A
revolver is a repeating
firearm that has a
cylinder containing multiple
chambers and at least one
barrel for firing. As the user cocks the
hammer, the cylinder revolves to align the
next chamber and round with the hammer and barrel, which gives this
type of firearm its name. In modern revolvers, the revolving
cylinder typically chambers 5 or 6
rounds, but some models hold 10 rounds
or more. Revolvers are most often
handguns,
but other weapons may also have the design of a revolver. These
include some models of
grenade
launchers,
shotguns, and some
rifles.
Design
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. In contrast, other
repeating firearms, such as lever-action, pump-action, and
semi-automatic, have a single firing chamber and a mechanism to
load and extract cartridges into it.
A single action revolver requires the hammer to be pulled back by
hand before each shot, which also revolves the cylinder. This
leaves the trigger with just one "single action" left to perform -
releasing the hammer to fire the shot - so the force and distance
required to pull the trigger can be minimal. In contrast, with a
self-cocking revolver, one long squeeze of the trigger pulls back
the hammer and revolves the cylinder then finally fires the shot.
They can generally be fired faster than a single action, but at the
cost of reduced accuracy in the hands of most shooters.
Most modern revolvers are "double action", which means they are
able to operate either in single action or self-cocking mode. The
accepted meaning of "double action" has, confusingly, come to be
the same as "self-cocking", so modern revolvers that cannot be
pre-cocked are called "double-action-only". These are intended for
concealed carry, because the hammer of a traditional design is
prone to snagging on clothes when drawn.
Most commonly, such guns have a 5- or 6-shot capacity, hence the
common names of "six-gun" or "six-shooter". However, some revolvers
have a 7- to 10-shot capacity, often depending on the
caliber. Each chamber has to be reloaded manually,
which makes reloading a revolver a much slower procedure than
reloading a semi-automatic pistol.
The alternatives are a replaceable cylinder, a
speedloader, 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. Another product known as a "speedstrip" cannot reload a
completely empty revolver as rapidly as a speedloader, but is 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 or cartridge 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.
In general, revolvers stand up to long-term neglect better than
semi-automatics, an example of neglect being the common scenario of
a civilian who keeps a weapon for defense but rarely shoots or
maintains it. A revolver can be kept loaded and ready to fire
without compressing any springs (which weaken over time with
continual load) and is not very dependent on lubrication for proper
firing. However, a revolver is generally not as resistant to
abuse as a semi-automatic (abuse meaning dropping the
weapon, or allowing severe contamination by dirt or mud). The
revolver's clockwork-like internal parts are relatively delicate
and can become misaligned after a severe impact, and its revolving
cylinder can become jammed by excessive dirt or debris. The latter
factors are more of a concern for military users than civilians or
police.
Should a dud round or a misfire be encountered, simply attempting
to fire again will rotate the cylinder, bringing a fresh round to
bear. In addition, this advantage also makes it possible to leave a
chamber empty, so that should the gun be taken from its owner, the
owner knows that the first trigger pull will not fire a round; this
is a somewhat common practice among court bailiffs and security
guards in parts of the United States.
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 its 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 Magnum round.
As revolvers are of a 19th-century design, it is not surprising
that
semi-automatic pistols
have largely overtaken them in military and law enforcement
applications. Their lower ammunition capacities and relatively
longer reload times compared to autoloading pistols are the main
reasons for the switchover that occurred in the 1980s and 1990s.
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
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 firearms. 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
autocannon and
grenade launchers use mechanisms
similar to revolvers, and some
riot
shotguns use spring loaded cylinders holding up to 12 rounds.
In addition to serving as backup guns, revolvers still fill the
specialized niche role as a shield gun; law enforcement personnel
using a "bulletproof" ballistic shield (
Gun
shield) sometimes opt for a revolver instead of a self-loading
pistol, because the slide of a pistol may strike the front of the
shield when fired. Revolvers do not suffer from this disadvantage.
A second revolver may be secured behind the shield to provide a
quick means of continuity of fire. Many police also still use
revolvers as their duty weapon due to revolvers' reliability and
user friendliness.
Loading and unloading
Front loading
The first revolvers were more
front loading or
muzzle loading. Rather than
being loaded through the barrel, each chamber in the cylinder was
rotated out of line with the barrel, and charged from the front
with loose powder and a bullet. Usually, there was a loading lever
attached to the bottom of the barrel that gave the user leverage to
force the oversized lead ball into the chamber, which sealed it and
held the ball and powder securely in place. The first practical
revolvers were
caplocks or
cap and ball revolvers, because the caplock
method of priming was the first to be compact enough to make a
practical revolver feasible.
