When it first appeared the revolver action was used in both handguns and long-arms to provide a multi-shot capability at a time when most arms were single-shot or double-barrel muzzle-loaders.
The largest of the revolving action arms was the Elijah K. Root designed Colt Model 1855 which was made both as a long-arm and handgun in 12 and 10 gauge.
Fast Facts
- The revolver action was not only used for handguns but in the mid-nineteenth century was also used for long-arms.
- In all probability the largest of the revolving long-arms was the Colt Model 1855 revolving shotgun which was made in both 12 gauge and 10 gauge.
- The 10 gauge Colt Model 1855 was made both as a long-arm and as a handgun.
- Although they are not regarded as having been successful as military arms in the United States, revolving carbines proved themselves to be practical and effective arms for personal defense and police work.
- A 10 gauge Colt Model 1855 revolving shotgun is coming up for sale by Rock Island Auction on October 4, 2024.
The revolver action was one of the earliest successful repeating systems for firearms and the revolver action has defied the efforts of over a century and a half of firearms technological advancement to render it obsolescent.
Of all the firearm designs that have emerged since that time it remains true that not much of anything is faster to get into action than a revolver, and, as long as they are kept clean, revolver reliability is excellent – as the pioneers of the Wild West experienced.
The use that most suits the revolver action is in handguns and there are reasons for that. But back in the 1840’s and 1850’s this type of action was new, untried, and subject to the limitations of the muzzle-loading percussion technology prevalent at that time.
New and untried it may have been, but in the minds of firearm designers and customers a reliable multi-shot firearm offered a significant advantage over a muzzle-loading single-shot. This was true both in military applications, for law enforcement, and for hunting and sporting arms.
The revolving action seemed at the time to offer the potential not only for a firearm to have multiple shots available, and available typically with the cocking of the hammer, but it also offered the ability to scale the action down for a small game or defensive firearm, or scale it up.
Although the sky was not the limit with this idea the revolving action was scaled up all the way to 10 gauge, which is a pretty impressive gun. What is even more impressive, I think, is that the 10 gauge version of the 1855 Colt Root’s Sidehammer was made both as a revolver and as a revolving carbine.
In the revolver the weight of the handgun was about six and a half pounds (3 kilograms), so this was without doubt a handgun for someone with a great deal of physical strength. The revolving carbine was a bit heavier than that, having a longer barrel and the added weight of the stock, but was a well balanced long-gun of reasonable weight for most people to carry and use.
In the black-powder era it was quite usual for arms to be made in large bore sizes. In the British Empire’s colonies encounters with dangerous game such as elephant, buffalo, lion and tiger were all to be expected and British gunmakers made large caliber revolvers up to .577″ with which the owner could expect to deter dangers posed both by animals and by people acting with bad intent.
The British also made “Howdah Pistols“, which were large caliber single or double barrel handguns primarily intended for defense against tigers and similar bit cats.
So the idea of a 10 or 12 gauge Colt revolver was really not so “out of the box” as one might at first suspect. And of course made as a revolving carbine would simply be a common sense gun.
While some seem to dismiss the revolving carbine as a firearm fraught with problems these arms actually proved their worth in the period of history around the 1850’s and 1860’s, prior to the widespread use of lever action rifles, especially those with side-gate loading such as the Winchester Model 1866.
Revolving carbines and revolvers were issued to some police forces in Australia and famously a British made Tranter revolving carbine was the favorite gun of Johnny Gilbert, one of the members of Ben Hall’s gang of “bushrangers” who caused problems for the people of central New South Wales.
In one instance Ben Hall’s gang attacked William Macleay, the member of parliament for Murrumbidgee as he was traveling the Sydney to Goulbourn road on 19th December 1864. Macleay was armed with a Tranter revolver and revolving carbine and managed to use them to good effect to force the gang to give up the fight and retreat.
So I think the historical evidence supports the idea that the revolving carbines proved to be quite efficacious as personal defense arms, even if they did not prove to be satisfactory as military arms in the United States.
You can find an interesting account of the uses of the Tranter revolvers and revolving carbines at the Firearms Technology Museum in Australia if you click here. Australia had its own “Wild West” era during the colonial period and produced its own outlaws, such as Ben Hall and his gang, and Ned Kelly, among others.
A Colt 1855 Revolving Shotgun for Sale
One of these fascinating Colt 1855 Revolving Shotguns in 10 gauge is coming up for sale by Rock Island Auction at their Sporting & Collector Firearms Auction #1047 which will be held October 4-6, 2024.
The sale revolving carbine shotgun has a 15⅝” part round barrel and five shot cylinder.
The gun is dated “1860-1863, and the upper tang is inscribed “J.H. Fairfield/from his Employees. Oct. 21st 1863”. The barrel has been shortened and the cleaning rod absent.
Rock Island Auction describe the condition of this gun as follows:-
“Fair, with some refinished blue on the barrel, patches of mild pitting scattered throughout, and significant cracking and chipping in the wrist along with staining and minor handling marks on the wood. Mechanically fine.”
You can find the sale page for this very interesting gun if you click here.
Picture credits: All pictures courtesy Rock Island Auction.
Jon Branch is the founder and senior editor of Revivaler and has written a significant number of articles for various publications including official Buying Guides for eBay, classic car articles for Hagerty, magazine articles for both the Australian Shooters Journal and the Australian Shooter, and he’s a long time contributor to Silodrome.
Jon has done radio, television, magazine and newspaper interviews on various issues, and has traveled extensively, having lived in Britain, Australia, China and Hong Kong. His travels have taken him to Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan and a number of other countries. He has studied the Japanese sword arts and has a long history of involvement in the shooting sports, which has included authoring submissions to government on various firearms related issues and assisting in the design and establishment of shooting ranges.
