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PISTOL

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Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 656 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PISTOL , a small See also:

fire-See also:arm designed for See also:quick See also:work and See also:personal See also:protection at See also:close quarters, and for use in one See also:hand. It was originally made as a single and also See also:double-barrelled smooth See also:bore muzzle-loader, involving no departure in principle from the See also:History.—Pistols are understood to have been made for the first See also:time at See also:Pistoia in See also:Italy, whence they receive their name. Caminelleo See also:Vitelli, who flourished in 1540, is the accredited inventor. The first pistols, in the 16th See also:century; had See also:short single barrels and heavy butts, nearly at right angles to the See also:barrel. Shortly afterwards the See also:pattern changed, the butts being lengthened out almost in a See also:line with the barrels. These See also:early pistols' were usually fitted with the See also:wheel-See also:lock (see See also:GuN). Short, heavy pistols, called " daggs," were in See also:common use about the See also:middle of the 17th century, with butts of See also:ivory, See also:bone, hard See also:wood or See also:metal. A chiselled See also:Italian dagg of 165o, for example, had a slightly See also:bell-nosed barrel of about 8 in. in length and 14 bore. The See also:German wheel-lock military pistols used by the Reiters, and those made for nobles and gentlemen, were profusely and beautifully ornamented. Pistols with metal hafts were common in the 16th and 17th centuries, many beautiful specimens of which, See also:silver-mounted, were made in See also:Edinburgh and used by Highlanders. Duelling, when in See also:vogue, caused the See also:production of specially accurate and well-made single-barrelled pistols, reliable at twenty paces. The pattern of this pistol seldom varied, its accuracy at short range equalling that of more See also:modern ones, the principle of a heavy See also:bullet and See also:light See also:charge of See also:powder being employed.

The first double-barrelled pistols were very bulky weapons made with the barrels laid alongside one another, necessitating two locks and two hammers. There was also the "over and under" pistol, one barrel being laid over the other. This was a more portable weapon, only requiring one lock and See also:

hammer, the second barrel being turned See also:round by hand, after the first had been fired, or, as an alternative, the flash-hole being adjusted to the second barrel by a See also:key. These pistols were first made with See also:flint and See also:steel locks and subsequently for percussion caps. Double " over and under " pistols were also made with a trigger mechanism that served to See also:discharge both barrels in turn. Revolvers.—A revolver is a single-barrelled pistol with a revolving See also:breech containing several See also:chambers for the cartridges, thus enabling successive shots to be rapidly fired from the same weapon without reloading. The See also:ordinary pistol is now, and has been for many years past, superseded by the revolver. The first revolver, fired with the percussion cap, was made with the whole of the barrels, six, seven or eight, revolving in one piece, and was known as the " See also:pepper-See also:box." It was " single See also:action," i.e. the hammer was raised and the barrels revolved by the pull of the trigger. This weapon was cumbrous and no accurate aim could be taken with it owing chiefly to the strength and resistance of the See also:main-See also:spring and the consequent strong pull required on the trigger. The principle of a revolving breech to one barrel, which superseded the " pepper-box," is an old one in the history of fire-arms, dating from the 16th century. At ordinary fire-arms of the See also:day. With the introduction of revolvers and breech-loading pistols and the application of " rifling " to See also:musket barrels, came also, in the early See also:half of the 19th century, the rifling of pistol-barrels.

first the breech See also:

cylinder was revolved by hand, as in the revolving See also:arquebus or matchlock, a specimen of which is now in the ' For the use of See also:long heavy pistols by See also:cavalry in the 16th and 17th centuries, see See also:ARMY: History; and CAVALRY. See also:Tower of See also:London, but this was subsequently improved by introducing geared mechanism, by which the pull of the trigger or the cocking of the hammer, or both, do the work. There exists a pistol of the time of See also:Charles I. which is rotated automatically as the hammer is raised. rapidly fired, if necessary, by the trigger action alone. Many revolvers on the See also:Colt principle were in use during the See also:Crimean See also:War and the See also:Indian See also:Mutiny, and proved of valuable service to See also:British See also:officers. As rim-fire, See also:pin-fire and central-fire cartridges were succes- In 1814 a self-acting revolver mechanism of a crude pattern i sively introduced, breech-loading revolvers were constructed was produced in See also:England. Four years later See also:Collier used a to use them. Messrs See also:Smith & Wesson, of See also:Springfield. U.S.A., produced the first metal cartridges for revolvers. Pin-fire cartridges, See also:paper and metallic, were used on the See also:continent of See also:Europe for Lefaucheux and other revolvers, and these and rim-fire cartridges are still used for revolvers of small calibre. But since the central-fire See also:cartridge has proved its superiority for guns, its principle has been generally applied to pistol cartridges, at first to the larger bores. The alteration of the muzzle-loading to the breech-loading See also:separate spring to rotate the chamber.

