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98-491: The effective range of fire for the OTs-38 Stechkin is 50 m. The fired cases are kept in the cylinder, thus ensuring the absence of sound of ejected cases. The cartridge employs a captive piston, creating a gas seal, so there is no flash or loud report upon discharge. As the cartridge is rimless , the cylinder is fed via full moon clips . The SP-4 cartridges emit no report or flame because the propellant gases are retained in

196-570: A LAR Grizzly or Desert Eagle in .357 Magnum or .44 Magnum . And, of course, the .22 Long Rifle is extremely popular in semi-automatics. Rimmed cartridges work with belt-fed machine guns that use a two stage Pull out – Push through feeding operation, notably the Maxim gun , Vickers , M1919 Browning and M2HB . Push through links are possible with rimmed cartridges using specially designed belt links, but not as reliable as using push through links with rimless ammunition. Rimfire cartridges also use

294-921: A common ammunition feed. Famous revolver models include the Colt 1851 Navy Revolver , the Webley , the Colt Single Action Army , the Colt Official Police , Smith & Wesson Model 10 , the Smith & Wesson Model 29 of Dirty Harry fame, the Nagant M1895 , and the Colt Python . Although largely surpassed in convenience and ammunition capacity by semi-automatic pistols , revolvers still remain popular as back-up and off-duty handguns among American law enforcement officers and security guards and are still common in

392-574: 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. In 1889, Colt introduced the 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

490-491: A firearm's loading and extraction mechanism does not need to be altered as long as the rim size is preserved. Another advantage with rebated-rim cartridges, mostly with straight-walled examples allow the usage of virtually any lengths of cartridge of the same caliber. An example of a rebated-rim cartridge is the .50 Action Express , commonly chambered in the Desert Eagle pistol. In order to simplify production, and to decrease

588-405: A flick of the wrist can actually cause the crane to bend over time, throwing the cylinder out of alignment with the barrel. Lack of alignment between chamber and barrel is dangerous, as it can impede the bullet's transition from chamber to barrel. This causes higher pressures in the chamber, bullet damage, and the potential for an explosion if the bullet becomes stuck. The shock of firing can exert

686-423: A full one. In many of the first generation of cartridge revolvers (especially those that were converted after manufacture), the base pin on which the cylinder revolved was removed, and the cylinder taken out from the revolver for loading. 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

784-530: 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. Swing-out cylinders are not as strong as fixed cylinders, and great care must be taken with

882-440: A partnership (S&W), then developed and manufactured a revolver chambered for a self-contained metallic cartridge. In 1993, U.S. patent 5,333,531 was issued to Roger C. Field for an economical device for minimizing the flash gap of a revolver between the barrel and the cylinder. A revolver has several firing chambers arranged in a circle in a cylindrical block; one at a time, these chambers are brought into alignment with

980-418: A repeating rifle, such as lever-action , had been developed. Loading a cylinder in this manner was a slow and awkward process and generally could not be done in the midst of battle. Some soldiers avoided this by carrying multiple revolvers in the field. Another solution was to use a revolver with a detachable cylinder design. These revolvers allowed the shooter to quickly remove a cylinder and replace it with

1078-536: A revolver is by means of the swing-out cylinder . The first swing-out cylinder revolver was patented in France and Britain at the end of December in 1858 by Devisme. The cylinder is mounted on a pivot that is parallel to 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,

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1176-523: A rim that is significantly larger in diameter than the base of the cartridge. Rimmed cartridges use the rim to hold the (usually straight sided) cartridge in the chamber of the firearm, with the rim serving to hold the cartridge at the proper depth in the chamber—this function is called " headspacing ". Because the rimmed cartridge headspaces on the rim, the case length is of less importance than with rimless cartridges. Rimmed cartridges with straight walls, such as shotgun shells , which allow various lengths of

