Lefaucheux pen fire revolver

Lefaucheux pen fire revolver
general information
Developer / Manufacturer:	Eugène Lefaucheux
Manufacturer country:	France and others
Production time:	1854 to about 1914
Weapon Category:	revolver
Furnishing
Overall length:	257 mm
Weight: (unloaded)	0.970 kg
Barrel length :	128 mm
Technical specifications
Caliber :	10.7 mm
Fire types:	Single fire
Number of trains :	7 / right
Visor :	open sights
Lists on the subject

The Lefaucheux pen fire revolver is a revolver for pen fire cartridges . It was developed in 1854 by the French gunsmith Eugène Lefaucheux and offered various advantages over the percussion revolvers used at the time , which were still muzzle-loaders with paper cartridges . The Lefaucheux pen fire revolver, on the other hand, was a breech- loader and was loaded with metal cartridges. The French navy led the revolver in 1858 as the world's first military used handgun , a metal cartridges. That is why the revolver is also known as Modèle 1858 or M1858 . Further orders followed from other countries. The revolver was also in demand with civilian buyers and was copied by various manufacturers.

history

Predecessor: Bundle revolver for pen fire cartridges

In 1836, the gunsmith Casimir Lefaucheux developed a unitary cartridge that integrated the projectile , the propellant charge and the igniter in a metal case . The Lefaucheux ignition had a special feature: the ignition means was activated by a small stick protruding from the side. Casimir Lefaucheux and his son Eugène Lefaucheux developed a new cartridge for the Bündelrevolver , she in the 1851 World Exhibition Great Exhibition in London exhibited.

Casimir Lefaucheux died in 1852, his son Eugène Lefaucheux continued the work. He introduced far-reaching improvements, for example on April 15, 1854 in France he patented a drilled revolver drum, which was a prerequisite for a breech-loading revolver. That happened a year before Rollin White's patent in the United States. He finally developed the pen fire revolver named after him in 1854.

Percussion revolvers were common in the mid-19th century . The percussion cap was inserted into the drum from behind, while the paper cartridge , which contained the propellant charge and the projectile, was loaded into the drum from the front. The Lefaucheux pen fire revolver offered several advantages over this. It was faster to reload and it was moisture-resistant.

The French Army showed no interest, but the French Navy did not . The navy was particularly open to the new concept because of the moisture-resistant cartridges. The predominantly humid climate on the ships posed a problem for the firearms of the time. The Navy was looking for a reliable revolver for the boarding commands . After a test phase of over three years, the French Navy put the revolver into service in 1858 as the Modèle 1858 pistolet revolver . It was the first military revolver with metal cartridges. Further government contracts were made B. from Sweden, Italy, Russia, Spain and Norway. The weapon was reproduced in various calibers, variants and qualities, mainly in France and Belgium, also for the civil market. The original revolvers were built by Lefaucheux until around 1871, cheaper copies from other manufacturers until 1914.

The Lefaucheux revolver was a very advanced handgun when it appeared in 1854. The technical development of weapons continued quickly. As early as 1870, Lefaucheux developed the Lefaucheux revolver Model 1870 for center fire cartridges on the basis of the M1858 model on behalf of the French Navy . With this, he started a trend for the establishment of central ignition. Many Lefaucheux revolvers used by the military were converted to central ignition in the following years.

technology

Open loading flap

Partially depressed ejector

The frame consists of two parts; one part with handle and trigger mechanism , the second with barrel and ejector for the cartridge cases. The drum is held between the two frame halves by a pin attached to the frame, which serves as the drum axle . The two parts are held together by a single screw located in front of the trigger guard. Depending on the variant, this is attached either horizontally or vertically. There is no frame bracket over the drum; this design is called open-top (open at the top). In order to give the construction more strength, some models still have a bracket over the drum. One end of the bracket is shaped like a dovetail; the recess allows the hammer to reach the firing pin. In a few variants, the frame is even forged from one piece.

The loading flap is attached to a hinge on the right faceplate ; when opened, a cartridge can be inserted into the drum. To load another cartridge, the drum must be turned further. To protect the protruding and sensitive ignition pins from unintentional impacts, the shield plate was larger than the drum diameter. The drum is without fluting , i.e. H. Smooth outside, and holds six cartridges. But there were also exotic variants with a larger drum for 10 or more cartridges. The ejector is attached to the opposite side of the drum, to the right under the barrel. With the ejector, empty tubes are unloaded individually via the opened loading flap.

