Two pistols ... in a thousand

fernando · 13th September 2008, 06:46 PM

Yes. No more than a thousand of these were made by Westley Richards for a Portuguese contract, in 1867.
This pattern, called monkey tail, due to that peculiar breech lever, was already obsolete, when it was supplied and distributed to the Portuguese cavalry regiments. When this famous gunmaker introduced this breech loading system for percussion guns, some ten years prior to this date, the idea was revolutionary, but soon front loading and ignition cap were condemned, in favor of modern systems, like the metalic cartridge and center fire.
Apart from some pistol prototypes, namely the ones presented to British Ordnance ( without success), it seems as only rifles were produced with this system, except for the said 1000 pistols ordered by the Portuguese Government.
Fernando

13th September 2008, 06:46 PM	#1
fernando Lead Moderator European Armoury Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,639	Two pistols ... in a thousand Yes. No more than a thousand of these were made by Westley Richards for a Portuguese contract, in 1867. This pattern, called monkey tail, due to that peculiar breech lever, was already obsolete, when it was supplied and distributed to the Portuguese cavalry regiments. When this famous gunmaker introduced this breech loading system for percussion guns, some ten years prior to this date, the idea was revolutionary, but soon front loading and ignition cap were condemned, in favor of modern systems, like the metalic cartridge and center fire. Apart from some pistol prototypes, namely the ones presented to British Ordnance ( without success), it seems as only rifles were produced with this system, except for the said 1000 pistols ordered by the Portuguese Government. Fernando Attached Images