1274-696: A serious effect on accuracy, or could, in the case of a revolver, cause a bullet to protrude sufficiently from the front of the cylinder to obstruct the revolving of the cylinder thus jamming the gun from firing additional rounds. This is not an issue for break-action single shot firearms, for obvious reasons, although it could potentially cause accuracy (but not jamming) problems in double barreled rifles , double barreled shotguns , or combination guns , provided they have more than one rifle barrel. Some combination guns, such as "drillings" or "vierlings" are made with three or four rifle barrels, without any shotgun barrels. Examples of rimless handgun cartridges include

1372-561: 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 Model 1851 "Navy" model, 1860 "Army" model , and Colt Pocket Percussion Revolvers , all of which saw extensive use in the American Civil War . Although American revolvers were

1470-403: A single cartridge ) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six cartridges, before needing to be reloaded, revolvers are commonly called six shooters or sixguns . Due to their rotating cylinder mechanism, they may also be called wheel guns . Before firing, cocking the revolver's hammer partially rotates the cylinder, indexing one of the cylinder chambers into alignment with

1568-602: A single axis. A matchlock revolver with a single barrel and four chambers held at the Tower of London is believed to have been invented some time in the 15th century. A revolving three-barrelled matchlock pistol in Venice is dated from at least 1548. 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,

1666-407: A spring-loaded extractor/ejector or, in a revolver, a half or full moon clip (for example, the Colt or Smith & Wesson M1917 revolvers in .45 ACP ). Since a straight-walled rimless cartridge is designed to headspace off of the case mouth, this prevents the ammunition loader or manufacturer from using a heavy crimp, which is a ring pinched or "crimped" into the cartridge case, designed to lock

1764-507: A time as they rotated the cylinder to line each chamber up with the side-mounted loading gate. 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, 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

1862-417: Is a well-known cartridge with a slightly rebated rim, but the reason for the choice is not clear, as there is no other cartridge it is known to be compatible with. The recent (early 2000s) Winchester Short Magnum , Winchester Super Short Magnum , Remington Ultra Magnum and Remington Short Action Ultra Magnum families of rifle cartridges also featured rims that are rebated. All of these cases were based on

1960-399: Is an external flange that is machined, cast, molded, stamped, or pressed around the bottom of a firearms cartridge . Thus, rimmed cartridges are sometimes called "flanged" cartridges. Almost all cartridges feature an extractor or headspacing rim, in spite of the fact that some cartridges are known as "rimless cartridges". The rim may serve a number of purposes, including providing a lip for

2058-468: Is considered one of the major advancements in revolver history because the frame was previously always metal alloy and mostly a one-piece design. Another 21st century development in revolver technology is the Chiappa Rhino , a revolver introduced by Italian manufacturer Chiappa in 2009, and first sold in the U.S. in 2010. The Rhino, built with the U.S. concealed carry market in mind, is designed so that

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2156-426: Is employed in some modern "micro-revolvers" (usually chambered in .22 rimfire and small enough to fit in the palm of the hand) to simplify their design. Later single-action revolver models with a fixed cylinder used a loading gate at the rear of the cylinder that allowed insertion of one cartridge at a time for loading, while a rod under the barrel could be pressed rearward to eject a fired case. The loading gate on

2254-429: Is exposed at a time to the loading gate. In a top-break revolver, the frame is hinged at the bottom front of the cylinder. Releasing the lock and pushing the barrel down exposes the rear face of the cylinder. In most top-break revolvers, this act also 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

2352-503: 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 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. Another revolver patent was issued to Samuel Colt on August 29, 1839. The February 25, 1836, patent

2450-467: Is not safe to do so, due to differences in cartridge pressures and the fact that .22 WMR does not shoot a "heeled" bullet, along with differences in rim diameter that can allow high pressure gases to escape behind the cartridge and seriously injure the user. However, some .22 revolvers come with interchangeable cylinders so that .22 Long Rifle can be shot from a .22 WMR revolver. In 1996, the Medusa Model 47

