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Old 03-08-2017, 11:32 PM   #21
johndallman
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Default Re: Early Victorian guns?

Webley were making pepperbox and cap-and-ball revolvers before 1850. The cap-and-ball guns were double-action (or "self-cocking" in the terminology of the time). There isn't any detail on these in Howell's The Webley Story, but adapting numbers from Adventure Guns should work.
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Old 03-09-2017, 10:40 AM   #22
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Default Re: Early Victorian guns?

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Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
Webley were making pepperbox and cap-and-ball revolvers before 1850. The cap-and-ball guns were double-action (or "self-cocking" in the terminology of the time). There isn't any detail on these in Howell's The Webley Story, but adapting numbers from Adventure Guns should work.
If I recall double-actions never found much favor. They tended to malfunction and recocking can be done about as fast with a finger.
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Old 03-09-2017, 12:22 PM   #23
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Originally Posted by jason taylor View Post
If I recall double-actions never found much favor. They tended to malfunction and recocking can be done about as fast with a finger.
In the long run double actions largely displaced single actions. It just didn't happen in the timeframe we're talking about.

There was also the issue that the double actions of that early time tended to have poor triggers. with pulls that were 50% higher than is accepted today and poor technical qualities such as excessive length and lack of smoothness.
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Old 03-10-2017, 06:15 AM   #24
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Default Re: Early Victorian guns?

Double actions seem to have found more favour in Europe than the US, though they really took off a little after 1850, with the Adams revolver.
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Old 03-10-2017, 01:17 PM   #25
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Double actions seem to have found more favour in Europe than the US, though they really took off a little after 1850, with the Adams revolver.
Yes, there are good overviews in Matt Easton's talks and probably Adventure Guns.

Its kind of moot in London in 1850 though ... most shooters will have weapons with one shot per barrel. Matt Easton says that even many British army officers could not afford a revolver, or found that the early Colts did not meet their needs.
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Old 03-10-2017, 06:14 PM   #26
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Default Re: Early Victorian guns?

How an 1851 revolver operates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcBsVaH_gew
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Old 03-10-2017, 10:27 PM   #27
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Default Re: Early Victorian guns?

1825 saw the development of the percussion cap, and mass production with precision tooling began in 1830 (Colt's Dragoon Revolver). 1840 saw the development of pin fired cartridges; 1850 saw the development of shotguns; 1859 saw the development of full rim-fire cartridges; 1860 saw the development of repeating mechanisms with magazines(notably the Spencer repeating carbine); 1869 saw the invention of center fire cartridges.
My character in a Victorian campaign has as firearms:
.625(BP)UK 1790 Baker rifle cr4d, SS15, Acc7, 1/2D300, Max2500, RoF1/20, shots1, ST12, Rcl -3
.577(BP)UK 1853 Enfield rifle cr3d, SS15, Acc8, 1/2D700, max2100, Rof1/15 shots1, ST10, Rcl -2
6 shot, .450 calibre, metal cartridge, rimfire Adam Breech Loading Revolver cr2d, SS11, Acc2, 1/2D160, Max1600, Rof 3~, Shots6, ST11, Rcl -3,
There are several other choices available if you want to do the research.
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Old 03-12-2017, 02:32 PM   #28
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Default Re: Early Victorian guns?

Pin fire and needle guns would be cutting edge though more continental than British at this time. Brits like muzzle loading for some reason
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Old 03-13-2017, 01:30 AM   #29
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Pin fire and needle guns would be cutting edge though more continental than British at this time. Brits like muzzle loading for some reason
Possibly because a multi-barrelled pistol was more reliable than a needle gun (and IIRC that was used for rifles, not pistols), and more powerful than pinfires were.
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