| Pistols |
Till 17th century pistols were equipped so called small wheel lock and since 19th century they were equipped with a striking lock then.
Only so called percussion lock, established in a half of 19th century, gave possibility for marked changes. The man who realized this was American Samuel Colt. His story started on the ship ” Corvo ”, where he sailed as a sailor. He was interested in a principle of the ship’s capstan: the cylinder rotating around an axis with openings along its circumference for ensuring the location. Colt occurred to use this principle at the pistol. He produced the wooden model include of the small cylinder, which served as the turning storage of shots. From this principle was deduced so the name of the kind of pistol, revolve. Colt had it patented in 1835; in a frame of his gun was the turning small cylinder in which were drilled 5 or 6 openings for dump and shots in a parallel way with the axis. At the first revolves it was necessary always before each shot set on in a handily way a small cylinder [revolving] in the needed position. Later Colt thought out a simple mechanical system, which during stretching out the shock – worker by a thumb turning up with a cylinder and it adjusted the next shot to fire. In 1836 he founded his first factory and in his 22 he became its business director.
Colt was a dominant producer of revolves till his patent expired in 1857. In that time next two American, Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson produced the first revolve using the cartridge – storage. It was a great progress because the shot dump, shot and match of shot created the one whole, which was put in the small cylinder from behind. The time for recharge of revolves became in a marked way shorter.
In 1872 Smith’s and Wesson’s patent expired. There was possibility of new resolving in America and Europe. Among the most important of them was throwing up of empty cartridge – storages and so called double active mechanisms, which gave possibility to shot with only press the release.
In the end of 19th century revolve got itself definitive form. American army used them till 1911, the British officers till the Second World War.
In a half of 20th century the design of John M. Browning dominated, in which the cartridge – storage of shots was placed in the handle. This model [M 1911] was replaced till 1987. His successor became Italian 9 mm Beretta [in NATO marked M 9] with 15 shots.
Berreta
(picture from: http://www.tady.cz/hecman/)
