For someone who has fought mainsprings back into revolvers because some jackass didn't know the trick, this is the coolest damn system I have ever seen. It's like an armorer designed this.
Imagine ,all that intricate design work and machining without any CAD CAM. All done on manual machines using basic carbon steel cutting tools...no carbide , no high speed steel .. damned impressive .
I absolutely love this. It feels like an engineer's dare. He created a revolver. Then someone challenged him farther. Then again. And again. It's amazing.
My father was a native of Ogden, Utah. While yet a teenager he was an accomplished precision machinist in a shop that worked primarily in automotive but did some of everything including occasional work on Browning prototypes. Dad lived to be over 100 and had an insatiable interests in technology, engineering and science as well as the humanities. Though not into guns, he would have loved this video. Thank you.
The pistol is tipped to the left, left index across onto the break release, left pinky/ring on the plunger and will kick the spent off to the side. The second threaded hole is for the saddle holster's lanyard, easier to screw and unscrew than to tie an additional lanyard to the lanyard ring and risk cutting both. Once the gun is empty you can collect the cartridges from your left hand sliding them in with a shucking motion of the open gun then flick it shut again.
Hole seems too small. If anything it looks like it might be part of some sort of bench mounting assembly, otherwise there'd be no need for it to be so deep, or maybe even a semi-permanent stock.
The grip hole is 100% for a buttstock, though none were ever actually produced commercially for the gun. I imagine it was more of a "whatever the end-user wants it to be" accessory hole. Having the hole would only be marginally more expensive than not having the hole, and the gun already had a lot of very "premium" features for what it was, so I suspect they didn't see a reason to remove the hole from the production flow.
This awesome . Shorter format with all the relevant information. That gun seems odd at first look , but as you look deeper you can see some serious thought went into the design. The numbered parts is a nice touch.
Looks like the inspiration for the Hill's Patent revolver which are quite common here in Australia and load the same way except they have automatic extraction.
A lot of features to make this revolver more user friendly. They really seemed to think about ways of making this revolver easier for the end user to use.
I wanna see Mae review it! You know, handeling, poitabillity, comfartableness, useability for protection of life and personal freedom etc etc, all of the essentials that is. Great thanks.
I did some looking around for Spirlet patents and found that on many clones of the Spirlet that hole was for a disassembly tool. I have only found one Spirlet patent drawing which does have the hole and a drawing of something in that hole but it isn't immediately clear what purpose it would serve; and is not marked with a call out for what it would be used for. However my estimation is that it would also serve as some form of disassembly tool, or possibly some form of cleaning instrument.
I really like that design; the numbered dis/re-assembly feature is especially kind. Which calibre? How does Mae shoot it? etc. thank you -- I'm so glad that I have found this channel (about 6 months ago?).
It looks like someone moved the lanyard loop back by drilling a hole and using a bolt to retain the lanyard loop, probably because the loop got in the way, or it could be for the disassembly tool found on other examples
Wow that is a very special wheel gun indeed! someone clearly wanted it very handing for servicing! Also glad to see you have come to your sense and are using the Patented Plastic Pokey once again! Also looking forward (somewhat) patiently for the next chapter of Reprocussion. Best wishes to everyone at C&Rsenal
An advantage with the bottom break loading revolvers is that there is more meat to the bottom frame than there is on the top strap. This would probably make it not loose timing like a top break with a bent top strap.
This was great! Loving this new format. Glad to see you're willing to cover things that take more than just 2 or 3 minutes with this series. I've always heard that 10 minutes is the minimum length for a video to be monetized and this falls just barely short of that. Just something to consider! Can't wait for more of these.
That’s going to get hot holding onto the barrel like that during the reload. Could the threaded hole be for a screw driver to get the grips off since it’s the only place you need a tool.
I think Othias only removed the grips to show the mechanism for removing the spring tension, you wouldn't need to remove the grips to disassemble the lock works.
@@tda2806 -- Someone thought it could be for an something to oil the internals with, maybe a screw with a tiny rod attached and some oil in the hole, that seems to fit in nicely with the thought set behind the disassembly mechanisms.
@@thesmallestminorityisthein4045 It is however, a black powder cartridge, which will put off more heat than you would expect. Loading would likely have been an administrative task anyway, not something expected to be done without plenty of time to let the barrel cool between reloading.
