Volume 4

Official descriptive and illustrated catalogue / Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, 1851 ; by authority of the Royal Commission.

  • The Great Exhibition
Date:
1851-[1852]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Official descriptive and illustrated catalogue / Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, 1851 ; by authority of the Royal Commission. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    312/716 (page 1532)
    Colt's Hepea^ting Fire-arms. ?'aised pin, wMcli enters the sunken holes in the periphery of the breech, as the charges are severally brought opposite to the barrel, and thus prevents the breech from moving from its proper position, when it is, intended to effect a discharge of the arm. When the hammer is on half cock, as shown at fig. 2, the breech is free to turn round to receive the charges which are thus severally brought under the action of the ramrod /. This rod is loosely joined to a lever e, which is attached to the frame c, and hangs below the barrel: it is attached thereto at its outer end by a spring catch. The holster pistol was fired twelve hundred times, and the belt pistol fifteen hundred times, cleaning but once a day. Neither of the pistols appeared to be injured by the firing. The penetration of Colt's holster pistol was found to be through seven inches of board, and his belt pistol through six, while the highest pene- tration of the common dragoon pistol was only through five inches. The weight of the holster and belt pistols were respec- tively 4 lbs. 4 oz. and 2 lbs. 6 oz. Weight of balls, 146 grs. and 83 grs. Weight of powder, 30 grs. and 20 grs. All the cavalry and mounted riflemen of the United States are now supplied with these arms. A considerable number of them were taken from the Exhibition, and sent for trial, in Her Majesty's Service, to the Cape of Good Hope, to be used against the Kafirs. Others are now undergoing a series of experiments before the Honour- able Board of Ordnance, at Woolwich. Among the speci- mens exhibited were the revolving charge pistols. It has been proved in actual service, that the effectiveness of a troop of horse armed with these weapons, which dis- charge six shots without reloading, has been tripled. The following extract from a Report of a Committee appointed by the United States Senate, relates to these weapons: Those repeating°arms, first constructed by Mr. Colt, were too complicated and easily deranged to be fit for rough service. Previous, however, to the year 1840, they had been so much improved, that many highly-experienced officers recommended their trial in the army and navy. In the inspection returns of Major Thornton, a member of the Board of Ordnance, he reports that only one pistol failed in the inspection trial, out of the last two thousand and eighty-two tested in 1850, and this failure was attri- buted to the imperfect metal of the particular arm. These improvements have encouraged the department to adopt them gradually into the service: first, in the ranger troops employed in Mexico, and afterwards in the mounted riflemen. Experience, it appears, has proved that it is difficult to contend successfully against savages with the usual arms of mounted men, the ordinary dragoon pistol, and Hall's carbine. General Harney employed Colt's pistol success- fully in Florida; and those officers who have-recently returned from the frontier state that a dragoon armed with Colts repeating pistol and a musquetoon, or perhaps Shaps' rifle, would be the most efficient and most for- midable for frontier service; particularly when encounters with the savages occur, as they generally do, in prairies, defiles, and mountain gorges.] 635 Ball, Tomkins, & Black, Broadway^ New Fork —Manufacturers. Massive gold tea service made from Californian gold, and presented to E. T. Collins, Esq., of New York. In three months from the time that the ore was taken from the earth, the service was manufactured and presented to Mr. Collins. (Placed in the Main Avenue East.)—P» 1450. —Plate 394.