness, which excludes its use as a means of self-defense, at least by a person who has a self-preservation instinct and at least a spinal cord. Hoping that the weapon will use very, very naive. Even the streamlined shape of a revolver will not save - the fly is good and large. The revolver could have been much more useful if the shot could have been fired immediately, even if the ammunition had remained the same. In the end, the sound of a shot is the sound of a shot, his attacker may get scared, and just to attract attention when attacking is not superfluous. The cartridge used in the revolver is already his second main disadvantage. Well, to the secondary can be attributed to the appearance of weapons, soft metal and so on.
This revolver was used, oddly enough, almost according to its intended purpose, namely for self-defense. Or rather, not for self-defense, but for the self-complacency of the owner of this weapon, who seems to have been armed. The effectiveness of the use of this revolver against dogs that are more cats zero, with people is not so simple. Hitting the eye and the groin incapacitate a person is guaranteed, but try again. Despite this, such weapons have gained very great popularity and distribution. Just a year after the appearance of the Velo-Dog revolver, the market was oversaturated with similar models of weapons from different manufacturers. In honor of the fact that the development of Galan was the first, all these revolvers were christened by people “cyclists”, despite the fact that the weapon for the purposes that the designer had set himself during the design was useless. In general, you can look at such samples either with a smile or with contempt, but they were spread and gave impetus to the creation of the same small pistols, for similar absolutely not effective cartridges in the future.
Frankly speaking, in my opinion, the designer saw the problem where it really is not. So, apparently, being keen on cycling, Galán decided to take care of cyclists who are not loved by man’s friends. For some reason, the revolvers that were always ready for a shot did not suit the gunsmith at that time and he decided to create his own lightweight and compact sample means of self-defense from human friends. The main goals that the designer had set for himself were: compact dimensions, the absence of protruding parts for which clothes can catch on, meager weight and a weak cartridge (about the cartridge will be slightly lower) apparently that it would not be easy to shoot dogs, but that the animal would later another couple of hours tormented. With all due respect to the gunsmith, for me personally, such a weapon seems barbaric in its pure form, if a dog walks without a leash, then it is necessary to shoot not at the dog, but at its owner. Stray dogs a separate conversation. But back to the weapon. Interestingly, the first designer's revolver was not so unusual. Of course the weapon was not quite the usual form, but at least it had a safety bracket. The trigger of the revolver was hidden by the not so cute “hump”. The revolver itself was very small in size and weight. Further, the desire to remove all the protruding parts and reduce the weight with dimensions pushed the designer to a not entirely deliberate decision. The weapon lost its guard, and also received a folding trigger. Thus, the revolver became a practically useless piece of iron, since during the attack of the dog it was necessary, in addition to removing the weapon from his pocket, to also spend time preparing him for the shot. Needless to say that such a means of self-defense has shown its effectiveness in very rare isolated cases. Not good for efficiency and went to the cartridge used in the revolver.
The desire to make the weapon compact enough led to the fact that the existing versions of ammunition were rejected by the designer and he had to invent a new cartridge that would be thin enough not to increase the dimensions of the drum, but at the same time powerful enough. The only option was to create ammunition in a thin long sleeve, which was done by the designer. The basis for the cartridge served as a cylindrical sleeve with a welt with a cap of the central battlefield. It contained a small charge of gunpowder, as well as the most different types of bullets. We should also note that there were ammunition equipped with sand or salt instead of a bullet, and the latter were even more effective than shell bullets, despite the fact that the salt charge did not penetrate deep into the body of the enemy and virtually excluded any serious injuries. True, the effectiveness of such ammunition was inversely proportional to the layers of clothing and the thickness of the attacker's skin. In terms of their effectiveness, ammunition turned out to be similar .22LR, that is, practically ineffective, although the wound channels were deeper when using shell bullets, but the bullet deformation was minimal. The standard bullet weight was 2,8 grams. The kinetic energy of the bullet did not reach even the 100 Joule. It is not difficult to estimate the effectiveness of this ammunition when shooting at a really angry dog weighing more than 40 a kilogram, but for shooting rat-like friends of smaller ones, the cartridge would be quite effective. Looking ahead, we can say that the ammunition was not suitable for protection from people. In general, the cartridge is unusual, interesting, but more cat useless for the purposes, back to the revolver.