Fixed cylinder designs
In many of the first generation of cartridge revolvers (especially
those that were converted after manufacture), the pin on which the
cylinder revolved was removed, and the cylinder taken from the gun
for loading. Later models used a loading gate at the rear of the
cylinder that allowed one cartridge at a time to be accessed for
loading, while a rod under the barrel could be pressed backwards to
extract the fired case. Most revolvers using this method of loading
are single action revolvers, although
Iver
Johnson produced double-action models with removable cylinders.
The removable-cylinder design is employed in some modern
"micro-revolvers," (usually in
.22 caliber), in
order to simplify their design. These weapons are small enough to
fit in the palm of the hand.
The loading gate on the original Colt designs (and on nearly all
single action revolvers since, such as the famous
Colt Single Action Army) is on the
right side, which may favor left-handed users; with the revolver
held in the proper grip for shooting in the left hand, the
cartridges can easily be ejected and loaded with the right.
Since the cylinder in these revolvers is firmly attached at the
front and rear of the frame, and since the frame is typically full
thickness all the way around, fixed cylinder revolvers are
inherently strong designs. Because of this, many modern large
caliber hunting revolvers tend to be based on the fixed cylinder
design.
Top break
The next method used for loading and unloading cartridge revolvers
was the
top break design. In a top-break revolver, the
frame is hinged at the bottom front of the cylinder. Releasing the
lock and pushing the barrel down brings the cylinder up—this
exposes the rear of the cylinder for reloading. In most top-break
revolvers, the act of pivoting the barrel and cylinder operates an
extractor that pushes the cartridges in the chambers back far
enough that they will fall free, or can be removed easily.
Fresh rounds are then inserted into the cylinder, either one at a
time or all at once with either a
speedloader or a
moon
clip. The barrel and cylinder are then rotated back and locked
in place, and the revolver is ready to fire. Since the frame is in
two parts, held together by a latch on the top rear of the
cylinder, top-break revolvers are relatively weak, and cannot
handle high pressure rounds. Top-break designs are nearly extinct
in the world of
firearms, but they are
still found in
airguns.
One of the most famous "break top" revolvers is the
Schofield Model 3, designed in the late
19th century and used by western outlaw
Jesse James. Another notable design is
the
Enfield and
Webley series of revolvers used by the
British Armed Forces from the
1880s through the 1960s.
Top break revolvers in .22 rimfire and in .32 and .38 Smith &
Wesson centerfire were popular civilian arms for both sporting
purposes and self-defense from the late 19th century to the
1950s.
Swing out cylinder
The last and most modern method of loading and unloading is the
swing out cylinder. The cylinder is mounted on a pivot
that is coaxial with the chambers, and the cylinder swings out and
down (to the left in most cases). An extractor is fitted, operated
by a rod projecting from the front of the cylinder assembly. When
pressed, it will push all fired rounds free simultaneously (as in
top break models, the travel is designed to not completely extract
longer, unfired rounds). The cylinder may then be loaded, singly or
again with a
speedloader, closed, and
latched in place.
The pivoting part that supports the cylinder is called the crane;
it is the weak point of swing-out cylinder designs. Using the
method often portrayed in movies and television of flipping the
cylinder open and closed with a flick of the wrist can in fact
cause the crane to bend over time, throwing the cylinder out of
alignment with the barrel. Lack of alignment between chamber and
barrel is a dangerous condition- impeding the bullet's transition
from chamber to barrel. This gives rise to higher pressures in the
chamber, bullet damage, and the potential for an explosion if the
bullet becomes stuck.
The shock of firing can also put a great deal of stress on the
crane, as in most designs the cylinder is only held closed at one
point, the rear of the cylinder. Stronger designs, such as the
Ruger Super Redhawk, use a lock
in the crane as well as the lock at the rear of the cylinder. This
latch provides a more secure bond between cylinder and frame, and
allows the use of larger, more powerful cartridges.
Action
Single action
In a single action revolver, the hammer is manually cocked, usually
with the thumb of the firing or supporting hand. This action
advances the cylinder to the next round and locks the cylinder in
place with the chamber aligned with the barrel. The trigger, when
pulled, releases the hammer, which fires the round in the chamber.
To fire again, the hammer must be manually cocked again. This is
called "single action" because the trigger only performs a single
action, of releasing the hammer. Because only a single action is
performed and trigger pull is lightened, firing a revolver in this
way allows most shooters to achieve greater accuracy. Additionally,
the need to cock the hammer manually acts as a safety.
