More weird revolvers

[Jim Watson]

Looking back, it probably wouldn’t have been too much greater cost-wise to make entire unfluted cylinders swap out like Ruger did with the Single six rather than try to jimmy up a multi-caliber option like this.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/.22_Remington_Jet

They did. Except they are fluted. I don't know how much the extra complete LR cylinder cost, but they are out there. Not many of them, though.
If you had a sack full of them you could rechamber to some more conventional .22s; like Hornet and Bee.

 

[Riomouse911]

They did. Except they are fluted. I don't know how much the extra complete LR cylinder cost, but they are out there. Not many of them, though.
If you had a sack full of them you could rechamber to some more conventional .22s; like Hornet and Bee.

I’ve seen a few with spare factory-made crane and cylinders in .22 LR and a few others in .22 WMR, but they seemed to be special ordered from S&W rather than made as a regular production set like the Single Six came from Ruger.

I think the Hornet and Bee may be too long for the K-frame cylinders... and may also have the same binding problem since they’re also really tapered cases. (I know Taurus made Raging Hornets, I don’t know if those had the same issues. If someone has, or had, one please weigh in. )

.22 K-Hornet would probably work if the round would fit in the cylinder .

Stay safe.

 

[Riomouse911]

Looking at the Bee more it probably would’ve worked better since it was spawned from a cartridge used in some single and double action revolvers in the .32-20...

Still has a pretty sloping shoulder though...

Stay safe

 

[jmace57]

Webley Fosbery semi-auto revolver.

 

[Gordon]

My contribution is one that had to be a huge lemon during R&D, but big egos at the top made it happen anyway... the S&W .22 Jet model 53.

Nothing about the shape of the .300 H&H inspired shoulder of the .22 Jet ammo looks like it would have ever remain in place during firing in a firearm with a revolving chamber. That long, sloping case looks like it’s backing up when it is just standing still. I can almost guarantee that the prototypes all bound up when the cases set back against the recoil shield like they did religiously in the production guns sent to customers, yet I’ll opine that the desire to bring out “the fastest revolver in history” led S&W executive folks to look the other way and manufacture and market a true turkey.

Even the machined inserts to fire rimfire ammo in this gun are weird, I can see folks losing or damaging them all the time just trying to reload it. Once you are short of six, it becomes semi-useless... until they’re all gone (Then it is completely useless!)

Looking back, it probably wouldn’t have been too much greater cost-wise to make entire unfluted cylinders swap out like Ruger did with the Single six rather than try to jimmy up a multi-caliber option like this.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/.22_Remington_Jet

Stay safe.

Actually they are pretty cool, if case and cylinder kept dri , oil free, the cases extract like a .357 and there is no binding of rotation ect. I shot this one happily for years and another with 8 3/8 barrel before that. I know a rancher that swears by his 6" as an all around cattle ranch working pistol (with no scope ) ...

 

[Jim Watson]

I’ve seen a few with spare factory-made crane and cylinders in .22 LR and a few others in .22 WMR, but they seemed to be special ordered from S&W rather than made as a regular production set like the Single Six came from Ruger.

I think the Hornet and Bee may be too long for the K-frame cylinders... and may also have the same binding problem since they’re also really tapered cases. (I know Taurus made Raging Hornets, I don’t know if those had the same issues. If someone has, or had, one please weigh in. )

.22 K-Hornet would probably work if the round would fit in the cylinder .

Stay safe.

A LR cylinder was $33 in 1972 "factory installed and fitted."

The .22 Harvey Kay Chuk was shortened to fit a K22. The Magnum length M53 might accept full length Hornet.

There is a K .218 Bee recently posted on the S&W board. I think he has to use blunt bullets.

 

[silvermane_1]

A LeMat revolver, it's a BP revolver and a shotgun.

 

[Riomouse911]

A LR cylinder was $33 in 1972 "factory installed and fitted."

The .22 Harvey Kay Chuk was shortened to fit a K22. The Magnum length M53 might accept full length Hornet.

There is a K .218 Bee recently posted on the S&W board. I think he has to use blunt bullets.

Roughly a $200 premium in 2020 dollars... pricy, but doable.

Stay safe.

 

[KYamateur]

Phillips and Rogers made the Medusa several years ago. It was kind of like a survivalist revolver because it could fire any caliber between .380 and 357 if I remember correctly. I think Colt bought the patent and never did anything with it because they quit manufacturing revolvers soon after.

 

[silvermane_1]

Phillips and Rogers made the Medusa several years ago. It was kind of like a survivalist revolver because it could fire any caliber between .380 and 357 if I remember correctly. I think Colt bought the patent and never did anything with it because they quit manufacturing revolvers soon after.

