Welcome to these days’s Photograph of the Day! Possibly a revolver design that was once forward of its time, the Butterfield sticks out with its remarkably artful automated priming gadget. The brainchild of Jesse Butterfield in 1855 Philadelphia, this .41 caliber 5-shot percussion pistol eradicated the tedious job of manually capping cylinders after reloading. As a substitute, a spring-loaded tube fed small pellet primers into place on every chamber’s cone because the hammer was once cocked. The U.S. govt noticed doable, contracting for two,250 revolvers in 1861 to arm New York infantry regiments right through the Civil Warfare. Then again, simplest 640 had been produced earlier than the order was once all of a sudden terminated, most probably because of wartime monetary constraints. This extraordinarily restricted manufacturing run makes unique revolvers a few of the rarest martial pistols for creditors these days. The ones fortunate few in superb situation can fetch over $12,000 at public sale. Past its inteligent priming gadget, it featured a powerful 7-inch octagonal barrel, brass body, blued metal lockwork, and vintage walnut grips.
“The Butterfield revolvers had been manufactured via Jesse Butterfield of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1862. They had been manufactured in anticipation of an unrealized govt contract. As a result of no contract was once awarded, manufacturing was once restricted to just about 640 revolvers. It’s provided with a unique disc priming instrument loaded via loosening a thumb-screw in entrance of the cause guard. The highest strap is marked “BUTTERFIELlD’S/PATENT DEc 11. 1855/PHILADA”. The matching serial quantity “539” is located at the number one elements and most of the smaller portions together with the butts of the grips.”
Butterfielld Military Style Percussion Revolver – Scarce Civil Warfare Technology Butterfield Military Style Percussion Revolver. (n.d.-a). Rock Island Public sale Corporate. {photograph}. Retrieved Might 22, 2024, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/element/1039/2107/civil-war-era-butterfield-army-model-percussion-revolver.