2548-431: Is not very dependent on lubrication for proper firing. Additionally, in the case of double-action-only revolvers there is no risk of accidental discharge from dropping alone, as the hammer is cocked by the trigger pull. However, 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. Over

2646-412: Is superior ergonomics, particularly for users with small hands. A revolver's grip does not hold a magazine, and it can be designed or customized much more than the grip of a typical semi-automatic. Partially because of these reasons, revolvers still hold significant market share as concealed carry and home-defense weapons. A revolver can be kept loaded and ready to fire without fatiguing any springs and

2744-544: Is typically no distinction between rimmed and unrimmed cartridges, unless one is referring to a rimmed version of a cartridge which is typically rimless, such as the .45 Auto Rim , a special rimmed version of the .45 ACP ("Automatic Colt Pistol" aka ".45 Auto"), intended for use in M1917 service revolvers . Examples of rimmed handgun cartridges include the .38 Special , .357 Magnum , .44 Special , .44 Magnum , .45 Schofield , and .45 Colt . Rimmed rifle cartridge examples include

2842-411: The .22 Hornet , .30-30 Winchester , 7.62×54mmR , .303 British , 8×50mmR Lebel , and .45-70 Government . As early as 1867 Joseph Whitworth patented a round which "has a solid metal back without any projecting flange, as heretofore, the ring groove already mentioned being a substitute for it". Even though some rifles were designed for rimless cartridges by Bethel Burton, Eduard Rubin and others,

2940-450: The .220 Swift , .280 Ross , 6.5×50mm Arisaka , .308 Marlin Express , .338 Marlin Express , and .444 Marlin . Rebated cartridges have a rim that is significantly smaller in diameter than the base of the cartridge case, serving only for extraction. Functionally the same as a rimless case, the rebated rim allows a gun to be easily converted to fire a larger-than-normal cartridge, as most of

3038-404: The .380 ACP , 9mm Parabellum , .357 SIG , .38 Super , .40 S&W , 10mm Auto , .45 GAP , .45 ACP , .50 AE and .50 GI . Rimless rifle examples include the .223 Remington , 6.5×52mm Carcano , 6.5×54mm Mannlicher–Schönauer , 6.5×55mm Swedish , .308 Winchester , .30-06 Springfield , 7.65×53mm and 7.92×57mm Mauser . On a semi-rimmed case the rim projects slightly beyond the base of

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3136-407: The .400/375 Belted Nitro Express (also known as the .375/.400 Holland & Holland, and .375 Velopex). The addition of the belt allowed the cartridge to properly headspace, despite the relative lack of a definite shoulder. The reason for the lack of a definitive shoulder was that these old British cartridge cases were intended for firing cordite charges instead of modern smokeless powder . Cordite

3234-507: The .404 Jeffery with the rim reduced from .543 inches to fit the .532 inch bolt face for existing magnum rifles. The only known shotgun shells using rebated rims is the Roper repeating shotgun and the 12 Gauge RAS12, specially made for the RAS-12 semi-automatic shotgun. The .50 Beowulf rifle cartridge uses a rebated-rim design. This round is used in specialized AR-15 upper receivers, and

3332-728: The .45 Colt , used in the Colt revolver of the Wild West . Introduced in 2003, the Smith & Wesson Model 500 is one of the most powerful revolvers, utilizing the .500 S&W Magnum cartridge. Because the rounds in a revolver are headspaced on the rim, some revolvers are capable of chambering more than one type of ammunition. Revolvers chambered in .44 Magnum will also chamber .44 Special and .44 Russian , likewise revolvers in .357 Magnum will safely chamber .38 Special , .38 Long Colt , and .38 Short Colt ; while revolvers in .22 WMR can chamber .22 Long Rifle , .22 Long , and .22 Short , it

3430-460: The Belgian gunsmith Mariette invented a hammerless pepperbox with a ring trigger and turn-off barrels that could be unscrewed. In 1836, American Samuel Colt patented a popular revolver which led to the widespread use of the revolver. According to Colt, he came up with the idea for the revolver while at sea, inspired by the capstan , which had a ratchet and pawl mechanism on it, a version of which

