From the Vault: Volcanic Lever Action Pistol

Brownells Gun Techs and resident firearm historians Keith Ford and Steve Ostrem are again at Rock Island Auction Company to show us another rarity: a Volcanic Repeating Arms lever action pistol from 1856. This gun dates from the dawn of the cartridge era but doesn't exactly shoot cartridge ammunition in the modern sense: the bullet is hollow at the back to hold the powder and percussion cap. (Caseless ammo in 1856, baby!) Steve walks us through the loading, cocking, and firing cycle. The Volcanic carries its ammo in a magazine tube under the barrel and functions just like a Henry or early Winchester lever action rifle. It has a loading port, but no ejection port because everything you load into the magazine tube ends up getting shot down the barrel! The Volcanic pistol was not a powerful gun, but it provided fast follow-up shots from a compact package. A stop-gap until the arrival of centerfire cartridge revolvers.

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