In 1835, an See also:

American, See also:Samuel Colt, produced and patented the first See also:practical revolving pistol, the See also:idea of which was obtained by him, it is stated, from an See also:ancient " revolving " weapon in the Tower of London. The chambers of the first Colt revolver were loaded with powder and bullets from the muzzle end, and each Chamber had a nipple that required to be capped. It was the invention of the See also:copper cap that made the Colt revolver possible. Under the old priming See also:system with exposed powder in a See also:pan the difficulty of separate and effective ignition with the revolving cylinder was almost insuperable. The first American revolver makers caused the cocking of the hammer to revolve the cylinder, while the See also:English makers effected this by the pull of the trigger. In 1855, See also:Adams of London, and also Tranter of See also:Birmingham, brought out the double-action revolver, in which the revolution of the cylinder could be effected by both these methods. When the revolver is cocked and fired by pressing the trigger, greater rapidity ofchamber in the revolver involved no decided See also:change of type. The See also:original Colt, as a breech-loader, remained practically the same weapon as before, with a changed chamber. A hinged flap uncovered the breech-chamber on the right, and as each chamber reached that point the empty cartridge See also:case was ejected by means of an ejecting-See also:rod carried in a See also:tube attached to the under See also:side of the barrel and kept in See also:place by a See also:spiral spring, and the chamber reloaded. The next improvement was greater ease and rapidity of extraction, obtained first by See also:Thomas's invention of making the barrel and chamber slide 11\0sv'rIg V101IIlin,nm,lirli inl s,ninpnnnogBl fire is obtained than when the hammer is cocked with the thumb, but accuracy is impaired, as the trigger requires a long pull and considerable force in See also:order to compress the mainspring and revolve the cylinder. The double action revolver was, there-fore, a See also:great advance on the single action, enabling the first and also following shots, if desired, to be accurately fired by a moderate pressure of the trigger after the hammer had been cocked by the thumb; or, alternatively, the revolver could be forward on the See also:frame of the pistol. The extractor, being fast to the See also:pivot, retained the cartridges until the chamber was pushed clear of them.

Then the chamber was made to See also:

swing on one side, as in the Colt pistol illustrated, enabling all the cartridges to be simultaneously extracted. Finally, self-extracting revolvers with jointed frames were introduced, in which the dropping of the barrel forces out the extractor as in an ordinary double gun, the extractor acting simultaneously in all the chambers of the pistol. A spring returns the extractor to its place when the empty cartridge cases have been ejected, and brings the barrel to an See also:angle of about 45°, for convenience in loading. The soundness and rigidity of the weapon depend upon the efficiency of the connexion between the barrels and the See also:standing breech, and a See also:top snap See also:bolt has proved the strongest and handiest with the pistol, as with the shot-gun. This type of revolver originated with Messrs Smith & Wesson, but they and other gunmakers have greatly improved upon the original See also:model. Between the American pattern and the English, as made by Messrs F. Webley & Son, the See also:chief difference is that in the Smith & Wesson the holding-down bolt or catch is upon the barrel, and it engages with the top ofhammer and trigger when the latch is pushed to the See also:rear for opening the cylinder, and does not unlock them until the cylinder is positively closed and is locked by the latch. The cylinder revolves and is supported on a central See also:arbour of the See also:crane (E). The crane fits in a See also:recess in the frame below the barrel and turns on its pivot arm (A). The ejector rod with its spring passes through the centre of the cylinder arbour and is terminated in rear by the ejector with a ratchet (y). Pushing against the front end of the ejector rod will empty the chambers, the cylinder being swung out for loading. The thumb-piece of the latch (j) slides to the rear in the See also:left side of the frame, unlocking the cylinder for opening, but upon closing the cylinder, the See also:body of the latch firmly enters a recess in the ejector, locking the cylinder in position for firing.

