Editing Revolver (section)

==History==
In the [[History of firearms|development of firearms]], an important limiting factor was the time required to reload the weapon after it was fired. While the user was reloading, the weapon was useless, allowing an adversary to attack the user. Several approaches to the problem of increasing the rate of fire were developed, the earliest involving multi-barrelled weapons which allowed two or more shots without reloading.<ref name="Morgan2014">{{cite book|last=Morgan|first=Michael|title=Handbook of Modern Percussion Revolvers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lWUFAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA75|year=2014|publisher=Krause Publications|location=Iola, Wisconsin|isbn=978-1-4402-3898-7|page=75}}</ref> Later weapons featured multiple barrels revolving along a single axis.

A [[matchlock]] revolver with a single barrel and four chambers held at the [[Tower of London]] was originally believed to have been invented some time in the 15th century,<ref>{{citation|last=Bakewell|first=Frederick|title=Great Facts: A Popular History and Description of the Most Remarkable Inventions During the Present Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GmxAAQAAIAAJ&dq=Revolver+Tower+Of+London+Matchlock&pg=PA264|year=1859|publisher=Houlston and Wright|isbn=0608435368|pages=264|access-date=2022-09-09|archive-date=2023-04-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230422232156/https://books.google.com/books?id=GmxAAQAAIAAJ&dq=Revolver+Tower+Of+London+Matchlock&pg=PA264|url-status=live}}</ref> but has now been identified as an Indian matchlock of the 1800s.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Ferguson| first1 = Jonathan| last2 = Nicholson| first2 = Ben| contribution = Early Revolver Design, 1530s to 1820s| date = 2023| title = Clockwork Basilisk: The Early Revolvers of Elisha Collier & Artemas Wheeler | editor-last = Nicholson| editor-first = Ben| volume = 1| page=42 | place = Nashville, Tennessee | publisher = Headstamp| isbn = 9781733424660 }}</ref> A revolving three-barrelled matchlock pistol in Venice is dated from at least 1548.<ref>{{cite book |first=Howard L. |last=Blackmore |title=Guns and Rifles of the World |date=1965 |publisher=Chancellor Press |page=80 }}</ref> During the late 16th century in China, Zhao Shi-zhen invented the [[Xun Lei Chong]], a five-barreled musket revolver spear. Around the same time, the earliest examples of the modern revolver were made in Germany. These [[petronel]] weapons featured a single barrel with a revolving cylinder holding the powder and ball, with each cylinder having its own separate flash-pan and pan-cover.<ref>{{cite book |last=George |first=John Nigel |title=English Pistols and Revolvers: An Historical Outline of the Development and Design of English Hand Firearms from the Seventeenth Century to the Present Day |date=1961 |publisher=The Holland Press |location=London |page=142 }}</ref> They would soon be made by many European gun-makers, in numerous designs and configurations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://americansocietyofarmscollectors.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1968-B18-Six-Shooters-Since-Sixteen-Hundred.pdf |title=Six Shooters Since Sixteen Hundred |first=Merrill |last=Lindsay |website=AmericanSocietyOfArmsCollectors.org |access-date=2025-03-14 |archive-date=2021-04-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210409030959/https://americansocietyofarmscollectors.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1968-B18-Six-Shooters-Since-Sixteen-Hundred.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Of particular note is the gun attributed to John Dafte from c.1680, which is the earliest surviving specimen of automatic cylinder rotation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Boothroyd |first1=Geoffrey |title=The Handgun |date=1988 |publisher=The Sportsman's Press |location=London |isbn=0948253274 |page=107 |edition=Second }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Taylerson |first1=A.W.F. |last2=Andrews |first2=R.A.N. |title=The Revolver 1818-1865 |date=1968 |publisher=Herbert Jenkins |location=London |page=22 }}</ref> This gun combined in 'one package the three essential ingredients of a successful revolver: mechanical cylinder rotation, individual priming for each chamber, and a cylinder stop for barrel/cylinder alignment, all activated by cocking the firearm.'.<ref>{{Citation| last1 = Ferguson| first1 = Jonathan| last2 = Nicholson| first2 = Ben| contribution = Early Revolver Design, 1530s to 1820s |date=2023 |title=Clockwork Basilisk: The Early Revolvers of Elisha Collier & Artemas Wheeler | editor-last = Nicholson| editor-first = Ben| volume = 1| page=50 | place = Nashville, TN| publisher = Headstamp| isbn = 9781733424660}}</ref> Commonalities in design suggest the weapon inspired a later, more compact imitation by the gunmaker Thomas Annely.<ref>{{Citation| last1 = Ferguson| first1 = Jonathan| last2 = Nicholson| first2 = Ben| contribution = Early Revolver Design, 1530s to 1820s| date = 2023| title = Clockwork Basilisk: The Early Revolvers of Elisha Collier & Artemas Wheeler | editor-last = Nicholson| editor-first = Ben| volume = 1| page=62 | place = Nashville, TN| publisher = Headstamp| isbn = 9781733424660 }}</ref><ref name="Ferguson2025">{{cite journal |last1=Ferguson |first1=Jonathan S. |title=An English brass snaphance self-rotating revolver by Annely, ca.1730 (Royal Armouries object number xii.4745) |journal=Arms & Armour |date=20 January 2025 |volume=22 |pages=145–158 |doi=10.1080/17416124.2024.2442212}}</ref>