It was Ruger that bought the patent IIRC.

 

[Dudemeister]

I was kinda hoping we would talk about strange, out of the ordinary revolvers that either look strange or have strange and unconventional mechanisms, not just conventional revolvers that take multiple or oddball calibers.

Anyway, I found more information on the 3 barreled, 18 shot marvel that @Twiki357 posted earlier in the thread. It may have been a one-off, and was called the Pistola Con Caricato:
https://sofrep.com/gear/weird-gun-wednesday-the-pistola-con-caricato-revolver/

 

[Dudemeister]

The more I look for weird revolvers, the more I come across Russian designs. These guys had some really weird ideas. Here is another weird one. The OTS-38 revolver.

The gun is described as a "silent firearm" designed for covert ops, it fires a 7.62 SP-4 cartridge, fires from the bottom cylinder and the cylinder swings out, not on a conventional crane but on a side pivot. I'll post more as I find more information.

 

[Jim Watson]

It was Ruger that bought the (Medusa) patent IIRC.

No, it really was Colt. They even advertised the "Survivor" revolver of the type but never had any to sell.

I was kinda hoping we would talk about strange, out of the ordinary revolvers that either look strange or have strange and unconventional mechanisms, not just conventional revolvers that take multiple or oddball calibers.

Well, I think the Medusa has an "unconventional mechanism" and the other angles on multi-caliber guns are interesting.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

That looks like 18 rounds. Does it have independent hammers, or does it fire 3 at a time?

Howdy

I suspect the firing pin could be moved to fire different chambers.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

My entry in the Weird Revolver Category is this Savage North Navy percussion revolver.

To fire it you first pulled the lower trigger, the one with the ring, with your middle finger. This cocked the hammer and rotated the cylinder. Then you pulled the upper trigger with your regular trigger finger to fire it.






Not really all that weird, but certainly unusual were the Merwin Hulbert revolvers. This one is a Pocket Army, chambered for 44-40. Don't let the term 'Pocket' fool you, these revolvers were just as big as a Colt.






To empty it you pushed the knob in front of the trigger guard back, grabbed the barrel and cylinder, rotated them 90 degrees and pulled them forward. The empties were supposed to all fall out, but sometimes a couple needed to be flicked out with a finger.








To disassemble the barrel and cylinder you pushed the lever on the side of the barrel in and pulled the barrel and cylinder off.








Merwin Hulberts could not be reloaded while open, they had to be closed up and reloaded through a side gate, not much different than a Colt.






Merwin Hulberts came in many sizes and variations. This one is a double action, five shot 38. Notice the folding hammer spur.






They worked the same as the bigger ones.

 

[Dudemeister]

Alright, I think I got that one beat:

Meet the Collier 2nd Model Flintlock revolver.





This thing was patented in 1818, and manufactured in London in 1820, when Samuel Colt was just 4 years old. This is a 5 shot revolver that had a hand rotated cylinder. The priming powder was contained in a magazine that was integrated in the frame. Making it a relatively simple to operate: Rotate Cylinder > Cock Hammer/Flint > Fire > Repeat. This was probably the most advanced firearm until the proper percussion revolvers came into existence.

 

[Dudemeister]

My entry in the Weird Revolver Category is this Savage North Navy percussion revolver.

To fire it you first pulled the lower trigger, the one with the ring, with your middle finger. This cocked the hammer and rotated the cylinder. Then you pulled the upper trigger with your regular trigger finger to fire it.

View attachment 935064




Not really all that weird, but certainly unusual were the Merwin Hulbert revolvers. This one is a Pocket Army, chambered for 44-40. Don't let the term 'Pocket' fool you, these revolvers were just as big as a Colt.

View attachment 935065




To empty it you pushed the knob in front of the trigger guard back, grabbed the barrel and cylinder, rotated them 90 degrees and pulled them forward. The empties were supposed to all fall out, but sometimes a couple needed to be flicked out with a finger.

View attachment 935066

View attachment 935067




To disassemble the barrel and cylinder you pushed the lever on the side of the barrel in and pulled the barrel and cylinder off.

View attachment 935068

View attachment 935069




Merwin Hulberts could not be reloaded while open, they had to be closed up and reloaded through a side gate, not much different than a Colt.

View attachment 935070




Merwin Hulberts came in many sizes and variations. This one is a double action, five shot 38. Notice the folding hammer spur.

View attachment 935071




They worked the same as the bigger ones.

View attachment 935072


View attachment 935073

I love the idea of that folding hammer spur. I wonder why others don't copy or improve on that idea?