3528-742: The Beretta M9 and the SIG Sauer M17 , especially in circumstances where faster reload times and higher cartridge capacity are important. 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. Elisha Collier of Boston, Massachusetts, patented a flintlock revolver in Britain in 1818, and significant numbers were being produced in London by 1822. The origination of this invention

3626-456: The Chiappa Rhino (.357 Magnum, 9×19mm , .40 S&W , or 9×21mm ) except for the 2" and 3" models, respectively. However, certain revolvers, such as the Taurus Judge and Charter Arms revolvers, can be fitted with accessory rails. Revolvers most commonly have 6 chambers, hence the common names of "six-gun" or "six-shooter". However, some revolvers have more or less than 6, depending on

3724-450: The Ruger LCR , Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 38, and Taurus Protector Polymer. The new design incorporates polymer technology that lowers weight significantly, helps absorb recoil, and is strong enough to handle .38 Special +P and .357 Magnum loads. The polymer is only used on the lower frame and is joined to an upper frame, barrel, and cylinder that are made of metal alloy. Polymer technology

3822-656: The Single Action Army , the "Colt .45" (not to be confused with Colt-made models of the M1911 semi-automatic ), and "the Peacemaker", one of the most famous handguns ever made. 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 clones and lookalikes, and its overall appearance has remained

3920-415: The extractor to engage, and sometimes serving to headspace the cartridge. There are various types of firearms rims in use in modern ammunition. The main types are categorized as rimmed , rimless , semi-rimmed , rebated , and belted . These describe the size of the rim in relation to the base of the case. The rimmed cartridge, sometimes called flanged cartridge, is the oldest of the types and has

4018-566: 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. Revolvers have remained popular in many areas, although for law enforcement and military personnel, they have largely been supplanted by magazine-fed semi-automatic pistols , such as

OTs-38 Stechkin silent revolver - Misplaced Pages Continue

4116-584: The American private sector as defensive, sporting, and hunting firearms. In the 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. Later weapons featured multiple barrels revolving along

4214-577: The QSPR's intended and narrow application: clearing the confined and dimly lit to pitch-black tunnels encountered by “ tunnel rats " during the Vietnam War. No sights were fitted. The acoustic signature of QSPR rounds was around 110 dB (similar to a traditionally silenced .22LR pistol), the captive piston totally eliminated muzzle flash (vital when most engagements occurred in near or total darkness). While effective, only 250 QSPRs were manufactured; production

4312-417: 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 instead supplied by the user either through cocking the hammer or, in a double-action design, by just squeezing the trigger. Another significant advantage of revolvers

4410-566: The barrel pivoted upwards, hinged on the forward end of the topstrap. On the S&;W tip-up revolvers, the barrel release catch is located on both sides of the frame in front of the trigger. Smith & Wesson discontinued it in the third series of the Smith & Wesson Model 1 1/2 but it was fairly widely used in Europe in the 19th century after a patent by Spirlet in 1870, which also included an ejector star. The most modern method of loading and unloading

4508-412: The barrel, allowing the bullet to be fired through the bore. By sequentially rotating through each chamber, the revolver allows the user to fire multiple times until having to reload the gun, unlike older single-shot firearms that had to be reloaded after each shot. The hammer cocking in nearly all revolvers is manually driven and can be cocked either by the user using the thumb to directly pull back

4606-421: The barrel. Pulling the lever would drive a rammer into the chamber, pushing the ball securely in place. Finally, the user would place percussion caps on the nipples on the rear face of the cylinder. After each shot, a user was advised to raise the revolver vertically while cocking back the hammer so as to allow the fragments of the spent percussion cap to fall out safely. Otherwise, the fragments could fall into