In 1821, the US Navy trialled a revolver belonging to Captain Artemus Wheeler; in 1819 and 1824, two committees of British artillery officers examined a similar revolver from [[Elisha Collier]].<ref name="TaylersonAndrews1968">{{cite book |last1=Taylerson |first1=A.W.F. |last2=Andrews |first2=R.A.N. |title=The Revolver 1818-1865 |date=1968 |publisher=Herbert Jenkins |location=London |page=25-7}}</ref> [[FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan|FitzRoy Somerset]], as secretary to the [[Master-General of the Ordnance]] the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]], reported that the gun had fired 'one hundred rounds in twenty-nine minutes at a target distant one-hundred yard, putting seventy-one balls through the target and lodging one in it... [with another] five rounds at two hundred yards... there was not a missfire in the 105 rounds.'<ref>{{cite book |last1=Taylerson |first1=A.W.F. |last2=Andrews |first2=R.A.N. |title=The Revolver 1818-1865 |date=1968 |publisher=Herbert Jenkins |location=London |page=27}}</ref> The weapon was not adopted, however, for the same reason that previous similar guns had not been widely distributed: they were complicated, difficult to use and prohibitively expensive to make. A rare exception was the early 19th century popularity of [[multiple-barrel firearm|multiple-barrel]] handguns called "[[pepper-box]]es". Originally they were [[muzzleloader]]s, but in 1837, the [[Belgium|Belgian]] gunsmith Mariette invented a hammerless pepperbox with a ring trigger and turn-off barrels that could be unscrewed.<ref>{{citation|last=Kinard|first=Jeff|title=Pistols: An Illustrated History of Their Impact|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZVnuHX_6bG0C&pg=PA61|year=2004|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-470-7|pages=61–62|access-date=2020-05-12|archive-date=2023-04-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230422232156/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZVnuHX_6bG0C&pg=PA61|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1836, American [[Samuel Colt]] patented a popular revolver which led to the widespread use of the revolver.<ref>{{US patent|X9430I1}}</ref> Colt used a [[ratchet and pawl]] mechanism to rotate the cylinder by cocking the hammer, which provided a reliable and repeatable way to index each round and did away with the need to manually rotate the cylinder. According to Colt, he came up with the idea for the revolver while at sea, inspired by the [[capstan (nautical)|capstan]] and its similar ratchet and pawl mechanism,<ref>{{cite web |title=Samuel Colt: Lemelson |url=https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/samuel-colt |website=lemelson.mit.edu |access-date=18 February 2025}}</ref> although similar examples of such revolvers did exist in museum collections<ref name="Ferguson2025" /> and the existence of an earlier example could have precluded Colt registering a patent on the mechanism.<ref>{{Citation| last1 = Ferguson| first1 = Jonathan| last2 = Nicholson| first2 = Ben| contribution = Early Revolver Design, 1530s to 1820s| date = 2023| title = Clockwork Basilisk: The Early Revolvers of Elisha Collier & Artemas Wheeler | editor-last = Nicholson| editor-first = Ben| volume = 1| page=54 | place = Nashville, TN| publisher = Headstamp| isbn = 9781733424660 }}</ref> Nevertheless, the new mechanism, coupled with Colt's ability as a [[sales]]man - one historian describing him as 'a pioneer Madison Avenue-style pitchman'<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=R.L. |title=Colt: An American Legend |date=1991 |publisher=Abbeville Press |location=New York |isbn=9780896599536}}</ref> - and his approach to manufacturing ensured his influence spread. The build quality of [[Colt's Manufacturing Company|his company]]'s guns became famous, and its [[armory (military)|armories]] in America and England trained several seminal generations of [[tool and die maker|toolmakers]] and other [[machinist]]s, who had great influence in other manufacturing efforts of the next half century.<ref name="TuckerWhite2011">{{cite book|last1=Tucker|first1=Spencer C.|last2=White|first2=William E.|title=The Civil War Naval Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q4mwAtj2r3UC&pg=PA122|year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-338-5|pages=122–123|access-date=2015-11-12|archive-date=2023-04-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230422232156/https://books.google.com/books?id=q4mwAtj2r3UC&pg=PA122|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{gallery
  |Title=
  |align=center
  |mode=packed
  |File:Drehling GNM W1984 ca 1580.jpg|Detail of an 8-chambered [[matchlock]] revolver (Germany, {{Circa|1580}})
  |File:Colt Paterson Belt 2nd Model.jpg|Colt Paterson 2nd belt model
}}