Double action
Double action revolvers may be fired in two ways. The first way is
exactly the same as a single action revolver; the hammer is cocked,
which advances the cylinder counter-clockwise (clockwise on a few
models) when viewed from the rear and when the trigger is pulled,
this releases the hammer. Double action revolvers also can be fired
from a hammer down position, by pulling the trigger. In this case,
the trigger first cocks the hammer and revolves the cylinder, and
then releases the hammer at the rear of its travel, firing the
round in the chamber.
Certain revolvers, called
double action only, lack the
latch that enables the hammer to be locked to the rear, and thus
can only be fired in the double action mode. With no way to lock
the hammer back, double action only designs tend to have
bobbed or
spurless hammers, and may even have the
hammer completely covered by the revolver's frame. These are
generally intended for concealed carrying, where a hammer spur
could snag when the revolver is drawn. The potential reduction in
accuracy in aimed fire is offset by the increased capability for
concealment.
Other
In the cap-&-ball days of the mid nineteenth century two
revolvers, the English
Tranter and
the American Savage “Figure Eight” both used a similar method. The
hammer was cocked by the shooter’s middle finger pulling on a
second trigger below the trigger proper.
Iver Johnson made an unusual model from
1940 to 1947, called the
Trigger Cocking Double Action. If
the hammer was down, pulling the trigger would cock the hammer. If
the trigger was pulled with the hammer cocked, it would then fire.
This meant that to fire the revolver from a hammer down state, the
trigger must be pulled twice.
Use with suppressors
As a general rule, revolvers cannot be equipped with a
sound suppressor ("silencer"), as there is
usually a small gap between the revolving cylinder and the barrel
which a bullet must traverse or jump when fired. From this opening,
a rather loud report is produced even when a suppressor is
installed on the end of the barrel of most revolvers. However,
eliminating this problem would make the revolver an ideal weapon
for suppressed use: in automatics, the action itself creates a
significant amount of noise even if muzzle report is totally
eliminated. A revolver, which does not cycle on its own and whose
action is naturally quiet, does not present this problem.
A suppressible revolver design does exist in the
Nagant M1895, a Russian military revolver used
from 1895 through
World War II. This
revolver uses a unique cartridge that extends beyond the end of the
bullet, and a cylinder that moves forward to place the end of the
cartridge inside the barrel when ready to fire. This bridges the
gap between the cylinder and the barrel, and expands to seal the
gap when fired. While the tiny gap between cylinder and barrel on
most revolvers is insignificant to the
internal ballistics, the seal is
especially effective when used with a suppressor, and a number of
suppressed Nagant revolvers have been used since its
invention.
There is a modern revolver of Russian design, the
OTs-38, which uses
ammunition that incorporates the silencing mechanism into the
cartridge case, making the gap between cylinder and barrel
irrelevant as far the suppression issue is concerned. The OTs-38
does need an unusually close and precise fit between the cylinder
and barrel due to the shape of bullet in the special ammunition
(Soviet SP-4), which was originally designed for use in a
semi-automatic.
Additionally, the US Military experimented with designing a special
version of the
Smith and
Wesson Model 29 for
Tunnel Rats,
called the Quiet Special Purpose Revolver or QSPR. Using special
.40 caliber ammunition, it never entered service, at least
officially.
Automatic revolvers
Double action revolvers use a long trigger pull to cock the hammer,
thus negating the need to manually cock the hammer between shots.
The disadvantage of this is the long, heavy pull that cocks the
hammer makes the double action revolver much harder to shoot
accurately than a single action revolver (although cocking the
hammer of a double action reduces the length and weight of the
trigger pull). There is a rare class of revolvers, the automatic
revolver, that attempts to overcome this restriction, giving the
high speed of a double action with the trigger effort of a single
action.
The
Webley-Fosbery
Automatic Revolver was the first commercial example, introduced
in 1901. It was recoil-operated, and the cylinder and barrel
recoiled backwards to cock the hammer and revolve the cylinder. It
was distinctive in that cam grooves were milled on the outside of
the cylinder to provide a means of advancing to the next
chamber—half a turn as the cylinder moved back, and half a turn as
it moved forward. .38 caliber versions held 8 shots, .455 caliber
versions 6. At the time, the few available automatic pistols were
larger, less reliable, and more expensive. The automatic revolver
was popular when it first came out, but was quickly superseded by
the creation of reliable, inexpensive
semi-automatic pistols.