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

I love the idea of that folding hammer spur. I wonder why others don't copy or improve on that idea?

Because Merwin Hulbert patented it.







Merwin Hulbert used folding hammer spurs on several of their designs, I have seen photos of a folding hammer on some of their large frame revolvers too.

Merwin Hulbert revolvers were actually manufactured by Hopkins and Allen. I have seen Hopkins and Allen revolvers with folding hammers too.

 

[Jim Watson]

Alright, I think I got that one beat:

Meet the Collier 2nd Model Flintlock revolver.

[The priming powder was contained in a magazine that was integrated in the frame. Making it a relatively simple to operate: Rotate Cylinder > Cock Hammer/Flint > Fire > Repeat..

What's all the doodadery on the frizzen? I always thought that was the priming powder magazine.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

This thing was patented in 1818, and manufactured in London in 1820, when Samuel Colt was just 4 years old. This is a 5 shot revolver that had a hand rotated cylinder. The priming powder was contained in a magazine that was integrated in the frame. Making it a relatively simple to operate: Rotate Cylinder > Cock Hammer/Flint > Fire > Repeat. This was probably the most advanced firearm until the proper percussion revolvers came into existence.

As a young man, Sam Colt got in considerable trouble. When he was 15 he began working in his father's textile plant in Ware Massachusetts. He had access to tools and materials and was soon experimenting with explosives and pyrotechnics. He was sent to boarding school a year later and continued his experiments with explosives. In 1830 there was a fire at the school, probably caused by young Sam's experiments. His father sent him off to sea to learn to be a sailor. This gave birth to the legend, or myth, that young Sam dreamed up the mechanism for a revolver by watching the ratchet and pawl mechanism of the capstan. Just as likely, he may have seen one of Collier's revolvers while ashore in India. What ever the case, Colt improved on the idea, incorporating a ratchet and pawl to rotate the cylinder every time the hammer was cocked.

Here is a link to an excellent video about Collier Flintlock Revolvers by Ian McCollum in his Forgotten Weapons series.

 

[Jim Watson]

Don't forget the world renowned Dr Coult's Nitrous Oxide Exhilarating Gas Demonstrations.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Don't forget the world renowned Dr Coult's Nitrous Oxide Exhilarating Gas Demonstrations.

Yup. Young Sam Colt was a bit of a con artist. Sam's father had money. He owned a mill in Ware Mass. Dad gave young Sam a job in the mill, then sent him to boarding school, then when he almost burned down the school Dad secured him a berth on a ship, to learn to be a sailor. Sam returned to the states in 1832 and resumed working for Dad. During this time Dad funded Sam's efforts to design new firearms. One blew up, the other worked fairly well.

But Dad was done financing Sam's firearms inventions, so young Sam went on tour as "The Celebrated Dr. Coult of New-York, London and Calcutta". Remember, he got the idea for his revolver when sailing to India. Anyway, he was pretty much of a snake oil salesman, bringing unsuspecting members of the audience to the stage and having them inhale Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas). Once they were under he got them to perform ridiculous acts, pretty much like a modern hypnotist. The shows were very successful and helped finance his later development of revolvers.

 

[indy1919a4]

Would be interesting to see how well it worked, 1860s Mershon and Hollingsworth self cocking revolver.

https://www.guns.com/news/2013/04/25/mershon-and-hollingsworth-self-cocking-revolver

 

[Dudemeister]

As a young man, Sam Colt got in considerable trouble. When he was 15 he began working in his father's textile plant in Ware Massachusetts. He had access to tools and materials and was soon experimenting with explosives and pyrotechnics. He was sent to boarding school a year later and continued his experiments with explosives. In 1830 there was a fire at the school, probably caused by young Sam's experiments. His father sent him off to sea to learn to be a sailor. This gave birth to the legend, or myth, that young Sam dreamed up the mechanism for a revolver by watching the ratchet and pawl mechanism of the capstan. Just as likely, he may have seen one of Collier's revolvers while ashore in India. What ever the case, Colt improved on the idea, incorporating a ratchet and pawl to rotate the cylinder every time the hammer was cocked.

Here is a link to an excellent video about Collier Flintlock Revolvers by Ian McCollum in his Forgotten Weapons series.

Thanks for the link. I was wondering how the cylinder indexed to the barrel, and this explains the entire workings of these guns.

Very cool guns, except they're just slightly out of my price range @ $40-50K.

 

[Dudemeister]

What's all the doodadery on the frizzen? I always thought that was the priming powder magazine.

The frizzen has linkage that rotates an internal mechanism which dispenses a metered amount of priming powder. It's a frizzen and a powder drop all in one.

Watch the video posted by Driftwood. It explains everything.