Its a cap and ball revolver........just not a hand gun

[Rex in OTZ]

I'd found some cap n ball revolvers, Its just there not handguns.
 
 Cap and Ball age rifle thats full auto?
The Mershon and Hollingsworth revolving cylinder automatic rifle. Patented in 1855. A spring mechanisim automatically fired and rotated the cylinder. The trigger could be locked in back position for full automatic fire. To wind up the spring, a ratchet lever is located just behind the receiver. Six shot percussion .40 caliber. Attached Thumbnails      
 

 Rocket ball rifle of Smith-Jennings   First Model Smith-Jennings Rifle, about 1851
Robbins & Lawrence, Windsor, VT. .54 caliber. Serial number 1
Only about 500 were made. Pictured is the first serialized rifle. It featured an automatic pill magazine
to dispense small balls of detonating compound for priming the rocket ball ammunition.   Attached Thumbnails    
 
 
 1837 Paterson Number 1 (first Model) ring-lever rifle   
 

1837 Paterson Number 1 (first Model) ring-lever rifle. Patent Arms Manufacturing Company, Paterson, New Jersey. .40 caliber. Serial # 2. The hammerless single-action "rotary repeater" pictured here is the earliest known surviving example of a Colt production firearm. The ring forward of the cylinder cocked the action and turned the cylinder. Only about 200 were made. The military purchased 50 of them and issued them troops during the 1838 Seminole War.

Chambered in several calibers including .34, .36, .38, .40 and .44. Eight and ten shot (very rare) cylinder with standard 32 inch octagonal barrel (a limited number were manufactured with shorter barrels including carbine length) with or without loading lever.

CCA Model Identifier 5B-009   Attached Thumbnails            
 
 
 

 