Early revolvers were [[caplock]] muzzleloaders: the user had to pour [[Gunpowder|black powder]] into each chamber, ram down a bullet on top of it, then place a [[percussion cap]] on the nipple at the rear of each chamber, where the [[Hammer (firearms)|hammer]] would fall on it and ignite the powder charge. This was similar to loading a traditional single-shot muzzle-loading pistol, except that the powder and shot could be loaded directly into the front of the cylinder rather than having to be loaded down the whole length of the barrel. Importantly, this allowed the barrel itself to be [[Rifling|rifled]], since the user was not required to force the tight-fitting bullet down the barrel in order to load it (a traditional muzzle-loading pistol had a [[smoothbore]] barrel and the shot was relatively loose-fitting, which allowed easy loading, but was much less accurate). After firing a shot, the user would raise their pistol vertically while cocking the hammer back for their next shot, so the fragments of the burst percussion cap would fall clear of the weapon and not jam the mechanism. Some of the most popular cap-and-ball revolvers were the [[Colt 1851 Navy Revolver|Colt Model 1851 "Navy"]] model, [[Colt Army Model 1860|1860 "Army" model]], and [[Colt Pocket Percussion Revolvers]], all of which saw extensive use in the [[American Civil War]]. Although American revolvers were the most common, European arms makers were making numerous revolvers by that time as well, many of which found their way into the hands of the American forces. These included the single-action Lefaucheux and [[LeMat revolver]]s, as well as the [[Beaumont–Adams revolver|Beaumont–Adams]] and [[Tranter (revolver)|Tranter]] revolvers—early [[Double Action|double-action]] weapons in spite of being muzzle-loaders.<ref name="Fadala2003">{{cite book |last=Fadala |first=Sam |title=The Gun Digest Blackpowder Loading Manual |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SLlPI_UPdxUC |date=1 December 2003 |publisher=Krause Publications Craft |location=Iola, Wisconsin |isbn=0-87349-574-8 |page=28 }}</ref>

[[File:Smith & Wesson Model 1, 2nd Issue.jpg|thumb|A Smith & Wesson Model 1, 2nd issue; a two patent date variety shown next to a period box of .22 Short black powder cartridges]]
In 1854, Eugene Lefaucheux introduced the [[Lefaucheux 1854|Lefaucheux Model 1854]], the first revolver to use self-contained [[metallic cartridge]]s rather than loose powder, [[Bullet|pistol ball]], and percussion caps. It is a [[single-action]], [[pinfire]] revolver holding six rounds.<ref name="HouzeCooper2006">{{cite book|last1=Houze|first1=Herbert G.|last2=Cooper|first2=Carolyn C.|last3=Kornhauser|first3=Elizabeth Mankin|title=Samuel Colt: Arms, Art, and Invention|year=2006|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=0-300-11133-9|page=118}}</ref>

On November 17, 1856, [[Horace Smith (inventor)|Horace Smith]] and [[Daniel B. Wesson]] signed an agreement for the exclusive use of the [[Rollin White]] Patent at a rate of 25 cents for every revolver. [[Smith & Wesson]] began production late in 1857, and enjoyed years of exclusive production of rear-loading cartridge revolvers in America due to their association with Rollin White, who held the patent<ref>{{US patent|12648}}</ref> and vigorously defended it against any perceived infringement by other manufacturers (much as Colt had done with his original patent on the revolver). Although White held the patent, other manufacturers were able to sell firearms using the design, provided they were willing to pay royalties.<ref name="Flayderman2001">{{Cite book | last=Flayderman | first=Norm | title=Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms&nbsp;... and their values | year=2001 | publisher=Krause Publications | location=Iola, WI | isbn=0-87349-313-3 | page=213}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Smith & Wesson Images of America |first= Roy G.|last= Jinks|author2=Sandra C. Krein  |page=8|publisher= Arcadia Publishing|year= 2006 |isbn = 978-0-7385-4510-3 }}</ref>