The trigger mechanism is different: There are models with single action (pulling the cock back with the thumb cocks it and turns the drum, index finger pulls the trigger and triggers the shot) and double action (index finger pulls the trigger, this cocks the hammer, turns the drum and fires the shot). The double-action trigger mechanism is very well constructed. In addition to the hammer (hammer) and the trigger, two trigger rods are involved. The design was also used by weapon developers Henri Gustave Delvigne and J. Chamelot. Many of the weapons made for the civilian market had a folding trigger . In some variants, the trigger guard has a spur, in many cases it is oval and without a spur. The handle is rounded, there is an eyelet at the bottom of the handle to attach a lanyard to it.

The caliber was usually 10.7 mm and was referred to as 11 mm, while the cartridge was 12 mm. These different sizes are sometimes presented confusing in the literature. In addition, the weapon was recreated for various pen cartridges, e.g. B. 7 mm, 10 mm and 15 mm.

Manufacturer, variants and use

In addition to the Lefaucheux factory in Paris , the revolvers were also produced in Saint-Étienne by the Société Manufacturière d'Armes and in other factories in Belgium . The best-known manufacturer besides Lefaucheux was Auguste Francotte in Liège , Belgium.

France

The French Navy introduced the weapon provisionally on October 27, 1857 and then officially on March 4, 1859 as Modèle 1858 . Eugène Lefaucheux would have liked to produce the revolver for the Navy in his factory in Paris, but the Navy insisted on production in the state-owned Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne . The Navy paid Lefaucheux an average of 5 gold francs per weapon as a license fee . The average production costs in Saint-Étienne were 58.20 gold francs per weapon and were thus higher than the price of the weapons produced by Lefaucheux. Over 6000 pieces were made in Saint-Etienne. The military model 1858 differed only slightly from the civilian model built since 1854. At the instigation of the weapons inspector Léon Dechambe z. B. made modifications to the visor. The Navy struggled to remove the revolver from service, although there were later more modern alternatives. In the 1870s, most of the 1858 models were reworked for central ignition and double action and then referred to as Modèle 1858 N and Modèle 1858 NT .

Although the French Army never officially introduced the weapon, it was popular among army personnel. Some cavalry units that were supposed to take part in the French intervention in Mexico (1861-1867) requested the Lefaucheux revolver and received it. Some French cavalry officers also wielded the revolver in the Franco-Prussian War (1870/71).

United States

Northern cavalryman with revolver

The United States Army tested the revolver in 1858. Although the weapon showed good properties in the test, no order was placed. After the outbreak of the Civil War (1861-1865), both parties tried desperately to obtain weapons. At least 12,639 Lefaucheux revolvers were imported from the northern states and 2,000-5,000 from the southern states . Some of the revolvers for the northern states were bought through the sales representative Marcellus Hartley . After the war he founded the Union Metallic Cartridge Company , which produced ammunition. On the southern side, Caleb Huse acted as a commercial agent. The majority of these Lefaucheux revolvers were able to be acquired by both parties in Belgium. Most of these weapons used the standard 12mm ammunition.

After the Colt , Remington and Starr muzzle loading revolvers, the Lefaucheux was the fourth most popular revolver in the Civil War.

The weapon proved itself in this conflict, but there were supply problems because of the special ammunition. The effect of the 12 mm ammunition was comparable to the .44 of the widely used Colt Army Model 1860 . Experience showed that the Lefaucheux revolver was not as robust as the American percussion revolver.

Probably the most famous bearer and proponent of the weapon was the Southern General "Stonewall" Jackson .

Denmark

The Danish Army acquired Lefaucheux revolvers made by Auguste Francotte in 1865. In 1897 these were converted to central ignition by Kronborg Geværfabrik .

The Danish Navy put Lefaucheux revolvers, also manufactured by Auguste Francotte, into service in 1871. As early as 1881 the navy had the revolver switched to central ignition by the naval shipyard in Copenhagen .