North & Savage Firearms Co.   North & Savage, Middletown, Connecticut, H. S. North & Edward Savage where helped by Chauncey D. Skinner to create their revolving rifle. 6 shot percussion rifle, marked NORTH & SAVAGE, MIDDLETOWN, CONN. PTTNTED JUNE 1, 1852, CAST STEEL Rifle similar to the "Figure 8" pistol, marked E. SAVAGE, MIDDLETOWN, CT H.S. NORTH PATENTED, JUNE 17th, 1856. The Edward Brown collection has one specimen.   Attached Thumbnails                     North & Skinner Revolving Arms Co.   North & Skinner, Middletown, Connecticut. Produced from 1856 to 1859, this revolving rifle looked much like the other revolving rifles that were being tried. One difference however was that it was not a "single-action" type where you cocked the hammer to rotate the cylinder. The North & Skinner was a levergun. Shoving the combination lever & triggerguard down cocked the hammer and rotated the cylinder into firing position. Most were made in .44 caliber. Some .60 caliber shotguns were produced also. There were a number of different types of revolving rifles produced around this time. The biggest reason they did not last was ... the Volcanic rifle and it's offspring!   Attached Thumbnails                 North & Savage Firearms Co.   North & Savage, Middletown, Connecticut, H. S. North & Edward Savage where helped by Chauncey D. Skinner to create their revolving rifle. 6 shot percussion rifle, marked NORTH & SAVAGE, MIDDLETOWN, CONN. PTTNTED JUNE 1, 1852, CAST STEEL Rifle similar to the "Figure 8" pistol, marked E. SAVAGE, MIDDLETOWN, CT H.S. NORTH PATENTED, JUNE 17th, 1856. The Edward Brown collection has one specimen.   Attached Thumbnails                     North & Skinner, Middletown, Connecticut. Produced from 1856 to 1859, this revolving rifle looked much like the other revolving rifles that were being tried. One difference however was that it was not a "single-action" type where you cocked the hammer to rotate the cylinder. The North & Skinner was a levergun. Shoving the combination lever & triggerguard down cocked the hammer and rotated the cylinder into firing position. Most were made in .44 caliber. Some .60 caliber shotguns were produced also. There were a number of different types of revolving rifles produced around this time. The biggest reason they did not last was ... the Volcanic rifle and it's offspring!   Attached Thumbnails                        What would a Miller revolving rifle or shotgun look like?   What is a Miller Gun? According to the description in the Patent Office report for 1829, it was "an improvement in rifles the magazine to contain a number of charges." From this description, it is not even obvious that a revolving cylinder is being referred to. However, from the examination of several surviving specimens, a pattern of features becomes quite clear. These common features are: 1) a large hand revolved cylinder, indexed by; 2) a cylinder catch, which acts on notches in the front end of the cylinder and is mounted in 3) a large iron piece which also acts as a bullet deflector and as a mount for bath the barrel and the cylinder arbor. It is possible that this piece, with its combination of parts, was the subject of the patent. Pill lock, 7 shot hand revolving cylinder rifle (4 to 9 shot rifles are known), marked J.J. MILLER manufactured by Billinghurst and many others. A very view late models had been made for percussion caps. Most of the survived rifles have 6 shot cylinders. Some of the early Miller rifles have other features which were abandoned later in production. These include the flash shield and the strap over the top of the cylinder. The flash shield complletely covered the front of the cylinder and contained a leather washer to prevent the flash from the fired chamber from setting off any other chamber. The topstrap ran from the top of the barrel to the top of the breech and was fastened to it with the same pin which secured the cylinder arbor. This gave greater rigidity and supported the fired chamber on both sides. This feature was abondoned in the early 1830s and it is interesting to note that this was claimed as new feature by the Massachusetts Arms Co. in their trial with Colt. An other feature found on Miller rifles (produced by Billinghurst in 1852), which was claimed by LeMat in 1856 was the use of a shotgun barrel as the cylinder arbor. James Miller died in 1843 and John and Billinghurst went different ways. When having sold his shop to Antrobus or Antrobres G. Edwards one of his hands in 1852 John Miller went in the wholesale fish business. It is believed that Miller got the help of D.G. Colburn to develop his gun. Colburn, David G., Port Byron, Port Byron Colburn Patent, Date October 25, 1832 Remarks: Percussion gunlock Reissued X7,620 June 29, 1833 Top hammer revolving rifle with two triggers - one to revolve cylinder and one to trip hammer. Instead of ratchets being cut into rear of cylinder, studs project from rear, being engaged by the hand Miller system guns were made by Benjamin Bigelow, William Billinghurst, G.a. Brown, T.P. CHerington, Noble, E.S. Ormsby, Patrick Smith, H. Volpius and certainly others. .52 caliber, 6 shot Miller Revolving Rifle, 29 1/2" half round half octagonal barrel, marked Miller, Rochester N.Y., Cylinder scrol engraved, steel buttplate   Attached Thumbnails             Savage Revolving Rifle 41 Cal Serial #: 1 Manufacturer: Savage Model: Revolving Type: Rifle Barrel Length: 24 inch part octagon Finish: blue Stock: walnut Description: These rifles are known by many names. They were made under the 1 June, 1852 patent of Henry S. North and Chauncy D. Skinner, so they are sometimes called "North & Skinner". They were made by the firm of North & Savage (same North with Edward S. Savage) and are sometimes called by that name. The latter firm became Savage Revolving Firearms Co. so they are most often simply called "Savage". The action of these early revolving rifles is more complicated than the later revolvers. There is a wedge behind the cylinder. When the lever below the cylinder is pulled down, it also pulls the wedge down and allows the spring around the cylinder pin to push the cylinder away from the barrel, disengaging the protruding mouth of the chambers from the barrel. When it is loose, a tooth on the wedge engages the track on the back of the cylinder causing it to turn to the next chamber. A link fastened to the lever behind the wedge cocks the hammer. When the lever is returned, the wedge forces it tight against the rear of the barrel. There are no external marks visible except the number "1" stamped on top of the receiver at the barrel junction. Vestiges of the address are barely visible in front of the rear sight. An assembly number "240" appears on the cylinder, cylinder pin, the bottom of the barrel under the cylinder pin, wedge, lever, buttplate, hammer, and right side plate internally. It also appears on the rear sight leaf but the 4 is stamped upside down. The number 114 appears on the right side of the lever and cocking link,195 on the left side plate and 69 on the trigger. The trigger and hammer both have two pivot holes so they can be assembled on another frame or frames. The different assembly numbers indicate a cleanup of factory parts or a period factory repair. The cylinder pin wedge, which goes into the slot to the rear of the recoil shield, is missing. The left wood to side plate screw, trigger spring, and trigger spring screw are also missing. The round brass patch box is mounted on the left side of the butt stock instead of the right where it is normally found. The buttplate is iron. Only a few hundred of these were made.   Attached Thumbnails                    Roper Repeating Rifle Co   Nouvelle page 0 http://www.roperld.com/ropersylvester.htm Sylvester Ropers Steam Automobile, 1860s Sylvester Roper was an early automobile designer in America. His cars were steam powered, and he made a steam motorcycle which had to be the first motorcycle ever made, and a steam powered buggy, or automobile as they were called later. Roper was a prolific inventor, and patented many versions of his vehicles, as well as the first repeating cartridge shotgun. On 10 April 1866, Sylvester Roper of Roxbury, Mass patented a shotgun (53881) with a bolt mechanism and a revolving cylinder magazine. Cocking the hammer withdrew the breech bolt, extracting a spent cartridge form the barrel as it did so. When the hammer had been retracted, a magazine spring revolved a new cartridge into line with the chamber, pulling the trigger released the bolt to fly forward and fire the chambered round in a 'slam bang' motion. To reduce the shock, the hammer could be lowered onto the chamber and then pulled back to an intermediate position from which the cap on the cartridge-base nipple could be fired without partially extracting the case. Made originally in 16 and (later) in 12 bore by the Roper Repeating Rifle Company of Amherst Mass, the shotgun was a minor success. Most examples had a detachable choke patented in July 1868 (79861).The Roper Sporting Arms Company, formed in Hartford in March 1869, was effectively a partnership between Christopher Spencer and Charles Billings. Production of .40 rifles and 12 bore shotguns continued into the early 1870s but never in sufficient quantity to make any real impact.   Attached Thumbnails