After White's patent expired in April 1869, a third extension was refused. Other gun-makers were then allowed to produce their own weapons using the rear-loading method, without having to pay a royalty on each gun sold. Early guns were often conversions of earlier cap-and-ball revolvers, modified to accept metallic cartridges loaded from the rear, but later models, such as the [[Colt Model 1871-72 Open Top|Colt Model 1872 "open top"]] and the [[Smith & Wesson Model 3]], were designed from the start as cartridge revolvers.<ref name="Flayderman2001" />

[[File:SAA 5773 oN.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Colt Single Action Army]], serial No. 5773, issued to 7th Cavalry during the Indian War period]]
In 1873, Colt introduced the famous Model 1873, also known as the [[Colt Single Action Army|Single Action Army]], the "Colt .45" (not to be confused with Colt-made models of the [[M1911 pistol|M1911]] [[Semi-automatic pistol|semi-automatic]]), and "the Peacemaker", one of the most famous handguns ever made.<ref name="Standard Catalog of Colt Firearms">{{cite book|last=Sapp|first=Rick|title=Standard Catalog of Colt Firearms|year=2007|publisher=Gun Digest Books|location=Iola, WI|isbn=978-0896895348|page=79}}</ref> This popular design, which was a culmination of many of the advances introduced in earlier weapons, fired 6 metallic cartridges and was offered in over 30 different calibers and various barrel lengths. It is still in production, along with numerous [[Replica|clones]] and lookalikes, and its overall appearance has remained the same since 1873. Although originally made for the [[United States Army]], the Model 1873 was widely distributed and popular with civilians, [[ranch]]ers, [[Law enforcement officer|lawmen]], and [[outlaw]]s alike.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}} Its design has influenced countless other revolvers. Colt has discontinued its production twice, but resumed production due to popular demand.

In the U.S., the single-action revolver remained more popular than the double-action revolver until the late 19th century. In Europe, however, arms makers were quick to adopt the double-action trigger. While the U.S. was producing weapons like the Model 1873, European manufacturers were building double-action models like the French [[MAS 1873 revolver|MAS Modèle 1873]] and the later British [[Enfield revolver|Enfield Mk I and II revolvers]]. (Britain relied on cartridge conversions of the earlier Beaumont–Adams double-action prior to this.) Colt's first attempt at a double action revolver to compete with European manufacturers was the Colt Model 1877, which earned lasting notoriety for its complex, expensive, and fragile trigger mechanism, which in addition to failing frequently, also had a heavy trigger pull.

[[File:M&Prevolver.jpg|thumb|Smith & Wesson M&P revolver]]
In 1889, Colt introduced the [[Colt M1889|Model 1889]], the first double action revolver with a "swing-out" cylinder, as opposed to a "top-break" or "side-loading" cylinder. Swing-out cylinders quickly caught on, because they combined the best features of earlier designs. Top-break actions had the ability to eject all empty shells simultaneously and exposed all chambers for easy reloading, but having the frame hinged into two halves weakened the gun and negatively affected accuracy due to the lack of rigidity. "Side-loaders", like the earlier Colt Model 1871 and 1873, had a rigid frame, but required the user to eject and load one chamber at a time as they rotated the cylinder to line each chamber up with the side-mounted loading gate.<ref name=kinard>{{cite book|title=Pistols: An Illustrated History of Their Impact|url=https://archive.org/details/pistolsillustrat00kina_652|url-access=limited|first= Jeff|last=Kinard |page=[https://archive.org/details/pistolsillustrat00kina_652/page/n175 163]|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2004 |isbn=978-1-85109-470-7}}</ref> Smith & Wesson followed seven years later with the Hand Ejector, Model 1896 in [[.32 S&W Long]] caliber, followed by the very similar, yet improved, [[Smith & Wesson Model 10|Model 1899]] (later known as the Model 10), which introduced the new [[.38 Special]] cartridge. The Model 10 went on to become the best selling handgun of the 20th century, at 6,000,000 units, and the .38 Special is still the most popular chambering for revolvers in the world. These new guns were an improvement over the Colt 1889 design since they incorporated a combined center-pin and ejector rod to lock the cylinder in position, whereas the Colt 1889 did not use a center pin and the cylinder was prone to move out of alignment.<ref name=kinard />