That's one of the most serviceable pieces of equipment I've ever seen, a very nice design that could be fully cleaned, inspected and oiled with around 1 paragraph's worth of instruction and no tools whatsoever, I'll bet that hole's for an oiler, too. seems to fit the design theme, and it'd be the sort of thing that would get lost almost immediately! I think you should make one to go in there anyway, it would drive you less insane know that you were using it for at least one of it's possible purposes!
That's pretty cool, especially the spring detensioner and the numbering system. I have to wonder if the locking mechanism was up to the task for more powerful cartridges as time progressed though. Maybe the ease of disassembly was unpopular with gun sellers who probably also repaired guns?
Othias I suggest a use for that strange hole at the bottom. Given the presence of that disassembly button and the numbering of parts and such, perhaps that hole was for mounting it in a jig to disassemble it while upright. Perhaps that particular gun was some kind of training aid for...gunsmiths, factory technicians, cadets in anticipation of an unlikely military adoption?
Could even have been a display model, intended to be bolted down to the table top while still upright so potential customers could get a grip on it without possibly "accidentally" walking out after they "mistakenly" dropped it into their pocket. But I like your idea of training, as it would explain all the numbered parts and their corresponding pins. It's little details like that threaded hole that probably have a story all their own - if only we knew what it was. :-)
@@aussiebloke609 yeah, that was kinda what was getting at. Entirely speculation as to how they marketed guns in that time period, but I do believe I have see odd display guns pop up on occasion
I guess any design that doesn't swing out the cylinder to one side is more lefty friendly. If one would grab the front with the right hand, the left would stay on the handle until it's open and would do the rest of the reloading. This is more ambidextrous than a webley-fosbery having the hinge-lever on one side of the hammer.
Excellent video! Thank You for presenting this very interesting revolver, I had no known yet, I would have enjoyed even more, if there were some infos about the specifics and history of this gun.
This is actually smart on many levels. It's safe, it's easy to inspect, dissassemble and assamble and fairly fast to reload. Manifacture might be a bit more expensive then your average revolver but not by a huge margin.
Said no customer ever: I need a complicated revolver that works the opposite of a Webley and S&W .44. Belgian: Yes. Customer: Cool. I didn't until now realized how much I wanted this.
it almost seems like a show piece like, the screw is to put the gun on display with all the bits exposed and numbered for a salesman/presenter to show the inner workings and the spring de-tensioning tab so he can remove pieces or let people touch it without hurting themselves.
For an 1870 design, this revolver is ahead of its time... other than the break-open frame, this design gives most modern revolvers a real challenge... and a break-open frame is not a horrible design, given that Webley retained such into the 1950s. The mechanical engineer in me really likes the features
Brilliant, a little over thought, but brilliant. Only issue about the way you demonstrate the unload/reload, is , if fired enough the barrel would be a little warm to hold .
i have that gun... in mine there is an oiler in the grip. no markings on it tho, so i dont know, but think, it is original. (english is not my first language..... as you an proberly see ;) )
Nice little odd revolver. With the different hammer and spring and sear relationship, how is the trigger? Does it feel any different from other revolvers of the time?
That is delightful. Do you know anything about who may have been involved in the design or where the mechanisms came from? There are like 8 unique mechanisms in that thing that should've been patented.
That hole in the bottom of firearm would give you an option to attach revolver to some kind of table, witch would also explain the upwards opening of firearm. Don't know really, but that might be the case.
Oooo... some very neat features. At first I thought I would be looking at basically just another revolver, but I quickly transitioned to a series of "Really?". Interesting.
Only thing I’d wonder about your reloading method would be how hot the gun would be if you had just fired six rounds in rapid succession. If you have to hold the gun right about at the cylinder and forcing cone to reload it, heat could become an issue.
For someone who has fought mainsprings back into revolvers because some jackass didn't know the trick, this is the coolest damn system I have ever seen. It's like an armorer designed this.
Imagine ,all that intricate design work and machining without any CAD CAM. All done on manual machines using basic carbon steel cutting tools...no carbide , no high speed steel .. damned impressive .
And I imagine a lot of hand fitting those parts with files to match those interacting surfaces.
@@VeraTR909 Yes, no doubt. I imagine these had to be meticulously assembled and adjusted individually to work correctly.
@@ifitsfreeitsforme1852 Any one who bought one of these would want to be sure to get one which had been assembled on a Wednesday or a Thursday.
Normal people are kept up at night by strange noises or past regrets.
Othais is kept up at night by strange holes in weird Belgian revolvers.