4704-438: The belt became somewhat synonymous with "magnum" during the late 20th century. More recently, new "magnum" cartridges introduced in the United States have been rimless or used rebated rims based on the .404 Jeffery that fit the same .512" bolt face used for the belted cases. Revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding

4802-413: 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

4900-440: The bullet fires from the bottom chamber of the cylinder instead of the top chamber, as is typical in revolvers. This is intended to reduce muzzle flip , allowing for faster and more accurate repeat shots. In addition, the cylinder cross-section is hexagonal instead of circular, further reducing the weapon's profile. The first revolvers were front loading (also referred to as muzzleloading ), and were similar to muskets in that

4998-448: The bullet securely in place until fired. Crimping affects the overall length of the cartridge, and thus cannot be used on cartridges which headspace on the case mouth. This can be a problem for magnum revolvers or rifles which simultaneously chamber more than one round of ammunition, as the recoil from the firing successive rounds can loosen the bullets in the remaining cartridges, and cause their bullet seating depth to change, which can have

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5096-432: The captive piston propellant gas containment system) ejected fifteen tungsten balls from the special cartridges, weighing 7.5 grain (0.5 grams) each, exiting at a muzzle velocity of around 730 fps (222ms) for a muzzle energy of roughly 135 ft-lbs (185J). This load was tailored to wound at up to 100 ft (30 m), and have a practical, and potentially fatal, effect at ranges below 30 ft (10 m), deemed sufficient for

5194-416: The cartridge headspaces off the case mouth, like a rimless case. If the chamber is cut shallow, so the case headspaces off the mouth, the rim is used for extraction only; a standard chamber will use the rim for both headspacing and extraction. Examples of semi-rimmed handgun cartridges are .25 ACP , .32 ACP , 8×22mm Nambu , .38 ACP , .38 Super , and 9mm Browning Long . Semi-rimmed rifle examples include

5292-516: The case mouth, for a straight walled case, or on the case's shoulder for a bottlenecked case (although a bottlenecked case can headspace on the case mouth, depending on the cartridge); the extractor groove serves only for extraction. The lack of a projecting rim makes rimless cases feed very smoothly from box magazines , drum magazines , and belts . Rimless cases are not well suited to break-open and revolver actions, though in break-action firearms they can be used with appropriate modifications, such as

5390-424: The case, though not as much as a rimmed cartridge. The tiny rim provides minimal interference feeding from a box magazine , while still providing enough surface to headspace on. Semi-rimmed cases are less common than the other types. The .38 Super , a higher pressure loading of the old .38 ACP case, is notorious for being less accurate than rimless cases, and so most modern .38 Super handguns are chambered so that

5488-692: The case. The OTs-38 revolver is claimed to be effectively silent, as the sound level of the live and dry firing is practically identical. This system is virtually identical to that employed by the Quiet Special Purpose Revolver (QSPR) a variant of the commercially available Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum revolvers, rebuilt to fire specially manufactured dedicated integrally silenced ammunition: Early prototypes had very short smooth-bore barrels with 0.40 inch (10 mm) bore and matching chambers, but later versions have longer barrels of up to four inches (100 mm). QSPR ammunition (which pioneered

5586-446: The case. The face of the bolt has the same diameter as the case and follows it into the chamber. This means that the extraction claw also has to fit within the chamber, and therefore the case's rim has been rebated. An unusual example of rebated-rim autocannon rounds have been used in the T168 autocannon prototype, the 3%1×120mmRB T268 which was designed for reverse loading of the rounds into

5684-565: The chamber. A telescopic example existed, the 23×260mm round used in the Rikhter R-23 autocannon that operated in a similar way. The original purpose of the "belt" on belted cases (often referred to as belted magnums ) was to provide headspacing; the extractor groove is cut into the belt just as it is cut into the case head on a rimless case. The belt acts as a rim on what is essentially a rimless case. The design originated in England around 1910 with

