Mauser C78 zig zag revolver
The Mauser C78 zig zag revolver was developed by the Mauser company in Oberndorf am Neckar from 1878 and was the first revolver in Germany to be mass-produced for modern cartridges with center fire until the late 1890s.
Development, history
The C78 revolver was originally developed by Peter-Paul Mauser as a test model for re-arming the German Army with handguns and handed over to the committee responsible for making the decision. In 1879, however, they decided to use the Reichsrevolver developed by Spangenberg & Sauer, Suhl , (today JP Sauer & Sohn ) and later manufactured by various companies . The next handgun manufactured by Mauser was the Mauser C96 pistol , which was mass-produced from 1896 .
technology
The first C78 models developed were single-action revolvers (cock tensioners). They had a closed frame that was loaded through a tailgate. The closed frame was later also used for the production of hunting rifles for small game hunting.
Later models, like the early Smith & Wesson No 1, were made with a hinged frame. In contrast to the Smith & Wesson, the joint was not attached to the front above the drum, but to the rear, and the drum did not have to be removed for unloading and reloading. As a six-shot revolver, they were produced with a single-action or double-action trigger in calibers between 5.6 mm Flobert and center fire cartridges up to 11 mm. The case was ejected via a manually operated ejector ring, with later models this was done automatically when opening.
Function of the drum rotation : The C78 revolver had a special rotating device for the drum. Unlike most other revolvers, it is not rotated by a toothed ring at the rear end of the drum, but by a pull rod connected to the hammer with a cam at the rear end. Straight and inclined grooves are milled into the outer surface of the drum. When the cock is cocked, the cam engages in the inclined groove and rotates the drum by one sixth to the next cartridge chamber. When firing, the hammer shoots forward, the attachment slides back in the straight groove, the drum remains in the firing position and the cartridge is ignited.
This system of drum rotation was developed in 1855 by EK Root, an employee of Samuel Colt (US Patent No. 13,999, Dec. 25, 1855 EK Root, Revolver) and applied to prototypes of the "Colt Root Revolver". From 1901 to 1924 the system was used in the Webley-Fosbery semi-automatic revolver manufactured by the Webley and Scott company in Birmingham .
literature
- Jaroslav Lugs: Handguns . 2nd Edition. Military publishing house of the GDR, ISBN 3-327-00032-8 .
- AWF Taylerson: Le Revolver 1865–1888 . Office du Livre, Friborg / Suisse 1968.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mauser C78 'Zig-Zag' revolver . Retrieved March 11, 2017.
- ↑ Klaus-Peter König: Handguns Today, Volume 1: Europe. 1st edition, Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart, 1997, ISBN 3-613-01791-1 , p. 28.