Fairly sure the term weird is completely redundant when discussing Belgian revolvers.
🙂a pleonasm
Brilliant! I love these old revolvers from the days when materials were expensive and skilled craftsmen were cheap.
I absolutely love this. It feels like an engineer's dare. He created a revolver. Then someone challenged him farther. Then again. And again. It's amazing.
This is my favourite type of breakdown video: Come for the weirdness, stay for the clever little details.
Clever way to talk about non martial firearm outside of main series. Thanks a lot!
My father was a native of Ogden, Utah. While yet a teenager he was an accomplished precision machinist in a shop that worked primarily in automotive but did some of everything including occasional work on Browning prototypes. Dad lived to be over 100 and had an insatiable interests in technology, engineering and science as well as the humanities. Though not into guns, he would have loved this video. Thank you.
My theory is that the threaded hole is for a tripod mount.
Say cheese!
i am loving all this shorter content so i can still get my knowlage fix when i dont have the time for a full primer episode
The pistol is tipped to the left, left index across onto the break release, left pinky/ring on the plunger and will kick the spent off to the side. The second threaded hole is for the saddle holster's lanyard, easier to screw and unscrew than to tie an additional lanyard to the lanyard ring and risk cutting both. Once the gun is empty you can collect the cartridges from your left hand sliding them in with a shucking motion of the open gun then flick it shut again.
Is that hole on the grip big enough for an oiler, seeing as the rest of the gun is setup so nicely for maintenance?
That does seem like it would not only make sense to include, it would fit in with thought set behind the very cool disassembly mechanics.
Came here to say oiler, too.
Hole seems too small. If anything it looks like it might be part of some sort of bench mounting assembly, otherwise there'd be no need for it to be so deep, or maybe even a semi-permanent stock.
Maybe, but I don't see why it would be threaded all the way to the bottom (if I understood correctly) if it's for an oiler.
The grip hole is 100% for a buttstock, though none were ever actually produced commercially for the gun. I imagine it was more of a "whatever the end-user wants it to be" accessory hole. Having the hole would only be marginally more expensive than not having the hole, and the gun already had a lot of very "premium" features for what it was, so I suspect they didn't see a reason to remove the hole from the production flow.
This awesome . Shorter format with all the relevant information. That gun seems odd at first look , but as you look deeper you can see some serious thought went into the design. The numbered parts is a nice touch.
Very nice! I like how the safety sear is held by the trigger, therefore not needing a fly.
Looks like the inspiration for the Hill's Patent revolver which are quite common here in Australia and load the same way except they have automatic extraction.
It's a bit surprising that this gun doesn't have automatic extraction, it has so many other features. Or had that not been invented yet by anyone?
I am blown away by the engineering behind that.
That cam function at the top for the hammer is so simplistically clever.
I enjoyed this! I have trouble with the time for the long videos. I love them but have had to skip several.
God bless all here.
Looking forward to the next C&Rsenal series: Magazine
Clever
Oooo, written publication, cool.
Maybe we get some united C&R society called "en bloc". :-D
Maybe an interwar sereees "aramstice"
@@davitdavid7165 Until such time again as, "War Were Declared".
I like the side plate hinging out ... thats cool
A lot of features to make this revolver more user friendly. They really seemed to think about ways of making this revolver easier for the end user to use.
I wanna see Mae review it!
You know, handeling, poitabillity, comfartableness, useability for protection of life and personal freedom etc etc, all of the essentials that is.
Great thanks.
Nice video. It is just amazing the level of machine work the artisans of that era were capable of.
I did some looking around for Spirlet patents and found that on many clones of the Spirlet that hole was for a disassembly tool. I have only found one Spirlet patent drawing which does have the hole and a drawing of something in that hole but it isn't immediately clear what purpose it would serve; and is not marked with a call out for what it would be used for. However my estimation is that it would also serve as some form of disassembly tool, or possibly some form of cleaning instrument.
A very neat old gun. I love the clever takedown and all the thought that was put into making the springs behave.
I really like that design; the numbered dis/re-assembly feature is especially kind.
Which calibre?
How does Mae shoot it?
etc.
thank you -- I'm so glad that I have found this channel (about 6 months ago?).
The info I've found online suggests they are 450 bore.
The reloading process makes perfect sense to me.
Labeled in a way that expects the user to disassemble it, rather then putting in a manual “take to a gunsmith”. I like it.
Thanks for showing all of us gun/history buffs another blast from the past.
