Why is the revolver action only used for pistols?
Why don’t they make rifles or shotguns that use this action? Besides looking cool, it would benefit from the ablity to chamber different rounds of the same bullet size (like my grandmother’s 22LR/22MAG revolver, swappable drums) as well as being a semi-auto that has nothing move after the shot fires (for better accuracy) and can be single action/double action, so you can pull back the hammer for your first shot on a deer, and then pull the trigger through the next five as it is running away. No magazine to misfeed, and very easy to clean compared to what is involved tearing apart a pump or semi auto shotgun.
If they had a revolver-action rifle that was not just a stretched out pistol, but actually looked like a normal rifle if you covered over the action’s area, and it was chambered in a good deer round and you could easily mount a scope on it, i would definitely purchase one if i could budget it.
Thanks in advance!
Posted in used shotguns
February 27th, 2010 at 12:50 am
Actually, there have been some rifles made with revolver actions. They proved to be a bad idea because of the location of your forward hand that was supporting the front of the rifle. It was ahead of the cylinder. this presented a problem for both the cap and ball revolver rifles as well as the cartridge revolver rifles. With the cartridge rifles, the hot gasses and bits of lead that escape from the gap between the cylinder and the breach of the barrel would hit the shooter’s hand and arm causing burns and puncture injuries. Earlier, the cap and ball revolver actions were known for having all chambers go off at once due to flash over from one chamber to the others. When the shooter’s hand was in front fo the cylinder in this case, he would loose fingers and perhaps a hand.
They still make reproductions of this rifles but when you read the owner’s manual, it tells you not to put your hand in front of the cylinder when shooting it. You can see one of the reproduction revolver rifles in the Cabela’s catalog or their website. it is called the Cattleman’s Carbine .44 Caliber.
February 27th, 2010 at 12:50 am
When you fire a rifle your arm is holding the stock in front of the action. When a revolver fires; gas pressure blasts out from the gap between the cylinder and the barrel, this gas pressure can hurt you big time. A heavy jacket sleeve would protect your arm but exposed flesh with be burned or cut into by the escaping gas out the side of the cylinder.
The did make such a gun a long time ago;
http://www.floridagunworks.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/149.jpg
And reproductions are still made today.
NOTE; Why the thumb down? Maybe some one thinks I am wrong about them still making reproductions today? Well here it is;
http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0006192216074a.shtml
February 27th, 2010 at 12:50 am
there are far better designs more reliable and smoother to operate, if ther was a better way *john browning* would have already invented it
February 27th, 2010 at 12:50 am
take your revolver outside at night and shoot one watch the fire fly out behind the gun then imagine that being close to your face
February 27th, 2010 at 12:50 am
Inventors and manufacturers finally settle on what works best. There used to be revolving rifles, repeaters as they were known then, in the Eighteen-hundreds but they fell by the wayside to the lever-actions, bolts and other actions more suitable to the more powerful rifle cartridges. The 1892 Winchester continued to be chambered for pistol calibers until the present. The stronger 1894 Winchester action chambers the more powerful rifle calibers (with the single exception of some 1894s in .44 Magnum and some in the 1892 action). I don’t know if we ever had a revolving shotgun, but I wouldn’t be surprise.
Practicality won out and so no one is currently making anything but handguns with the revolver action.
H
February 27th, 2010 at 12:50 am
There have been revolver rifles and carbines in the past
There proved to be too many flaws in the design for it to last
Also the revolver action is not used on pistols it is used in revolvers
February 27th, 2010 at 12:50 am
in the 1800"s lots of gun makers tryed revolver type rifles and for one reason or another it was’nt good enough. the revolver more or less came from a pepperbox type of pistol and that again more or less came from the idea of breech loading cannons..there all related in one form or another..but the revolver rifle was deadend tech when other types of rifles came on the market. but all in all it was’nt that bad of a idea..if other and better types of rifle chambering systems did’nt come on line the revolver/rifle would have lasted a longer time because people would have had nothing else better to shoot with.
February 27th, 2010 at 12:50 am
I agree with Beeds on this one. However, there WAS one that worked very well during its day. It was the Porter turret rifle. Not exactly a revolving port like you would imagine, but it did limit the exposure to powder and gas burns. Here is one website:
http://www.mlagb.com/collecting/vmi.htm
This site discusses briefly the hazard of these things though.
http://www.leverguns.com/leverguns/pw_porter_rifle.htm
February 27th, 2010 at 12:50 am
Colt at one time made a revolving shotgun. It was susceptible to the same problems that blackpowder revolvers were, namely powder flash going sideways and setting all of the chambers off at once. This usually destroyed the gun and seriuosly injured the shooter. Due to the high pressures of modern ammunition, revolving rifles in rifle calibers are not practical. The chambers would have to be large enough to contain the pressure and the cylinder would be at least 8 inches across with a weight of around 3 to 4 pounds. This would make the rifle extremely heavy and unwieldy. A 22lr/22mag such as you suggest might have some merit as a practical idea for small game.
February 27th, 2010 at 12:50 am
They do make them. Beretta makes this one in .45 LC: http://www.berettausa.com/product/product_pistols_main.htm
The "Street Sweeper" shotgun used a revolver type action. And the Marines have the Milkor MGL 40mm grenade launcher that uses a revolver type action. It was developed in South Africa and is produced in the U.S. by Abrams Airborne in Tucson, AZ for the Marines.
February 27th, 2010 at 12:50 am
Colt made a revolver rifle. To see one in action watch the John Wayne movie "Eldorado"
There is also made now a 12 guage shotgun with a revolving cylinder called the Streetsweeper.
February 27th, 2010 at 12:50 am
http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?goto=lastpost&t=32785
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_Revolver_Rifle
http://www.remingtonsociety.com/rsa/journals/RevolvingRifles