[dcp1987]

ok so i collect weird and odd guns. and was wondering if anyone knew of some odd revolvers?

my 2 are autorevolvers.
the mateba unica 6
and the webley fosburry
the mateba is extra weird because the barrel is at the 6-o-clock position on the cylinder

 

[Bob Wright]

Mauser built one odd revolver, a zig-zag auto revolver similar to the Webley-Fosberry. And all of the Merwin Hulbert guns are odd in their extraction system. From the blackpowder, the Crispin revolver, with the rim in the middle of the case is one for the books.

And, all of the patent evasion guns made in the U.S. to circumvent Rollin White's patent would qualify as "odd."

And, the Dardick, or was it Dardwick, revolver, a magazine fed revolver firing triangular shaped "trounds" of ammunition. There was an adapter that allowed conventional .357 Magnum cartridges to be inserted and loaded into the magazine.

Come to think of it, there are very few things which haven't been tried by the designers.

Bob Wright

 

[c3shooter]

Similar to the Dardick, but much older- the .307 Schneelock Triangular Revolver Cartridge (no, really, I could not make that name up!)

Shown in Winant's Firearms Curiosa, the charge holes in the cylinder were triangular rather than round. Shape was sort of like cutting an orange in half, and looking at how the sections fitted into the round orange. Bore was triangular, rotating on its axis to spin the bullet. Find a copy of Winant's book- more weird guns than anything I have seen.

There have been revolvers with superposed loads (Walch 12 shooter- 2 loads in each charge hole- fire front load, then rear) and the Lemat- upper barrel for pistol bullets, lower barrel was shotgun.

And the Gyrojet Rocket pistol- cartridge was a solid fuel 45 cal rocket- hammer struck nose of bullet, driving it back on a fixed firing pin.

PS- I have ONE reproduction Crispin cartridge. Weirder than socks on a rooster!

 

[dcp1987]

Similar to the Dardick, but much older- the .307 Schneelock Triangular Revolver Cartridge (no, really, I could not make that name up!)

Shown in Winant's Firearms Curiosa, the charge holes in the cylinder were triangular rather than round. Shape was sort of like cutting an orange in half, and looking at how the sections fitted into the round orange. Bore was triangular, rotating on its axis to spin the bullet. Find a copy of Winant's book- more weird guns than anything I have seen.

There have been revolvers with superposed loads (Walch 12 shooter- 2 loads in each charge hole- fire front load, then rear) and the Lemat- upper barrel for pistol bullets, lower barrel was shotgun.

And the Gyrojet Rocket pistol- cartridge was a solid fuel 45 cal rocket- hammer struck nose of bullet, driving it back on a fixed firing pin.

PS- I have ONE reproduction Crispin cartridge. Weirder than socks on a rooster!

where can i find this book?

 

[c3shooter]

Firearms Curiosa by Lewis Winant. It is out of print, but you can snag a copy over at amazon.com OR Failing that, have your local library request an inter-library loan. But trust me, this is one you will want to keep. Photography is black and white (old pictures, and old book) they would be marvellous in color. Another good one that you may get used is "US Cartridges and Their Handguns: by Chas. Suydam. Stuff I have never seen before- and a really great cartridge reference. And good photos of guns as well as ammo.

 

[dcp1987]

Firearms Curiosa by Lewis Winant. It is out of print, but you can snag a copy over at amazon.com OR Failing that, have your local library request an inter-library loan. But trust me, this is one you will want to keep. Photography is black and white (old pictures, and old book) they would be marvellous in color. Another good one that you may get used is "US Cartridges and Their Handguns: by Chas. Suydam. Stuff I have never seen before- and a really great cartridge reference. And good photos of guns as well as ammo.

thanks
ill probably keep an eye out at the gunshows
if i still cant find it ill turn to amazon
i really appreciate the info

 

[BillM]

ok so i collect weird and odd guns.

my 2 are autorevolvers.
the mateba unica 6
and the webley fosburry

You actually HAVE a Webley-Fosbery auto revolver and a Mateba?

