Welcome to as we speak’s Picture of the Day! Right here now we have a novel volley gun designed by Henry Harrington (sure, it does feels like a made-up identify). Volley weapons are rifles or pistols which have one fastened barrel equipment that accommodates a number of rifled barrels inside the bigger one. All barrels hearth directly making it a cloud of bullets very similar to that of a shotgun however arguably extra correct since more often than not these barrels are rifled. On the very least they’ve some further spin to go additional sooner. This volley pistol may be very uncommon. It has seven barrels and this instance reveals off all the things tha initially got here within the case.
“He’s really greatest remembered exterior of gun accumulating as a producer of cutlery. Actually, his firm, based in 1818, is credited as the primary U.S. cutlery producer and stays the most important producer of cutlery inside the nation as we speak. He produced a restricted variety of lengthy weapons and handguns of assorted patterns primarily based on this “volley” design, together with some with an unimaginable quantity particular person chambers. All of those firearms are extremely uncommon and fascinating, and most are pretty distinctive given the number of calibers, single versus double hammer varieties, barrel lengths, totally different supplies, and many others. Norm Flayderman indicated a three-shot was the norm, if a norm may actually be established among the many extant examples, and this seven-shot pistol is believed to be the best Henry Harrington patent volley pistol extant. It’s actually made particularly fascinating by the inclusion of three further breechblocks and different equipment. Whereas the person .12 caliber conical bullets from this pistol don’t sound like they’d pack a lot of a punch, a cluster of seven of them at brief vary would definitely be disagreeable to say the least. Reloading on this single hammer instance may be very straightforward. You slide the lever forward of the set off guard to the proper, pull the hammer again, and elevate the breechblock out. Then, you place one other loaded breechblock as a replacement and slide the lever to the left to lock it in place. There isn’t any half-cock, so the hammer is both going to be left resting on a stay cap if the gun is primed or left with the hammer again over a stay cap. This would definitely be slightly dangerous. Reloading the breechblocks entails first seating the seven particular person bullets of their respective chambers after which filling the powder chamber from the rear.”
Lot 129: Cased Henry Harrington Patent Seven-Shot Volley Pistol – Excellent Henry Harrington Patented Breech Loading Percussion Seven-Shot Volley Pistol with Presentation Case and Equipment Together with Three Further Breechblocks [Photograph found in Auction Catalog #81, Rock Island Auction Company]. (n.d.). Retrieved August 7, 2022, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/element/81/129/cased-henry-harrington-patent-sevenshot-volley-pistol
