Overview. Loading and unloading

A revolver is a multishot firearm, usually a handgun, in which the rounds are held in a revolving cylinder that rotates to fire them through a single barrel.

Invention and early patents

Snaphaunce revolvers with the most important features of the type single fixed barrel, automatic cylinder rotation, and positive cylinder alignment were made in the late 17th century. The earliest known specimen, now in the Tower of London armories, is dated about 1680 and attributed to John Dafte of London.

Elisha Collier patented a flintlock revolver in Britain in 1818, and significant numbers were being produced in London by 1822. The origination of this invention is in doubt, as similar designs were patented in the same year by Artemus Wheeler in the United States and by Cornelius Coolidge in France.

Samuel Colt received a British patent for his revolver in 1835 and an American patent (number 138) on February 25, 1836 for a Revolving gun, and made the first production model on March 5 of that year.

Another revolver patent was issued to Samuel Colt on August 29, 1839. The February 25, 1836 patent was then reissued as U. S. Patent RE00124 entitled Revolving gun to Samuel Colt on October 24, 1848. This was followed by U. S. Patent 0007613 on September 3, 1850 for a Revolver, and by U. S. Patent 0007629 on September 10, 1850 for a Revolver.

Overview

Revolver-type weapons are part of the long development of making better multi-shot weapons. They were partly an attempt to improve on pepper-box type weapons, which used a revolving cylinder with one set of firing mechanisms, but which had multiple barrels as well. Firing through a single barrel saved the expense and weight of having the multiple barrels of the Pepper-box. While many revolving chamber designs were tried, the first widely successful revolvers were based on mechanisms patented by Samuel Colt. It is believed that Samuel Colt came up with the idea for the revolver while at sea, inspired by the capstan winch, which had a ratchet and pawl mechanism on it, a version of which was used in his guns to rotate the cylinder. Revolvers have remained popular to the present day in many areas, although they have largely been supplanted by magazine-fed semi-automatic pistols such as the Colt M1911, especially in circumstances where reload time and higher cartridge capacity is deemed important.

A revolver works by having several firing chambers arranged in a circle in a cylindrical block that are brought into alignment with the firing mechanism and barrel one at a time. A single action revolver requires the hammer to be pulled back by hand before each shot. In contrast, in a double action revolver, squeezing the trigger can pull back the hammer to cock the gun as well as serving to release the hammer. Most modern double action revolvers can also be fired in single action mode as well, which serves to improve the practical accuracy by reducing the force and distance required to pull the trigger. Because the effort required to cock the hammer is part of the firing action in a double action revolver, they can generally be fired faster than a single action, but at the cost of reduced accuracy in the hands of most shooters.

Most commonly, such guns have a five- or six-shot capacity (hence the other name Six Shooter); however, some revolvers have up to a 10-shot capacity (this often depends on the caliber, though different companies produce revolvers in the same calibers with different capacities, due to other design differences), and each chamber has to be reloaded manually. This makes the procedure of reloading such a weapon slow (even with the help of such devices as speedloaders). The alternatives are a replaceable cylinder, a speedloader (manufactured by HKS and Safariland) which can reload all chambers at once, or a moon clip that holds a full load (or even half of one in the case of a half-moon clip) of ammunition and that is inserted along with the ammunition. Additionally, Bianchi manufactures a product known as a " speedstrip". Speedstrips cannot reload a completely empty revolver as rapidly as a speedloader, but are less expensive, flatter, and more flexible when it comes to partial reloads.

Compared to autoloading handguns, a revolver is often simpler to operate (despite often being more mechanically complex) and may have greater reliability (depending on factors such as firmness of grip, ammunition used, and degree of maintenance and lubrication provided to the firearm). For example, should a semiautomatic pistol fail to fire, clearing the chamber requires manually cycling the action to remove the errant round, as cycling the action normally depends on the energy of a cartridge firing. With a revolver, this is not necessary as none of the energy for cycling the revolver comes from the firing of the cartridge, but is supplied by the user either through cocking the hammer or, in a double action design, by just squeezing the trigger.

Over the long period of development of the revolver, many calibers have been used. Some of these have proved more durable during periods of standardization and some have entered general public awareness. Among these are the. 22 rimfire, a popular target shooting caliber; . 38 Special and. 357 Magnum, known for police use; the. 44 Magnum, famous from Clint Eastwood's " Dirty Harry" films; and the. 45 Long Colt, used in the Colt revolver of the " Wild West". Introduced in 2003, the Smith & Wesson Model 500 is the most powerful production revolver ever created, using the. 500 S& W round.

The LeMat Revolver, an unusual 9-shot revolver from the Civil War era with 8 revolving chambers firing bullets and a center barrel firing shot.

As revolvers are of a 19th-century design, it is not surprising that semi-automatic pistols have overtaken them in military and law enforcement applications. Their often lower ammunition capacities and relatively longer reload times compared to autoloading pistols are the main reasons for the switchover that occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. Additionally, the flat profile of semi-automatics make them more suitable for concealed carry. Revolvers still remain popular in the role of back-up (and possibly off-duty) guns among American law enforcement officers and security guards. Also, revolvers are still common in the American private sector as defensive and sporting\hunting weapons.

Famous police and military revolvers include the Webley, the Colt Single Action Army, the Smith & Wesson Model 29, the Smith & Wesson Model 10, and the Smith & Wesson 1917.

Revolver technology does live on in other weapons used by the military. Some autocannons and grenade launchers use mechanisms similar to revolvers, and some riot shotguns use spring loaded cylinders holding up to 12 rounds.

Loading and unloading

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