5782-478: The cost of ownership, the .50 AE was designed with a rebated rim, which matched the diameter of the rim of the .44 Magnum , the most common caliber used in the Desert Eagle pistol. By using the same rim dimensions, a Desert Eagle could be converted from the .44 Magnum to the .50 Action Express by merely changing the barrel and magazine. Other convertible cartridges, such as the short-lived .41 Action Express (with

5880-485: The cylinder in place, with the chamber aligned with the barrel. When the trigger is pulled, it 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,

5978-455: The cylinder when loading, so as not to damage the crane. One unique design was designed by Merwin Hulbert in which the barrel and cylinder assembly were rotated 90° and pulled forward to eject shells from the cylinder. 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

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6076-593: The cylinder. The barrel and cylinder are then rotated back and locked in place, and the revolver is ready to fire. Top-break revolvers are able to be loaded more rapidly than fixed frame revolvers, especially with the aid of a speedloader or moon clip. However, this design is much weaker and cannot handle high pressure rounds. While this design has become mostly obsolete, supplanted by the stronger yet equally convenient swing-out cylinder design, manufacturers still make reproductions of late 19th century designs for use in cowboy action shooting . The first top-break revolver

6174-577: The earliest examples of the modern revolver were made in Germany. These weapons featured a single barrel with a revolving cylinder holding the powder and ball. They would soon be made by many European gun-makers, in numerous designs and configurations. However, these weapons were complicated, difficult to use and prohibitively expensive to make, and thus not widely distributed. In the early 19th century, multiple-barrel handguns called " pepper-boxes " were popular. Originally they were muzzleloaders , but in 1837,

6272-428: The firing mechanism and barrel. In contrast, other repeating firearms, such as bolt-action , 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 one "single action" to perform—releasing

6370-423: The first adoption did not come until 1888 with its Patrone 88 . The rim on a "rimless" case is almost or exactly the same diameter as the base of the case. A recess formed between the rim and the body of the cartridge is known as an extractor groove , allowing the case to be grasped by an extractor after being fired. Since there is no rim projecting past the edge of the case, the cartridge must headspace on

6468-717: The first revolver to use self-contained metallic cartridges rather than loose powder, pistol ball , and percussion caps. It is a single-action , pinfire revolver holding six rounds. On November 17, 1856, 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

6566-498: The front and rear of the frame, and the frame is typically full thickness all the way around, fixed cylinder revolvers are inherently strong designs. Accordingly, many modern large caliber hunting revolvers tend to be based on the fixed cylinder design. Fixed cylinder revolvers can fire the strongest and most powerful cartridges, but at the price of being the slowest to load or unload since they cannot use speedloaders or moon clips to load multiple cartridges at once, as only one chamber

6664-432: 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 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

6762-469: The hammer (as in single-action ), or via internal linkage relaying the force of the trigger-pull (as in double-action ), or both (as in double-action/single-action ). Some rare revolver models can utilize the blowback of the preceding shot to automatically cock the hammer and index the next chamber, although these self-loading revolvers (known as automatic revolvers , despite technically being semi-automatic ) never gained any widespread usage. Though

6860-595: The hammer to fire the shot. In contrast, with a self-cocking, or double-action, revolver, one long squeeze of the trigger pulls back the hammer and revolves the cylinder, then finally fires the shot, thus requiring more force and distance to pull the trigger than in a single-action revolver. They can generally be fired faster than a single-action, but with reduced accuracy in the hands of most shooters. Most modern revolvers are "traditional double-action", which means they may operate either in single-action or self-cocking mode. The accepted meaning of "double-action" has come to be

6958-407: The higher-pressure magnum cartridge from accidentally being chambered in a gun with a chamber of similar size. Examples of belted handgun cartridges include the .40 BSA Auto Pistol and .40 G&A Magnum. Belted rifle / machine gun examples include the .224 Weatherby Magnum , .300 Winchester Magnum , .375 H&H Magnum , .450 Marlin , .458 Lott , 13×64mmB and .55 Boys . In the United States,

