Posted: 6/18/2004 3:21:13 PM EDT
| So we had revolvers before they had any kind of repeating rifle. Why didnt we incorporate the revolver design into a longer firearm thereby giving six shots before having to reload? |
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Colt when he ran his original Patterson, New Jersey plant in the 1830's built both revolving handguns AND rifles. The first firearm out of the factory was a rifle, not a handgun. www.leverguns.com/leverguns/colt.htm 
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Yep, thats a M1855 Sidehammer .56cal. A number of Union Regiments carried them in the early part of the Civil War. Prentess's brigade at the Hornets Nest at Shiloh had them, and the 21st Ohio, which held the extreme right flank of Thomas's corps at Chickamauga against most of Longstreets corps also had them. |
| I recently read about the Civil War usage of revolving rifles in the American Rifleman. Interesting stuff. It seems that Berdan's Sharps shooters were issued revolving rifles and almost rebelled. They wanted Sharps rifles, and eventually got them. It seems that the revolving rifles had high attrition rates. |
That and the side flash close to the face. Primer fragments getting caught between frame and cylinder jamming the gun, a non-standard cartridge (much of the 21st Ohio wound up being taken prisoner at Chickamauga when they ran out of their unique .56 cal cartridge.) The Sharps carbine WAS the "official" Cavalry carbine of the US Army, while the rifle was not a standard issue item it could shoot the same paper cartridges as the carbine if it had to. The Spencer was the most popular though. Though it had the MOST unique cartridge, it was built in amazing quantites for a non-standard weapon and amunition very quickly became abundant. |
| Something else to consider - the first revolving rifle were basically cap & ball revolvers with stocks and long barrels. While firing the rifle, your support hand would most likely be under the barrel and in front of the cylinder. Ever seen a BP revolver chain fire? Yikes.... |
That was the other thing not liked about the revolving rifles. The odd position you had to hold it in. Forget chain fire. The .56 and even the rifle chamber .44 M1855s had such big side flash from just firing ONE shot normally. You had to wear a bracer like a archer to shoot it using a normal rifle hold under the forend. The NORMAL shooting position was to hold the gun with the left hand up under and around the cylinder- where it then got burned when the gun got heated up. You notice in the picture I posted above of the original "ring lever" style Colt Rifle. That front ring under the cylinder is how you cocked it and revolved the cylinder. That was where Colt thought your hand should go. With your left forefinger through that ring. You could cock the ring lever guns very fast and without breaking your shoulder/cheek weld, but holding it so far back was odd- and in the longer barrel lengths was not really supportable. But with the 20" and shorter carbines it could be made to work. Colt carbines with shorter than 20" barrels usually did not have a forend. |
And if you watch carefully, about the third time he fired it he got a sideflash, take a look at his expression as he looks at it. I think Mitchum begins to look too. Colt maade some cartridge versions too but they never caught on. |