Lever action Pistol

Cool post, never seen that before.

Here's more on the Volcanic -

Volcanic rifle and pistol

My curiosity got the better of me, so I looked it up. Apparently it was a bullet with a hollow base, containing the powder charge, sealed with a primer. The advantages are similar to modern cartridge ammunition, namely waterproof and rapid fire.

The disadvantages were really low power and a tendency for multiple rounds to go off at one time. Also, there was no means of extraction, so a misfired round had to be pounded out with a rod...

Not really a rocket, just a bullet with a hollow base.

Thank you Smith & Wesson...


Jim

If memory serves correctly, this action was the basis of the Henry Rifle

"a tendency for multiple rounds to go off at one time."

Oh gosh, take your chances with the pistol or grab a hefty rock?

I believe this predated "retention holsters".

If your assailant took your pistol, you were fortunate. Just back up a few paces so you don't get hit by the pieces...

That "rocket ball" ammo just had to be about the most underpowered stuff ever. Think along the lines of a Minie' ball or a Foster slug, with the hollow being the whole area available for powder AND primer. Don't forget, this would've been black powder filling that little space. Then chop off some performance for leakage out the back because there's not going to be a cartridge case obturating and I'm pretty sure that bolt isn't gonna give a gas-tight seal... Although I suppose you could kind of add points for having the shortest possible ammo to allow the maximum possible capacity in that short mag tube.
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A few years ago there was an outfit out in Wyoming, making a .22LR pistol that was laid out like the Volcanic, although it had a few mods to get it to work as a cartridge gun. Guy I work with used to gunsmith and was associated in some capacity with the Mfg, goes out that way to hunt prairie dogs and knock around the old stomping grounds a couple of times a year. He brought back one from one of his visits that didn't pass QC for some reason so he'd got it cheap and spent a few weeks working it over and tweaking it. I've shot the thing. Not nearly as cool in operation as first impressions would make you think; that darned lever layout requires two hands and moving all over the gun to work it. Only held 7, to boot, if memory serves.

As I recall, the original intent of Hunt and Jennings was to use mercury fulminate priming compound as the propellant, for which a hollowbased bullet would have provided enough room. That sure didn't work, so they had to settle for the little bit of gunpowder that would fit the space available.

Back then the anemic power of the round was the least of the person's problems once shot. Infections killed masses of people, and a wounded person would require the care of so many before his lingering death happened.

Back in the time, I suspect getting shot with the little .31 caliber round was almost a death sentence for many.

Heck, even today with our modern medical advances to fight infections, I doubt there's a one of us who would want to be shot by one.

T.

On its own merits the volcanic pistol seems like a waste of time and it probably was.
But it's important to remember that it was a stepping stone to something a whole lot better. Without this, your grand-daddy's Winchester or your Marlin lever-gun may have never come to pass.
This is the great-grandfather of almost all lever-guns (the notable exception being the Spencer). All ideas have to start somewhere.

Super cool, first gun to really use modern ammo.

Y'know, there were Volcanic RIFLES, too, which would be a better lead-in to the lever rifles. For that matter, I believe it was the Jennings (Hunt?) (forgive me if I get any of these names or details wrong; I'm still at the in-laws for the holidays and don't have any of my usual sources to look things up in...) that was the precursor to the Volcanics.

Personally, I think of the Pauly stuff as being the first real attempt at modern ammo. Used cartridge cases that were of the same general layout as what's used nowadays. Only thing was, he was ahead of his time to the extent of not having self-contained primers (again, can't remember exactly, but IIRC his design even pre-dated percussion CAPS), so went with packing loose fulminate into the flash hole of the case... But there you have reloadable, self-contained centerfire (of a sort) metallic cartridges from something like 1805.

first gun to really use modern ammo.

Click to expand...

Not quite; I believe the Dreyse needle gun would take that claim.