7056-491: 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 Modèle 1873 and the later British 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

7154-432: 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 Long Rifle , a caliber popular for target shooting and teaching novice shooters; .38 Special and .357 Magnum, known for police use; the .44 Magnum , famous from Clint Eastwood 's Dirty Harry films; and

7252-421: The majority of weapons using a revolver mechanism are handguns, other firearms may also have a revolver action . These include some models of rifles , shotguns , grenade launchers , and autocannons . Revolver weapons differ from Gatling-style rotary weapons in that in a revolver only the chambers rotate, while in a rotary weapon there are multiple full firearm actions with their own barrels which rotate around

7350-530: 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 revolvers , as well as the Beaumont–Adams and Tranter revolvers—early double-action weapons in spite of being muzzle-loaders. In 1854, Eugene Lefaucheux introduced the Lefaucheux Model 1854 ,

7448-436: The next half century. Early revolvers were caplock muzzleloaders: the user had to pour 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 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

7546-413: The nomenclature. Rimmed cartridges are well suited for certain types of actions, such as revolvers and break-action firearms, where the rim helps hold the cartridge in position. Rimmed cartridges generally do not work quite as well in firearms that feed from a box magazine , since the magazine must be carefully loaded so that the rim from each successive case is loaded ahead of the round beneath it, so

7644-405: 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 was done to facilitate loading while on horseback; with the revolver held in the left hand with the reins of the horse, the cartridges can be ejected and loaded with the right hand. Because the cylinders in these types of revolvers are firmly attached at

7742-501: The patent 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. 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

7840-425: The powder and bullet were loaded separately. These 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. When loading, each chamber in the cylinder was rotated out of line with the barrel, and charged from the front with loose powder and an oversized bullet. Next, the chamber was aligned using the ramming lever underneath

7938-419: 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 1872 "open top" and the Smith & Wesson Model 3 , were designed from the start as cartridge revolvers. In 1873, Colt introduced the famous Model 1873, also known as

8036-435: The revolver's mechanism and jam it. Caplock revolvers were vulnerable to "chain fires", wherein hot gas from a shot ignited the powder in the other chambers. This could be prevented by sealing the chambers with cotton, wax, or grease. Chain fire led to the shots hitting the shooters hand, which is one of the main reasons why revolver rifles were uncommon. By the time metallic cartridges became common, more effective mechanisms for

8134-588: The rim matches the size of the rim of the 7.62×39mm , allowing those parts to be used in the custom-built upper receivers. Other rebated rifle cartridges include the .450 Bushmaster , .458 SOCOM , .500 Jeffery , and .375 SWISS P . Rebated cartridges are used for a different reason on automatic cannons derived from the 20-mm Becker , of which the best known belong to the Oerlikon family. These "advanced primer ignition" (API) blowback weapons feature straight-sided chambers which are longer than necessary to contain

8232-433: The rim to contain the priming compound to ignite the cartridge instead of a centrally-mounted primer , as is commonly used in centerfire cartridges. Under the metric cartridge designation system, a capitalized "R" added at the end of the designation denotes a rimmed cartridge. For example, " 7.62×54mmR " is a rimmed cartridge, while " 7.62×51mm " is a rimless cartridge. Under Imperial or Customary designations, there

8330-575: The round will not snag on the rim of the cartridge below it as the bolt strips it out of the magazine. However, box magazine firearms firing rimmed cases have seen extensive use; the famous Lee–Enfield rifle used by the UK, and the Russian Mosin-Nagant rifle which uses an interrupter to help prevent the snags, were both used from before World War I until after World War II. Semi-automatic handguns have been chambered in rimmed cartridges as well, for example

8428-478: 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 revolvers do not come with accessory rails , which are used for mounting lights and lasers , except for the Smith & Wesson M&P R8 ( .357 Magnum ), Smith & Wesson Model 325 Thunder Ranch ( .45 ACP ), and all versions of

