Connecticut Arms. Brass Framed Front Loading .28 Cup-Primer Cartridge Single Action Revolver With .28" cup primer Revolver

C1860's American Connecticut Arms Company Norfolk Brass Framed Front Loading .28 Cup-Primer Cartridge Single Action Revolver With Octagonal Barrel. Sn 10646 10646

An excellent example of the unusual front loading .28 Cup-Primer Cartridge revolver by the American Connecticut Arms Company. It has a 3" octagonal barrel with top rib which is marked “CONN. ARMS CO. NORFOLK CONN.” The circumference of the cylinder is marked “PATENTED MAR. 1ST 1864. / PATENTED JAN. 16. 1866”. It has an undamaged brass frame stamped “4694”. The front sight is a half round blade. The pistol's were made without rear sight. The grips are smooth varnished rosewood which have just the bumps and bruises to be expected with age. The barrel, cylinder and hammer retain much of their original blue finish. The rifled bore is clean. The action functions correctly. This revolver loads its special cartridges from the front, and extracts them with a lever mounted on the frame’s right side, between the trigger and cylinder. The extractor reaches through the same notch in the cylinder that the hammer uses to strike the primer. The extractor then hooks into the rear of the cylinder and pushes the cartridge out the front. The revolver can only be loaded and unloaded with the hammer in the half cock position; otherwise the chamber openings are partially blocked by a portion of the barrel assembly. The cartridges used in this revolver had a priming compound in the cup shaped base of the cartridge. The hammer swung through the hollowed out center of the “cup” and struck the compound from the side, pinching it against the inside of the cartridge wall. This revolver was manufactured C1860's by the Connecticut Arms Company utilizing 1864 and 1866 issued patents by S. W. Wood. It was designed as a front loading cartridge revolver in an effort to circumvent the Rollin White patent held by Smith & Wesson which allowed for chambers bored completely through the cylinder and loaded from the rear. Price for this unusual American front loading pistol includes UK delivery. NB As an antique obsolete calibre pistol no licence is required to own this item in the UK if retained as part of a collection or display. Sn 10646
£595