l_lemat

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Comment by Zebulon Vitruvius Pike on July 30, 2012 at 12:10pm: Try this one: http://www.hrknives.com/servlet/the-10026/Denix-Le-Mat-Confederate/...

Comment by Felix Horonigus Ameldubar on July 27, 2012 at 8:16am: I am intrigued now and will commence researching this rather wonderful weapon. Thank you for displaying it here.

Comment by G.A. Jack Hammerquist on July 26, 2012 at 3:42pm: Hey Zebulon that link you posted does not work.

Comment by G.A. Jack Hammerquist on July 26, 2012 at 3:40pm: I would love to get my hands on a bakers dozen or so of the one that were lost in the naval blockade. Even if they were badly damaged they would make some very interesting discussion pieces. Converting them into art for display could be fun as well.

Comment by J Sprocket Stemwinder on July 26, 2012 at 12:39pm: Not necessarily the biggest (I think a Walker Colt is bigger) but I will certainly grant you that it is one ugly revolver.

Comment by Zebulon Vitruvius Pike on July 26, 2012 at 12:31pm: For both my steampunk persona and a Deadlands RPG character I wanted the biggest, ugliest gun I could find and the LeMat fit the bill as something I could not only have in the game but could find a replica for.

http://www.hrknives.com/servlet/the-10026/Denix-Le-Mat-Confederate

Comment by Michel Vaillancourt on July 26, 2012 at 10:16am: Interesting. The main character of my novel uses one of these things; I'm impressed you found reference to them. They weren't a very large-production gun; about 5000 made in Europe for the Confederates, over half of which were sunk by the Union blockade. That said, they were popular with the cavalry troops that got them; they dubbed them a "grapeshot revolver". Excellent article on Wikipedia about them.

Comment by Zebulon Vitruvius Pike on July 26, 2012 at 9:12am: To fire the LeMat's 10th barrel, the underslung shotgun, there is a nipple in sort of the center. The hammer as it normally is strikes the nipple on the cylinder but for the shotgun there is a bit of hammer that folds down so that it strikes the 10th. Here's a good illustration to give you an idea of what's going on:

The model illustrated seems to have the little lever on top to make that easier. I think it may be a modern reproduction. I'm not sure I've ever seen a photo of a period gun with that.

Because of close tolerances, the LeMat would on occasion fire the shotgun at the same time as the shooter was firing from the cylinder causing an accidental double discharge. BOOM!

Comment by Felix Horonigus Ameldubar on July 26, 2012 at 9:05am: Stunning, is that a second spur on the hammer to advance the second stage of the hammer set?