Guys. I'm loving these videos. This gun was neat. Keep up the good work.
It looks like someone moved the lanyard loop back by drilling a hole and using a bolt to retain the lanyard loop, probably because the loop got in the way, or it could be for the disassembly tool found on other examples
Wow that is a very special wheel gun indeed! someone clearly wanted it very handing for servicing! Also glad to see you have come to your sense and are using the Patented Plastic Pokey once again! Also looking forward (somewhat) patiently for the next chapter of Reprocussion. Best wishes to everyone at C&Rsenal
The numbered parts are amazing!
What a fabulous design! I'd fiddle with this thing for hours!
So nice of them to number the pieces in order of disassembly! Never heard of something similar!
It's fairly common in Euro revolvers of that period. Swiss M82 for instance.
@@BlokeontheRange Ooh, then I saw it before and didn't realise it! Pay more attention next time...
An advantage with the bottom break loading revolvers is that there is more meat to the bottom frame than there is on the top strap. This would probably make it not loose timing like a top break with a bent top strap.
That's a very cool revolver, any chance of seeing May shoot it?
That is amazing I literally shouted out "woah" when you opened up the gun
This was great! Loving this new format. Glad to see you're willing to cover things that take more than just 2 or 3 minutes with this series. I've always heard that 10 minutes is the minimum length for a video to be monetized and this falls just barely short of that. Just something to consider! Can't wait for more of these.
From the patent drawing, it sure looks like an oiler screwed into the hole. A three minute search for Spirlet revolver 1869 found the the drawing.
That’s going to get hot holding onto the barrel like that during the reload.
Could the threaded hole be for a screw driver to get the grips off since it’s the only place you need a tool.
You wouldn’t be firing it enough or fast enough on a commercial piece
I think Othias only removed the grips to show the mechanism for removing the spring tension, you wouldn't need to remove the grips to disassemble the lock works.
@@tda2806 -- Someone thought it could be for an something to oil the internals with, maybe a screw with a tiny rod attached and some oil in the hole, that seems to fit in nicely with the thought set behind the disassembly mechanisms.
No, this wouldn't get very hot. Its a relatively small [read: weak] cartridge, its nothing like the heat off a modern magnum or even .38 special.
@@thesmallestminorityisthein4045 It is however, a black powder cartridge, which will put off more heat than you would expect. Loading would likely have been an administrative task anyway, not something expected to be done without plenty of time to let the barrel cool between reloading.
I think you are spot on about a shoulder stock
Really really good episode. So well described, nice job!!!
That's one of the most serviceable pieces of equipment I've ever seen, a very nice design that could be fully cleaned, inspected and oiled with around 1 paragraph's worth of instruction and no tools whatsoever, I'll bet that hole's for an oiler, too. seems to fit the design theme, and it'd be the sort of thing that would get lost almost immediately! I think you should make one to go in there anyway, it would drive you less insane know that you were using it for at least one of it's possible purposes!
very cool design thanks for presenting it to us Othias
Genuinely one of the more interesting revolvers I've seen
I love this. I enjoy the strings at the start and the end.
I really like this idea, it would be great if this could be a regular series. The sub 10 min runtime is fantastic
You can't Othais.
That's pretty cool, especially the spring detensioner and the numbering system. I have to wonder if the locking mechanism was up to the task for more powerful cartridges as time progressed though. Maybe the ease of disassembly was unpopular with gun sellers who probably also repaired guns?
The threaded hole is probably for a maintenance pin that comes with it. You can see similar pins in some British models
That screw hole next to laniard loop is probably used for mashining fixtures.
The number disassembly/assembly is fascinating.
I believe I recall Forgotten Weapons showing a French revolver of similar vintage having that same thing, disassembly by numbers.
Othias I suggest a use for that strange hole at the bottom. Given the presence of that disassembly button and the numbering of parts and such, perhaps that hole was for mounting it in a jig to disassemble it while upright. Perhaps that particular gun was some kind of training aid for...gunsmiths, factory technicians, cadets in anticipation of an unlikely military adoption?
Could even have been a display model, intended to be bolted down to the table top while still upright so potential customers could get a grip on it without possibly "accidentally" walking out after they "mistakenly" dropped it into their pocket. But I like your idea of training, as it would explain all the numbered parts and their corresponding pins.
It's little details like that threaded hole that probably have a story all their own - if only we knew what it was. :-)
@@aussiebloke609 yeah, that was kinda what was getting at. Entirely speculation as to how they marketed guns in that time period, but I do believe I have see odd display guns pop up on occasion
Awesome revolver, they really thought of everything
That is a very cool gun. Amazing design.
