Semi-Auto Black-Powder Guns
A U.S. patent issued to C. E. Barnes in 1856 for a rapid-fire gun (#15,315) included a provision for automatically pushing the hammer to full-cock by means of gas escaping rearward from the nipple. Obviously, this principle could have been applied to a typical percussion revolver of the time: gas escaping through an enlarged nipple channel and blowing the hammer to full-cock would have rotated the cylinder in the usual manner.
The earliest patent I've found for a true gas-operated revolver is Br. Pat. #14,130 of 1886, issued to Richard Paulson. Gas tapped off under the barrel acts on a spring-loaded piston attached to an operating rod, which slides rearward through a hollow cylinder pin to cock the hammer. Details are given in A.W.F. Taylerson's book "The Revolver, 1865-1888."
Last edited by Lou G.; September 23, 2011 at 11:50 AM.
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