Norway

Norwegian Lefaucheux revolver with additional reinforcement

The Norwegian Navy introduced the Lefaucheux revolver in 1859, followed by the Army in 1864. The Navy bought 1,300 units in France, 200 of them as double action. The army only introduced single actions; 1,300 from France, 200 were built in the Norwegian Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk . 200 of the revolvers from France had an octagonal barrel and were intended for officers. According to Norwegian information, the revolvers were accurate to about 80 m. The Norwegian military considered the open-top frame to be too weak and in 1898 equipped the revolver with an additional bracket over the drum. The weapon was used by the Norwegian coastal artillery until the 1930s .

Sweden

The Swedish armed forces acquired the revolver from Lefaucheux in 1863. Of these, 890 were intended for the Swedish Navy and 1065 for Swedish artillery. The majority of revolvers intended for artillery were not issued. In 1879 the revolvers were switched to central ignition and used until 1890.

Spain

Spanish revolver with bent handle from Oviedo

In Spain, various companies had been making the revolver since 1858, most notably Fábrica de armas de Trubia in Trubia , Orbea in Eibar and Fábrica de Armas de Oviedo in Oviedo . The buyers were the military and the civilian market. Some models had a characteristic bent handle.

The Spanish armed forces used the Lefaucheux revolver in the early stages of the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) in Cuba. This was replaced there by US revolvers.

Other nations

The Italian Carabinieri introduced the weapon in 1861. In Russia, the weapon was made by Tulski Oruscheiny Sawod in Tula . China imported various French weapons, including the Lefaucheux revolver, which was issued to officers.

Web links

Commons : Lefaucheux pen fire revolver - collection of images, videos and audio files

http://www.ordonnanzrevolver.de

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Edward Clinton Ezell : Small Arms of the World , 12th edition, Stackpole Books, 1983, ISBN 978-0-8117-1687-1 , pp. 39-46
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Jeff Kinard: Pistols: An Illustrated History of Their Impact , ABC-CLIO , 2004, ISBN 978-1-85109-470-7 , pp. 109–110 [ 1]
^ ^A ^b ^c Dennis Adler: Guns of the Civil War , Verlag MBI Publishing, 2011, ISBN 978-1-61060-140-5 , pp. 223-230 [2]
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g John F. Graf: Standard Catalog of Civil War Firearms , Krause Publications, 2009, ISBN 978-1-4402-2696-0 , p. 210 [3]
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Ian Hogg , John Walter: Pistols of the World , Verlag David & Charles, 2004, ISBN 978-0-87349-460-1 , pp. 198-199 [4]
^ Henri Vuillemin: Les revolvers de marine 1858-1892 in: Gazette des Armes No. 451, March 2013, pp. 12-17 [5]
↑ Raymond Cranta: The French Service Revolver Models of 1873 and 1874 in: Gun Digest 2011 , published by Krause Publications, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4402-1561-2 , page 18 [6]
↑ ^a ^b National Firearms Museum : Belgian Double Action Pinfire Revolver , [7]
↑ Dennis Adler: Lefaucheux Pinfire Revolvers , in: American Rifleman , June 21, 2011 [8]
^ ^A ^b ^c Philip Peterson: Standard Catalog of Military Firearms: The Collector's Price and Reference Guide , Gun Digest Books, 2011, ISBN 978-1-4402-1451-6 , pp. 74, 320
↑ Oyvind Flatnes: From Musket to Metallic Cartridge: A Practical History of Black Powder Firearms , Verlag Crowood, 2013, ISBN 978-1-84797-594-2 , p. 451 [9]
^ O. Janson, Göta Association for Weapon History: Swedish Military pistols and revolvers , August 5, 2012
↑ Gil Gil Borrallo: Evolución del arma corta en España , 2012, pp. 146–147 [10]
↑ Juan L. Calvó: LOS REVÓLVERES LEFAUCHEUX, DE LA FÁBRICA DE TRUBIA , 2008 [11]
↑ Juan L. Calvó: LOS REVÓLVERES LEFAUCHEUX, DE LA FÁBRICA DE OVIEDO , 2008 [12]
↑ Juan L. Calvó: LOS REVÓLVERES LEFAUCHEUX, DE LA FIRMA “ORBEA HERMANOS” , 2008 [13]
↑ Alejandro de Quesada: The Spanish-American War and Philippine Insurrection: 1898–1902 , Verlag Osprey Publishing , 2007, ISBN 978-1-84603-124-3 , p. 63 [14]
↑ Homepage Arma dei Carabinieri: Le armi delle Campagne per l'Indipendenza: I revolver della campagna contro il brigantaggio (1860–1870)
↑ Herbert G. Houze, Carolyn C. Cooper, Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser: Samuel Colt: Arms, Art, and Invention , Yale University Press , 2006, ISBN 978-0-300-11133-0 , pp. 115-116 [15 ]
^ Philip Jowett: Imperial Chinese Armies 1840–1911 , Osprey Publishing , 2016, ISBN 978-1-4728-1429-6 , p. 97 [16]