8526-421: The same cartridge to be chambered in the firearm, if the round protrudes into the rifling of the barrel past the length of the chamber, the rifling can act as a fluted chamber to ease extraction. This allows some firearms chambered for similar rimmed cartridges to safely chamber and fire shorter cartridges, such as using .38 Special cartridges in a .357 Magnum revolver - as these are the same diameter despite

8624-541: The same rim diameter as 9×19mm Parabellum ) used in the Jericho 941 convertible pistol and Uzi submachine gun and carbine, would function in the same magazine, and thus required only a barrel change for a different caliber. The .440 Cor-Bon is another cartridge with a rebated rim the same diameter as the .44 Magnum. The FN 5.7×28mm (used in the FN Five-seveN semi-automatic handgun and FN P90 personal defense weapon)

8722-490: The same since 1873. Although originally made for the United States Army , the Model 1873 was widely distributed and popular with civilians, ranchers , lawmen , and outlaws alike. 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

8820-407: The size of the gun and caliber of the bullet. Each chamber has to be reloaded manually, which makes reloading a revolver a much slower procedure than reloading a semi-automatic pistol. Compared to autoloading handguns, a revolver is often much simpler to operate and may have greater reliability. For example, should a semiautomatic pistol fail to fire, clearing the chamber requires manually cycling

8918-592: The specialized role as a shield gun; law enforcement personnel using a "bulletproof" 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 their relative mechanical simplicity and ease of use. In 2010, major revolver manufacturers started producing polymer frame revolvers like

9016-409: The travel is designed to not completely extract longer, unfired rounds). The cylinder may then be loaded (individually or with the use of 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

9114-502: Was discontinued after the US withdrawal from Vietnam. In contrast to its virtually stock predecessor, the later OTs-38 is innovative to a degree unusual even in special purpose weapons: The OTs-38 is fitted with an integral laser sight located above the cylinder axis (where a conventional revolver has its barrel) powered by three D-0.03D batteries. [REDACTED] Media related to OTs-38 at Wikimedia Commons Rim (firearms) A rim

9212-455: Was extruded as spaghetti -like rods, so the cartridge cases had to be fairly cylindrical shaped to accommodate the cordite propellant rods. The belt was carried through on other cartridges derived from the .375 Velopex, like the belted .375 Holland & Holland Magnum of 1912, in some cases to allow the cartridge to function in bolt-action rifles (the original .375 H&H Magnum was a rimmed case for use in double-barreled rifles), or to prevent

9310-409: Was made with the ability to chamber 25 different cartridges with bullet diameters between .355" and .357". Revolver technology is also present in other weapons used by the U.S. military. Some autocannons 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

9408-421: Was patented in France and Britain at the end of December in 1858 by Devisme. The most commonly found top-break revolvers were manufactured by Smith & Wesson, Webley & Scott, Iver Johnson, Harrington & Richardson, Manhattan Fire Arms, Meriden Arms , and Forehand & Wadsworth . The tip-up revolver was the first design to be used with metallic cartridges in the Smith & Wesson Model 1 , on which

9506-440: Was then reissued as U.S. patent RE00124 entitled Revolving gun on October 24, 1848. This was followed by U.S. patent 0,007,613 on September 3, 1850, for a Revolver , and by U.S. patent 0,007,629 on September 10, 1850, for a Revolver . In 1855, Rollin White patented the bored-through cylinder entitled Improvement in revolving fire-arms U.S. patent 00,093,653 . In 1856, Horace Smith & Daniel Wesson formed

9604-542: Was used in his guns to rotate the cylinder by cocking the hammer. This provided a reliable and repeatable way to index each round and did away with the need to manually rotate the cylinder. Revolvers proliferated largely due to Colt's ability as a salesman , but his influence spread in other ways as well. The build quality of his company 's guns became famous, and its armories in America and England trained several seminal generations of toolmakers and other machinists , who had great influence in other manufacturing efforts of

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