[Nobade]

Sure used to be a lot of creative thought put into firearms back then. Too bad most of that has come to an end anymore, just endless variations of the same thing now. Firearms from that era were a lot more interesting, if not always very useful.

[Gatofeo]

Interesting, but there's a reason why so few of these firearms were made: they were expensive to make, and absolutely unreliable. Some, such as the Volcanic, were woefully underpowered.
They look good in drawings, and are fascinating to hold and inspect, but too complicated and unreliable. The revolving rifles were notorious for multiple ignitions.
Now, if you want to look at something really interesting, look up "Jonathan Browning slide gun" made by the father of the famous gun inventor. This rifle used a solid bar of steel with chambers drilled in the forward portion of the bar. Insert the bar into a large slot in the rifle and it was loaded. Each cock of the hammer advanced the bar over for the next shot. You could carry extra bars. It's unsual arrangement earned it the nickname, "Harmonica gun."
I sure wouldn't want my arm in front ofthat bar, though. I suspect it was also susceptible to multiple ignition.
Not long ago, I read of a prototype that had a large ring loaded with powder and bullets all around its edge. It was inserted into the rifle. The author noted that testing it required nerves of steel, because as you fired it, there were always a few bullets pointed directly at your face! Imagine a multiple ignition in that instance.
It failed. And I hope the poor privates ordered to shoot it ran the inventor out of town on a rail.

[StrawHat]

I realize this is an older thread but wanted to add that the origianl Gatling guns used brass shells primed with percussion caps.  Eventually that gave way to brass cartridges and eventually electric motors were used in place of a mans arm to turn the crank.