[Ezell-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Edward Clinton Ezell : Small Arms of the World , 12th edition, Stackpole Books, 1983, ISBN 978-0-8117-1687-1 , pp. 39-46

[Kinard-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Jeff Kinard: Pistols: An Illustrated History of Their Impact , ABC-CLIO , 2004, ISBN 978-1-85109-470-7 , pp. 109–110 [ 1]

[Adler-3] A ^b ^c Dennis Adler: Guns of the Civil War , Verlag MBI Publishing, 2011, ISBN 978-1-61060-140-5 , pp. 223-230 [2]

[Graf-4] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g John F. Graf: Standard Catalog of Civil War Firearms , Krause Publications, 2009, ISBN 978-1-4402-2696-0 , p. 210 [3]

[Hogg-5] Ian Hogg , John Walter: Pistols of the World , Verlag David & Charles, 2004, ISBN 978-0-87349-460-1 , pp. 198-199 [4]

[6] Henri Vuillemin: Les revolvers de marine 1858-1892 in: Gazette des Armes No. 451, March 2013, pp. 12-17 [5]

[7] Raymond Cranta: The French Service Revolver Models of 1873 and 1874 in: Gun Digest 2011 , published by Krause Publications, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4402-1561-2 , page 18 [6]

[nra-8] National Firearms Museum : Belgian Double Action Pinfire Revolver , [7]

[9] Dennis Adler: Lefaucheux Pinfire Revolvers , in: American Rifleman , June 21, 2011 [8]

[Peterson-10] A ^b ^c Philip Peterson: Standard Catalog of Military Firearms: The Collector's Price and Reference Guide , Gun Digest Books, 2011, ISBN 978-1-4402-1451-6 , pp. 74, 320

[11] Oyvind Flatnes: From Musket to Metallic Cartridge: A Practical History of Black Powder Firearms , Verlag Crowood, 2013, ISBN 978-1-84797-594-2 , p. 451 [9]

[12] O. Janson, Göta Association for Weapon History: Swedish Military pistols and revolvers , August 5, 2012

[13] Gil Gil Borrallo: Evolución del arma corta en España , 2012, pp. 146–147 [10]

[14] Juan L. Calvó: LOS REVÓLVERES LEFAUCHEUX, DE LA FÁBRICA DE TRUBIA , 2008 [11]

[15] Juan L. Calvó: LOS REVÓLVERES LEFAUCHEUX, DE LA FÁBRICA DE OVIEDO , 2008 [12]

[16] Juan L. Calvó: LOS REVÓLVERES LEFAUCHEUX, DE LA FIRMA “ORBEA HERMANOS” , 2008 [13]

[17] Alejandro de Quesada: The Spanish-American War and Philippine Insurrection: 1898–1902 , Verlag Osprey Publishing , 2007, ISBN 978-1-84603-124-3 , p. 63 [14]

[18] Homepage Arma dei Carabinieri: Le armi delle Campagne per l'Indipendenza: I revolver della campagna contro il brigantaggio (1860–1870)

[19] Herbert G. Houze, Carolyn C. Cooper, Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser: Samuel Colt: Arms, Art, and Invention , Yale University Press , 2006, ISBN 978-0-300-11133-0 , pp. 115-116 [15 ]

[20] Philip Jowett: Imperial Chinese Armies 1840–1911 , Osprey Publishing , 2016, ISBN 978-1-4728-1429-6 , p. 97 [16]