Rigid percussion revolver
The Starr-percussion revolvers were a series of revolvers that of Ebenezer Townsend Starr in Yonkers ( NY was built). For this purpose, he developed his own double-action trigger system in 1858.
history
As early as 1853, William Tranter patented the double-action trigger in England . The armorer Ebenezer Starr from Yonkers (New York) was enthusiastic about this system and developed his own model in 1858, the Starr Double Action.
In 1858 he developed two models in accordance with the calibres prescribed by the US Army: the double-action Navy revolver in caliber. 36 and the double-action Army revolver in caliber. 44. Starr was able to convince the US Army of his weapons and they commissioned a contingent.
Between 1861 and 1864 the Union Army bought 6,352 Navy and Army revolvers on the open market. When Starr wanted to do business with the army, they asked for a single-action model. This was immediately developed by Starr and he received a contract for 41,102 weapons from the US government. The single-action army model in. 44 was the third model. Between September 1863 and December 1864, Starr supplied more than 25,000 of them to the US government. The purchase price for the single-action model at the time was $ 12.00 each. That made it far cheaper than the complicated double-action models, which were then $ 25.00. Since the Starr model worked in the same way as the already proven models from Colt and Remington , but was much more complicated in terms of its construction, the US government canceled the delivery. In total, no more than 31,000 units were delivered to the US Army.
The following models were built:
- Rigid Model 1858 Double Action Cal. 36 Navy Revolver (1858–1860)
- Rigid Model 1858 Double Action Cal. 44 Army Revolver (1858–1863)
- Rigid Model 1863 Single Action Cal. 44 Army Revolver (1863–1864)
After the end of the civil war, production was stopped.
Structure of the weapon
The rigid revolver was not comparable to any of the weapons on the market at the time. It had a completely independent design (which cannot be said of all revolvers of the time). In contrast to the weapons in use at the time, the Rigid was a very complicated revolver made up of a large number of small individual parts. However, it was very easy to use. The frame consisted of two parts: an upper part that received the barrel and the lower part that was connected to the system box (mechanics). There was a hinge at the front connecting the two parts. This made it possible to tilt the weapon forward - similar to the later break-barrel models - in order to e.g. B. to replace the empty drum with a new, charged one.
It is worth noting that the double-action model was equipped with two triggers. This construction was very fine and not as bulky as z. B. in the model from Tranter . There was a clearly visible trigger and a second, small trigger was incorporated into the back of the trigger guard. With the big trigger the cock was cocked and the drum moved. If you then pulled the trigger completely, the second trigger was automatically pulled from the front and the gun fired. If you were practiced with the weapon, you could first cock the weapon with the trigger, aim and then fire with a little pressure - like a single-action model. But a quick pull through and thus quick firing was also possible.
The total length of the weapon was about 34 cm, the weight was 1.4 kg.
The barrel of the single-action model was 18 cm longer than that of the double-action models (15 cm).
The pistons on which the primers are placed were not separated from each other in milled recesses on the rigid revolver as in comparable Colt models, but protruded parallel from the rear. There was therefore a risk of overfire (the spark jumped from one chamber to the next).