-He would have been well pleased to get the U.S. governments order for 2,250 of his revolvers - however he'd have soon been devastated to have that order cancelled before he had built maybe only 640.
Butterfield Army Revolver - Patent 1855.
This ingenious design employed a spring-loaded tube magazine that screwed into place before the trigger-guard - containing disc shaped paper percussion caps that each had a pellet of fulminate in the centre. When the hammer was cocked a small action bar pushed the top priming cap into place directly on top of the cone or nipple to be popped by the hammer fall.
These five shot .41" calibre revolvers could also use hand seated conventional copper caps - but the design was overtaken by the development of metallic cartridges and breach loading firearms.
A good idea - even when well made, is not enough - you've got to be in the right place at the right time too. It's surely not easy to make a buck - so keep buying those Lotto tickets eh.
Marty K.
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