One great disadvantage of revolvers is the See also:

escape of See also:gas at the opening between the breech of the barrel and the cylinder. Fin. 5.-Percussion-lock pistol (Royal See also:United Service Institution). the standing breech; whereas in the Webley the bolt is upon the standing breech and grips the extremity of the hinged barrel. Neither mechanism is as strong as could be wished if heavy charges of smokeless nitro-compounds are to be used. This hinged type of revolver is most convenient for use on horseback, as the pistol can be opened, the cartridges extracted and the weapon reloaded with one hand. The Colt's Double-action Revolver, calibre .38, model 1896, used in the United States army, consists (See also:figs. 7 and 8) of the barrel (B), the cylinder (C) with six chambers, the frame (F), and the firing mechanism, all of steel. The muzzle velocity, with a charge of 16 grains of See also:black powder and a bullet of 15o grains of See also:lead, is about 708 ft. per second, giving at 25 yards a penetration of about 5 in. in See also:pine. The lock mechanism consists of the hammer (h), with its See also:stirrup (r), stirrup pin (p), strut (s), strut pin (i), strut spring (g); the trigger (t) ; the rebound See also:lever (l) ; the hand (a), with the spring (z) ; the cylinder bolt (b), with its spring (x) ; the locking lever (v) ; the main spring (m), and rebound lever spring (n). The hammer (h), trigger (t), and rebound lever (l) are pivoted on their respective pins, which are fastened in the left side of the frame. The See also:lower end of the rebound lever spring (n) is secured to the frame and the See also:free end bears under the rear end of the rebound lever so that the latter, when the trigger is released, cams the hammer back to its safety position, and forces the trigger forward.

Pressure upon the trigger causes its upper edge to engage the strut, and thereby raises the hammer until nearly in the full-See also:

cock position, when the strut will escape from the trigger, and the hammer, under the action of the main-spring, will fall and strike the cartridge. A See also:projection on the upper See also:part of the trigger, working in a slot in the frame, prevents the cylinder from making more than one-See also:sixth of a revolution at a time by entering one of the grooves nearest the rear end of the See also:surface of the cylinder. When the cylinder is swung out of the frame, the parts are arranged to prevent the cocking of the hammer. The cylinder bolt is pivoted on the trigger pin, and its spring, bearing on the rebound lever arm, causes the See also:nose of the bolt to project through a slot in the frame ready to enter one of the rectangular cuts in the cylinder surface. During the first See also:movement of the trigger in cocking the revolver, the nose of the bolt is withdrawn, allowing free rotation of the cylinder. The See also:object of the bolt is to prevent rotation of the cylinder in transportation. The hand is attached by its pivot to the trigger, and, as the latter swings on its pin when the hammer is being cocked, the hand is raised and revolves the cylinder, and also serves to lock the cylinder in position at the time of firing. An See also:abutment on the side See also:plate supports the hand spring in rear. The spring ensures the engagement of the hand with the ratchet (y). The revolver is cocked by hand by withdrawing the hammer by the pressure of the thumb until its full-cock notch engages in the rear See also:sharp corner of the trigger. Pulling the trigger then releases the hammer, allowing its firing pin (f) to move forward and strike the cartridge. The locking lever is pivoted by its See also:screw in a recess in the left side of the frame, and so connected with the latch that it locks the This escape corrodes the surrounding parts and also materially diminishes the pressure in the barrel and the consequent velocity of the bullet.

In the Nagant revolver, adopted by See also:

Russia, this disadvantage has been overcome by em- ploying a long cartridge case which extends beyond the nose of the bullet and See also:bridges the See also:gap between barrel and cylinder as the cylinder is moved forward. A " mitrailleuse " pistol has also been constructed by the Braendlin Armoury Co., Ltd., on the " pepper-box " principle, with fixed barrels, either four or six, arranged in pairs, and a See also:special striking mechanism, in which there is no revolving chamber and no escape of gas at the breech. It gives stronger See also:shooting than a revolver, but is more cum- brous, and has the serious defect that the See also:shock of the dis- charge of one barrel sometimes prematurely fires a second barrel.

End of Article: PISTOL

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