The end result of the designer’s creativity, which made really very good weapon models, can be somewhat shocking and disgusting, however, the weapon fell in love with the consumer, which is, frankly, strange, however, then many strange things found public acceptance. Generally, looking at any revolver with a hidden trigger, there is a feeling that something is wrong with it, but looking at Velo-Dog Galanda, I would like to quote one famous character: “And now Brokeback! I said, HUMMER !!! ". Indeed, the hump over a hidden trigger does not seem to stand out, but somehow disfigures the weapon. Even an artistic decoration for which a lot of space appeared on the surface of the weapon does not save, although if you take the finishing as a whole, it is impossible not to note the skill of the people of that time. The picture is complemented by an overly long drum of weapons. If you take modern revolvers for rifle cartridges, and there are such, or revolvers just for long ammunition, everything looks albeit unusual, but harmonious, but in our case it does not. Perhaps the reason for this is a short barrel of a revolver, which was comparable in length to the length of the drum. The picture was completed by a folding trigger, which was formed under the frame of the weapon and was not fixed by anything except its tight turn. The pistol grip did not spoil the overall appearance, but it did not make it better, very often it was also decorated with artistic carvings. The barrel of the pistol was an octagonal section had on itself a rounded front sight, on the frame of the tide was made the rear sight. Under the barrel there was a ramrod on the axis of the drum by means of which the spent cartridges were pushed one by one. On the right side behind the drum there was a folding door through which the weapon was reloaded one by one. On the outer surface of the drum, in addition to the notches for fixing the drum during the shot, there were also notches to facilitate the weight of the weapon as a whole. Although a new weapon was unusual, it still looked quite tolerable, and when the weapon was worn in a bag or pocket with other objects for a long time, and even more regularly used, it very quickly lost its presentation and turned into a product resembling the work of an unresponssed milling machine. the fault is too soft metal, which, however, did not cause low reliability and durability in view of the weak cartridge. 
Despite the unusual appearance from the point of view of its design, the weapon was quite ordinary. So the basis of the revolver was a self-cocking trigger mechanism without the possibility of pre-cocking the trigger, since the trigger was hidden in the frame of the weapon. This left an imprint on the convenience of handling the revolver, in particular, when reloading, it was necessary to turn the drum, which was possible only by pressing the trigger. Thus, in case you shot 1 once, it would not have been possible to remove the cartridge case and replace it with a new cartridge, without removing the drum completely from the scope of the weapon, or without shooting the remaining ammunition. Even in spite of the fact that in self-defense, quick reloading is not necessary, since there is no time for it, the subsequent fussing with the revolver obviously gave little pleasure to the gun owners. The choice of ammunition for the first shot was excluded, because the first one could make a “warning” shot with salt or sand, but it was impossible to immediately switch to bullet cartridges without first shooting. It is worth returning to the trigger design of the revolver. Since the trigger was fixed in its extreme positions only at the expense of its tight turn, with the passage of time it loosened up and could open on its own, respectively, an accidental pressing could occur, which would lead to a shot. One effort when pushing the trigger to the designer was not enough to ensure the safety of the handling of weapons, for this reason a safety device was inserted into the design of the pistol to block the course of the trigger. Thus, in order to make a shot a person must first expand the trigger, remove the weapon from the fuse and only after that shoot. I keep quiet about such trifles as remembering that you have a revolver, get it and aim it. In general, somehow does not fit with the fact that this revolver was supposed to be a means of self-defense cyclist. While pressing the trigger, the drum turns, cocking and cocking the trigger. In the rearmost position of the trigger the drum is fixed, and the trigger breaks down and hits the primer. In general, everything is simple to disgrace. Thus, you can make five shots in a row, then you have to remove the spent cartridges one by one with a ramrod and insert new cartridges in their place, which, of course, is difficult with self-defense. The advantages of this revolver include its really low weight, which is only 300 grams. The dimensions are not so simple, on the one hand they are not so big, on the other hand they could be smaller. So the length of the weapon is 132 millimeters with a barrel length 47 millimeters. A drum with five chambers was quite enough to provide resistance to the attacker, of course, provided that normal ammunition was used, which, as we know, was not. The weapon really didn’t have any details with which to catch on the clothes, nevertheless, many wore this gun in original wallets, which further increased the time for preparing the weapon for firing. Also to the pluses can be attributed to the almost no return when shooting. It is also noted separately that the revolver was comfortable enough to hold, despite its low weight.Weapons have much more minuses than pluses and they are more significant. First of all, it should be noted a very long time to bring a weapon into combat readiness, which excludes its use as a means of self-defense, at least by a person who has a self-preservation instinct and at least a spinal cord. Hoping that the weapon will use very, very naive. Even the streamlined shape of a revolver will not save - the fly is good and large. The revolver could have been much more useful if the shot could have been fired immediately, even if the ammunition had remained the same. In the end, the sound of a shot is the sound of a shot, his attacker may get scared, and just to attract attention when attacking is not superfluous. The cartridge used in the revolver is already his second main disadvantage. Well, to the secondary can be attributed to the appearance of weapons, soft metal and so on.
This revolver was used, oddly enough, almost according to its intended purpose, namely for self-defense. Or rather, not for self-defense, but for the self-complacency of the owner of this weapon, who seems to have been armed. The effectiveness of the use of this revolver against dogs that are more cats zero, with people is not so simple. Hitting the eye and the groin incapacitate a person is guaranteed, but try again. Despite this, such weapons have gained very great popularity and distribution. Just a year after the appearance of the Velo-Dog revolver, the market was oversaturated with similar models of weapons from different manufacturers. In honor of the fact that the development of Galan was the first, all these revolvers were christened by people “cyclists”, despite the fact that the weapon for the purposes that the designer had set himself during the design was useless. In general, you can look at such samples either with a smile or with contempt, but they were spread and gave impetus to the creation of the same small pistols, for similar absolutely not effective cartridges in the future.
Information