Revolver - Forgotten Weapons

Swiss 1882 Ordnance Revolver (Shooting)

December 20, 2016 Ian McCollum 20

The Swiss military dabbled in revolvers with their rimfire 1872 model (about 900 made) and the followup 1878 centerfire version (5500-6000 made), but their first large-scale service revolver was the Model 1882, designed by Colonel […]

Shooting the 1883 Reichsrevolver (Video)

December 16, 2016 Ian McCollum 44

The 1883 Reichsrevolver is not the weapon most people would expect to see in German service – it was a decidely obsolete weapon from the moment of its adoption. The initial 1879 model was actually […]

Colt “Brevete” Copy Overview: Legal, Illegal, and Post-Legal (Video)

November 27, 2016 Ian McCollum 24

When you think about early revolver patent infringement, the name that probably comes to mind is Rollin White. But Sam Colt had more than his share of infringement to deal with as well! Colt’s most […]

Colt Prototype “Zig-Zag” Root Revolvers (Video)

November 24, 2016 Ian McCollum 9

In the White: https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/69/1132 Blued: https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/69/1133 The 1855 “Root” pocket revolver was a reasonably successful design for the Colt company, although it was not the best mechanical design. The side hammer design used the cylinder […]

Pritchard Bayonet for the Webley Revolver (Video)

November 23, 2016 Ian McCollum 18

The Pritchard bayonet for the Webley revolver is one of the more photogenic and less truly practical weapons to come out of the Great War. Designed by one Captain Pritchard after he spent a year […]

Colt Sidehammer “Root” Dragoon Prototype (Video)

November 17, 2016 Ian McCollum 22

During the development of the 1860 Army revolver, Colt did consider mechanical options other than simply scaling up the 1851 Navy pattern. One of these, as evidenced by this Colt prototype, was an enlarged version […]

Collier Flintlock Revolvers (Video)

November 9, 2016 Ian McCollum 23

Elisha Collier is probably the best-known name in flintlock revolvers – to the extent that any flintlock revolvers are well known. Because of the great cost and required skill to manufacture a functional repeating flintlock […]

Confederate Baby LeMat

October 1, 2016 Ian McCollum 30

One of the rarest models of LeMat grapeshot revolver is this, the “Baby” LeMat. This is a substantially smaller gun than the normal LeMat, although it retains a 9-shot cylinder and a central barrel. In […]

Frankenau Purse Gun

September 15, 2016 Ian McCollum 15

Patented in 1876 in both the US and UK as well as Germany, the Frankenau purse gun was a very small 5-shot, 5mm pinfire revolver hidden inside what appeared to be a normal small coin […]

RIA: Danish 1865/97 Pinfire Conversion Revolver (Video)

September 6, 2016 Ian McCollum 34

The Danish artillery was an early adopter of metallic-case handguns, taking on this pinfire 6-shot solid-frame revolver in 1865 – when most of the world was still using percussion firearms. The thousand guns made served […]