In 1997, the
Mateba company developed a type
of recoil-operated automatic revolver, commercially named the
Mateba Autorevolver, which uses
the recoil energy to auto-rotate a normal revolver cylinder holding
6 or 7 cartridges, depending on the model. The company has made
several versions of its Autorevolver, including longer barrelled
and carbine variations, chambered for
.357
Magnum,
.44 Magnum and
.454 Casull. The
Pancor Jackhammer is a
combat shotgun based on a similar
mechanism to an automatic revolver. It uses a gas action to move
the barrel forward (which unlocks it from the cylinder) and then
rotate the cylinder and cock the hammer.
Six gun
A
Six Gun is revolver that holds six bullets. The
cylinder in a six gun is often called a 'wheel', and the six gun is
itself often called a 'wheel gun'. The classic six gun was commonly
carried by
Old West cowboys and
gunfighters. The most famous six gun in history
is the
Colt Single Action
Army, or Peacemaker, in .45 Long Colt caliber. The six gun has
many modern incarnations, such as the
Ruger Vaquero and
Beretta Stampede, as well as the currently
produced Colt Single Action Army.
The basic operation of the six gun is:
- The hammer is cocked with the thumb, which rotates the cylinder
to line up a new cartridge with the barrel, and positions the
hammer for firing.
- The trigger is pulled, which causes the hammer to drop and
sharply push the firing pin into the cartridge primer, firing the
gun.
- The hammer must be cocked again for the next shot. This is
called 'Single Action'.
Modern six guns are used commonly by
Single Action Shooting enthusiasts in
shooting competitions, designed to mimic the gunfights of the Old
West, and for general target shooting and personal defense.
History
In the development of firearms, an important limiting factor was
the time it took to reload the weapon after it was fired. While the
user was reloading, the weapon was nearly useless, and an adversary
might be able to take advantage of the situation and kill or wound
the user. Several approaches to the problem of increasing the rate
of fire were developed, the earliest being multi-barreled weapons
which allowed two or more shots without reloading. The first
revolvers 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.
The earliest example of a revolver is a revolving
arquebus, produced by Hans Stopler in 1597.
Another
early specimen, now in the Tower of London
armories, is dated to the middle 1600s and
attributed to John Dafte of London. This example, a
flintlock, uses a single lock, with a flash pan
for each of the six chambers. The cylinder is rotated by hand, and
locks in place for firing. This was still not perfected, however,
as it was apparently destroyed by a misfire.
James Puckle patented a revolving
chamber gun in 1718. This gun, which had a 1.25 inch bore
(30 mm), was tripod mounted, and the 11-shot cylinder was
operated by a hand crank. It is often cited as the first
machine gun. By changing cylinders to reload (an
early example of a
speedloader), the gun
was fired and reloaded to fire a total of 63 rounds in seven
minutes.
Elisha Collier patented a
flintlock revolver in Britain in 1818, and significant numbers were
being produced in London by 1822.
In 1836,
Samuel Colt patented a revolver
mechanism that led to the widespread use of the revolver. According
to Samuel Colt, he 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
proliferated largely due to Colt's ability as a salesman. Revolvers
have remained popular to the present day in many areas, although in
the military and law enforcement 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 are deemed important.
Patents
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 entitled
Revolving gun to Samuel Colt on October 24, 1848. This was
followed by on September 3, 1850 for a
Revolver, and by on
September 10, 1850 for a
Revolver. was issued to
Roger C. Field
for an economical device for minimizing the flash gap of a revolver
between the barrel and the cylinder.
Notable brands and manufacturers
Gallery
Image:Anaconda-500.jpg|
Colt Anaconda
.44 Magnum revolverImage:Colt New Service
1370.jpg|
Colt New
Service revolverImage:Python-nickel.jpg|
Colt
Python .357 Magnum
revolversImage:S&W-686x2.jpg|
Smith & Wesson Model 686
.357 Magnum revolversImage:SW
625-JH02.jpg|Smith & Wesson Model 625 for
IPSC
shootingImage:Taurus-605-left.jpg|
Taurus .357 Magnum Model
605Image:Webley_Military_Mark_IV_1793.jpg|
Webley Mk IV in
.380
S&W
See also
References
External links
_by_Wendelin_Boeheim.jpg/400px-6-chamered_wheel-lock_revolver_(Germany_1590)_by_Wendelin_Boeheim.jpg)
Wikis
Quiz
Facts
Map
Misc
Search