I’m used to you showing bottom-hinge break top revolvers. Would this design favor “wrong handed” 🙂 shooters like Ian M.?
It would not.
t. I'm left-handed
Why would it, both designs are horizontally symmetrical more or less
I guess any design that doesn't swing out the cylinder to one side is more lefty friendly. If one would grab the front with the right hand, the left would stay on the handle until it's open and would do the rest of the reloading.
This is more ambidextrous than a webley-fosbery having the hinge-lever on one side of the hammer.
Fascinating revolver! The designer was clearly ahead of his time.
What a fascinating piece.
Excellent video! Thank You for presenting this very interesting revolver, I had no known yet, I would have enjoyed even more, if there were some infos about the specifics and history of this gun.
That's a very elegant system.
This is actually smart on many levels. It's safe, it's easy to inspect, dissassemble and assamble and fairly fast to reload. Manifacture might be a bit more expensive then your average revolver but not by a huge margin.
The amount of 3000 IQ engineering in this gun is mind-boggling
Eyyy, its a new clip episode! Nice!
great job as all ways. need one of those in my collection now.
Thank you for all your Research into interesting guns
Wow what a cool design!
Great video, thanks. Good to see the Patented Plastic Pokey again.
What about a handguard mounting point for wax-bullet dueling purposes as the explanation for the threaded hole under the palm?
What a cool revolver, nice short I’v never seen on of these
You bring the coolest stuff. 😎
Said no customer ever: I need a complicated revolver that works the opposite of a Webley and S&W .44.
Belgian: Yes.
Customer: Cool. I didn't until now realized how much I wanted this.
I like this new series. Keep it up!
My guess is the hole's for an oiler or small screwdriver, but who knows. I'm just happy to see a weird ol' wheelgun!
it almost seems like a show piece like, the screw is to put the gun on display with all the bits exposed and numbered for a salesman/presenter to show the inner workings and the spring de-tensioning tab so he can remove pieces or let people touch it without hurting themselves.
I like your short little videos. Still full of great stuff but short.
Great video, well done.
For an 1870 design, this revolver is ahead of its time... other than the break-open frame, this design gives most modern revolvers a real challenge... and a break-open frame is not a horrible design, given that Webley retained such into the 1950s.
The mechanical engineer in me really likes the features
Maybe that mystery threaded hole was here to store some kind of small tool for di
sasembly or maintenance?
Awesome series love it
Brilliant, a little over thought, but brilliant.
Only issue about the way you demonstrate the unload/reload, is , if fired enough the barrel would be a little warm to hold .
Does the threaded hole in the pommel open behind the flat spring? Is so, it could be a type of strain screw.
i have that gun... in mine there is an oiler in the grip. no markings on it tho, so i dont know, but think, it is original.
(english is not my first language..... as you an proberly see ;) )
Very interesting design for sure
Wow great for us old men with shot attention span! Thanks
Excellent short video for my short attention span.
I love this I hope to see more clips like this
Nice little odd revolver. With the different hammer and spring and sear relationship, how is the trigger? Does it feel any different from other revolvers of the time?
That is delightful. Do you know anything about who may have been involved in the design or where the mechanisms came from? There are like 8 unique mechanisms in that thing that should've been patented.
Enjoying the occasional break from martial firearms to look at the lesser known weapons of the era!
Funky. Convenient. I like it!
Interesting! Keep these coming.
I appreciate the short video.👍
Such a clever design!!!!! interesting indeed!
Quite a brilliant design for the time period.
Neat and clever little gun
Other Channels Clips: 2-3 mins and then there is C&Rsenal almost 10 mins. Anyway keep being you Othais and Mae.
That hole in the bottom of firearm would give you an option to attach revolver to some kind of table, witch would also explain the upwards opening of firearm. Don't know really, but that might be the case.
And here I thought Client Eastwood's self-cocking trigger Starr 1858 Army from Unforgiven was one of the more peculiar revolvers I've seen.
Oooo... some very neat features. At first I thought I would be looking at basically just another revolver, but I quickly transitioned to a series of "Really?". Interesting.
Only thing I’d wonder about your reloading method would be how hot the gun would be if you had just fired six rounds in rapid succession. If you have to hold the gun right about at the cylinder and forcing cone to reload it, heat could become an issue.