Revolver capacities

N

Nightcrawler

New member
Most revolvers hold six cartridges. Many of the smaller ones hold 5. A few hold 7. Some .22 caliber ones hold 8 or 9.

Now, I'm looking through a Cabela's catalog. They have a reproduction of the LeMat Revolver, which was preferred by some Confederate Cavalry during the civl war. It's a single action black powder, .44 caliber, break-open design. An interesting feature is a second barrel, about 20 gauge, that was designed to fire buckshot. Pretty fearsome looking piece.

Anyway, it holds 9 .44-cal rounds in the cylinder. I understand that modern cartridges are much higher intensity than black powder, but with modern metallurgy, couldn't they make a revolver that's smaller than a Taurus Raging Bull that holds 6 shots of .44 Mag, .41 Mag, or .45 Colt? They do it with single actions, after all. But all the double action revolvers that are chambered in .41 mag or .45 colt, unless they're large-framed, hold only five cartridges. I'd like to see something about the size of a Taurus Tracker that holds 6 shots of .41 or .45. (I know Taurus makes a Tracker in .41 magnum, but again, it holds only five cartridges).

Just pondering...
 
Tis a matter of cylinder diameter required to hold the six holes with a modicum of metal between holes. I think you will find that the cylinder (and whole gun) of the LeMat to be quite large.

Cylinder diameters on Smith 686 and 696 are essentially alike at about 1.56". The 686 holds six .357 rounds and the 696 just barely holds five .44s.

Sam...I want a L frame .41mag
 
The LeMat revolver is a HONKING HOGLEG.

I've handled both an authentic one, and shot a reproduction.

Neat revolver, but there's a reason why they were issued to cavalry units. They were simply too large and heavy to be comfortably carried by infantry.

They were, in every sense of the word, horse revolvers.
 
I too have shot the new reproduction LeMat. My friend, that I do a bit of reinacting with bought one and the first thing he had to do was take it into a gunsmith and have the little cylinder retainer changed back to the original knurled knob rather than the lever clip that is currently installed. It kept coming loose with firing. It's heavy and not real well balanced but I can understand how those extra shots and the 'garbage can' 20 guage tube were desirable features in combat. It's complicated with many small parts and does not react well in a dirty environment. Black powder fouling quickly builds up making the piece unuseable after about 30 or so shots. It's not a fast reloader but keeping in mind the purpose for which the gun was designed it's doubtful that fast reloading was part of the picture. Most fellows on horse preferred to carry at least three or as many as six revolvers (usually Colts or Remingtons) in braces or saddle pouches that were discarded when empty and retreived later after the action. Short double barreled shotguns were also carried loaded with heavy slugs or buck and ball for use on horses. The amount of armament carried by a trooper was easily three times that of a foot soldier. Because of the expense and rarity of the piece a Le Mat was not something to be dropped in action but probably was only carried by officers whose liklihood of being in frontline combat was minimal and the 20 guage tube was used for last ditch personal defense. A real interesting piece to be sure and something that alot of fellows like to show but not my favorite to use.
 
Several other things in general that I forgot to mention to you Nightcrawler come to mind in regards to getting into shooting replica black powder revolvers. I've been shooting mine regularly for over seven or eight years now and experience has taught me that there are two or three things that will either break or get to the point that they have to be replaced so it's a good idea to buy these extra parts when you buy the gun. One is an extra trigger because the top claw will get worn down to the point that it will have a very light catch on the hammer. This is extremely dangerous and no revolver should be used in that condition. One other is to get an extra hand with spring. This spring gets tired and can cause a misalignment on the cylinder in relation to the barrel and hammer. Sometimes just enough to where the damn thing will fire but the bullet will strike the breech end of the barrel or even the frame. All the other parts such as nipples and cylinder catches/stops will wear out and need to be always checked for condition. This is probably all common sense to you if you've been shooting the old style guns for a while but since I don't know that I figured it would be better to warn you now than that you learn from experience like I did.
 
Cpnfderate soldiers who carried the LeMat liked to say that the 9 .44 caliber shots were for Yankees. When asked what the shotgun barrel was for they replied "Damn Yankees!".
 
Since the shotgun barrel on the Le Mat was also the center pin for the cylinder, its size meant that the cylinder had to be bigger, so the designer simply made use of the extra space to add three more chambers. Le Mats are not small, but neither they nor the ten shot .22s hold the revolver record.

Some freak revolvers made in Belgium had cylinders holding up to 40 rounds of .22 or .25 caliber ammunition. A percussion revolver had eight six-shot cylinders on a "Ferris wheel" arrangement which allowed a loaded cylinder to be swung into place when one was emptied. Needless to say, not many were used for concealed carry, though a shoulder holster for it would have been interesting.

Jim
 
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