Charles Beyle's Six Shotgun
In the Museum of the Prefecture of the Police of Paris is stored an amazing exhibit. This is one of those instances of pistols, looking at which you never cease to wonder what different directions designers went in to ensure not only multiply charged, but also compactness weapons.
Quite a lot of these weapons appeared at the end of 19 - the beginning of the 20 century, when gunsmiths were looking for ways to secure market demand for reliable and effective self-defense weapons.
Charles Bayle, commodity broker, 26 July 1879 received the first French patent number 131971 for a multi-shot pistol. The weapon was pompously described as Beyle’s pocket machine gun.
The gun of Charles Beyle consisted of a brass frame in which the trigger mechanism and the barrel unit were fixed.
The frame of the pistol was hollow, so that parts of the firing mechanism were visible and did not protrude beyond the frame dimensions. That is what provided the minimum thickness of the weapon and the ability to covertly carry it in a pocket of clothing or luggage.
The barrel unit was a rectangular metal plate in which 6 channels of barrels with chamber were machined. The barrel unit is hinged in the frame of the gun and in the combat position is held from rotation by a special spring-loaded lock located in the lower part of the frame.
On the left side of the frame there is a marking in the form of an alphabetic text “BTE SGDGPS”, as well as an image of a rhombus.
In the cavity of the handle is placed ramrod-extractor screwed into the bottom of the threaded hole of the frame. On the bottom of the gun is the serial number "265" and the marking in the form of the letter "D" with an asterisk.
The most original in Charles Beyle’s pistol was the firing mechanism, consisting of a trigger and blocks of percussion mounted on the axle. During the reciprocating movement of the trigger, its lever through the ratchet rotated the camshaft on which the impactors are fixed.
Drummers located opposite each chamber of the barrel unit, alternately cocked during rotation of the camshaft. When the drummer retreats to the extreme rear position, he strips off the sear (a special notch) and strikes the primer under the action of the coil spring. When the trigger is pressed again, the camshaft rotates further, and the next drummer hits the primer of the next cartridge. So consistently, the 6 shots occurred.
To remove the cartridge cases and equipment, the barrel unit turned on its hinge. The pistol of Charles Beyle is designed for firing 5 caliber mm central ignition cartridges (5 mm PC French), which were fairly cheap and fairly common in France and Belgium.
The safety of Charles Beyle’s pistol was ensured by the position of the camshaft. When the position when all the cams are perpendicular to the axis of the channels of the barrel unit, the weapon can be stored in your pocket without fear of accidental firing.
The absence of the side plates of the frame made it possible to visually control the position of the parts of the firing mechanism, clean and lubricate the weapon and reduced the size and weight of the pistol. Charles Beyle’s gun had a total thickness of 9 mm, a total length of 145 mm, a height of 65 mm and a weight of 295 grams.
On the pistol with the 108 serial number, not only the frame, but also the block of barrels is made of brass. The surface of brass is nickel plated.
Later, Beyle proposed a slightly modified version of the pistol, in which the barrel unit was folded down on the axis, and the trigger mechanism was located above the trigger. 3 August 1880, the designer received another patent number 138093 for the second version of the gun, which had more traditional features. The receiver unit has become a two-row 4 chamber in each row. The trigger mechanism and the handle also changed somewhat.
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