 

[dcp1987]

You actually HAVE a Webley-Fosbery auto revolver and a Mateba?

i wish
those are my 2 favorite odd guns
i don't own either yet i was just saying they were my submission.
im in the process of getting a mateba but it probably won't be until aug that i can get it. the webley fosbery on the other hand i don't think i could ever justify spending that much on them.

the 2 weirdest guns i own are
a webley mk4 with a safety on it
and a daisy vl rifle that shoots caseless 22 rounds

 

[c3shooter]

You did know that your Daisy SORT of had a handgun ancestor? The Volcanic Repeating Pistol. Used a caseless cartridge of sorts.

BTW- there was an NRA reprint of Firearms Curiosa a few years back- they did a really nice job- green leather binding, gold page edges, and silk end papers in the book. If you see one of those reprints, snap it up. I got one about 5 yrs ago, it is the best LOOKING book in my library.

And just for plain butt ugly- ever see an Apache (French Apache, not American) pistol? Pinfire revolver with brass knucks and a spike dagger.

 

[dcp1987]

You did know that your Daisy SORT of had a handgun ancestor? The Volcanic Repeating Pistol. Used a caseless cartridge of sorts.

BTW- there was an NRA reprint of Firearms Curiosa a few years back- they did a really nice job- green leather binding, gold page edges, and silk end papers in the book. If you see one of those reprints, snap it up. I got one about 5 yrs ago, it is the best LOOKING book in my library.

And just for plain butt ugly- ever see an Apache (French Apache, not American) pistol? Pinfire revolver with brass knucks and a spike dagger.

yeah i know theres been a few other guns that shoot caseless rounds but i think that the daisy was the only one released to civilians and i think it might be the only one that was ignited by compressed air

 

[Kent E]

I'd love to see pictures of these, it's very facinating.

 

[dcp1987]

I'd love to see pictures of these, it's very facinating.

here is one of my webley

here is one of the mateba

 

[Kent E]

The mateba is very cool.

 

[Bob Wright]

The Volcanic was made and sold by Smith & Wesson, was the favorite sidearm of Oliver Winchester. It was developed from the Hunt repeater designed by Walter Hunt, inventor of the safety pin. It was this on which B. Tyler Henry based his design.

But it was a repeating pistol, not a revolver.

Bob Wright

 

[Bob Wright]

The Webley you picture does not appear to be a Webley-Fosberry. The Webley Fosberry was recoil operated, your photo does not appear to have the recoilling barrel and zig-zag cylinder. Please elucidate.

If that's tryuly a Webley/Fosberry, the barrel, cylinder assembly will slide rearward on the fram, rotating the cylinder and cocking the hammer.


Bob Wright

 

[c3shooter]

Bob- you are correct- lever action (sorta) pistol, not revolver. And the earlier post indicated the owner knew this was not a W-F.

And FWIW, one of the weirder revolvers I can recall had an upper and lower barrel, and an inner and outer row of cartridges in the cylinder. BIG cylinder, but a lot of ammo.

 

[Bob Wright]

Bob- you are correct- lever action (sorta) pistol, not revolver. And the earlier post indicated the owner knew this was not a W-F.

And FWIW, one of the weirder revolvers I can recall had an upper and lower barrel, and an inner and outer row of cartridges in the cylinder. BIG cylinder, but a lot of ammo.

These were made up in the latter 'sixties by a custom gunsmith, whose name I don't recall, using N-Framed S & W revolvers. They were dual caliber, .357 and .22 R.F., and had a flip up firing pin.

Bob Wright

 

[c3shooter]

The Smith's may have been a resurrection of an older idea- have seen these from the late 1800's. 2 hammers, side by side- one fired upper row, one lower row. Did not catch on due to problems in keeping something like that in time!

 

[dcp1987]

The mateba is very cool.

yeah it is im saving up for one but they are like 1800
they also have a carbine version thats really sick

 

[dcp1987]

The Webley you picture does not appear to be a Webley-Fosberry. The Webley Fosberry was recoil operated, your photo does not appear to have the recoilling barrel and zig-zag cylinder. Please elucidate.

If that's tryuly a Webley/Fosberry, the barrel, cylinder assembly will slide rearward on the fram, rotating the cylinder and cocking the hammer.


Bob Wright

yeah i know this is the weird gun i own
it's a webley mk4 made under the singapore police force contract
it was the only handgun webley ever made with a safety
thats what makes it weird
a push button safety on a revolver

i do want a fosberry but doubt ill ever have the money to justify getting one