Revolvers have remained popular in many areas, although for law enforcement and military personnel, they have largely been supplanted by magazine-fed [[semi-automatic pistol]]s, such as the [[Beretta M9]] and the [[SIG Sauer M17]], especially in circumstances where faster reload times and higher cartridge capacity are important.<ref name="Cutshaw2011">{{cite book |last=Cutshaw |first=Charles Q. |title=Tactical Small Arms of the 21st Century: A Complete Guide to Small Arms From Around the World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=55szjc6g520C&pg=PA50 |date=2011 |publisher=Gun Digest Books |location=Iola, Wisconsin |isbn=978-1-4402-2709-7 |page=50 }}</ref>

===Patents===
In 1815, (sometimes incorrectly dated as 1825) a French inventor called Julien Leroy patented a flintlock and percussion revolving rifle with a mechanically indexed cylinder and a priming magazine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gapQAAAAYAAJ&q=Quinze+Coups&pg=PA20|title = Description des machines et procédés spécifiés dans les brevets d'invention, de perfectionnement et d'importation dont la durée est expirée, et dans ceux dont la déchéance a été prononcée, Volume 21, Issues 1793-1901 |date=1831 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LBcJiUD_148C&dq=Leroy+1815+Brevet+%09armes+%C3%A0+feu&pg=PA193 |title=Annales des arts et manufactures, ou Memoires technologiques sur les decouvertes modernes concernant les Arts, les Manufactures, l'Agriculture et le Commerce |date=1818 |language=fr |trans-title=Annals of Arts and Manufactures, or Technological Memoirs on Modern Discoveries Concerning the Arts, Manufactures, Agriculture and Commerce }}</ref>

[[Elisha Collier]] of Boston, Massachusetts, patented a flintlock revolver in Britain in 1818, and significant numbers were being produced in London by 1822.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pauly |first1=Roger A. |last2=Pauly |first2=Roger |title=Firearms: The Life Story of a Technology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=izGOfMdSm2IC&pg=PA87 |date=2004 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-32796-4 |page=87 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book |author=The Diagram Group |title=The New Weapons of the World Encyclopedia: An International Encyclopedia from 5000 B.C. to the 21st Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Il9ubyJCisC&pg=PA128 |date=2007 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-312-36832-6 |page=128 |access-date=2025-03-14 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Taylerson |first1=A.W.F. |last2=Andrews |first2=R.A.N. |title=The Revolver 1818-1865 |date=1968 |publisher=Herbert Jenkins |location=London |pages=22–23}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last =Boothroyd |first=Geoffrey |title=The Handgun |date=1988 |publisher=The Sportsman's Press |location=London |isbn=0948253274 |page=110 |edition=Second }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Nicholson |first=Ben |title=Clockwork Basilisk: The Early Revolvers of Elisha Collier & Artemas Wheeler |date=2023 |publisher=Headstamp Press |location=Nashville, Tennessee |isbn=9781733424660}}</ref> Samuel Colt submitted a British patent for his revolver in 1835 and a U.S. patent (number 138) on February 25, 1836, for a ''Revolving gun'', and made the first production model on March 5 of that year.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gibby |first=Darin |title=Why America Has Stopped Inventing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hUUjc7L-INIC&pg=PA84 |date=2011 |publisher=Morgan James Publishing |location=New York |isbn=978-1-61448-048-8 |page=84 }}</ref>

Another revolver patent was issued to Samuel Colt on August 29, 1839. The February 25, 1836, patent was then reissued as {{US patent|RE00124}} entitled ''Revolving gun'' on October 24, 1848. This was followed by {{US patent|0007613}} on September 3, 1850, for a ''Revolver'', and by {{US patent|0007629}} on September 10, 1850, for a ''Revolver''. In 1855, Rollin White patented the bored-through cylinder entitled ''Improvement in revolving fire-arms'' {{US patent|00093653}}. In 1856, Horace Smith & Daniel Wesson formed a partnership (S&W), then developed and manufactured a revolver chambered for a self-contained metallic cartridge.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cumpston |first=Mike |title=Percussion Pistols and Revolvers: History, Performance and Practical Use |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LQausfRgWvYC&pg=PA192 |date=2005 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=978-0-595-35796-3 |pages=57–58 }}</ref> In 1993, {{US Patent|5333531}} was issued to [[Roger C. Field]] for an economical device for minimizing the flash gap of a revolver between the barrel and the cylinder.