Revolver
a description of firearm in which a number of charges contained in a revolving cylinder are, by pulling the trigger, brought successively into position and fired through a single barrel. For the introduction of the revolver in its present form we are indebted to Col. Samuel Colt, of Hartford, Conn., though repeating pistols had long been known in other countries. In the Smith and Wesson revolver (adopted by Austria and Russia), facility in loading is a feature, the cylinder and barrel together being pivoted to the front of the stock, so that by setting the hammer at half-cock, raising a spring-catch, and lowering the muzzle, the bottom of the cylinder is turned up to receive fresh metallic cartridges. When this is done the muzzle is pressed back till the snapcatch fastens it to the back plate, and the revolver is again ready to be fired.
In the latest form of this revolver the spent cartridges are thrown out of the cylinder by means of an automatic dis- REWARD charger. The British regulation army revolver is Webley and Scott's, Mark IV..445. The weapon can also be easily and instantly unloaded, and some are made with covered hammers, safety bolts, etc. The revolver principle has also been applied to rifles, and to guns for throwing small projectiles, as in the Gatling and other machine guns.