peashooter85:Walch 12 shot Navy percussion revolver,Invented by John Walch in 1859, the Walch revolv
peashooter85:Walch 12 shot Navy percussion revolver,Invented by John Walch in 1859, the Walch revolver was a .36 caliber cap and ball pistol that held an incredible 12 rounds. Most revolvers of the time only held 5 or 6 rounds. A single action revolver, the cylinder had 6 chambers, but the key was that each chamber had two nipples for percussion caps, and each chamber was loaded with two superimposed charges, one in front of the other. The cylinder would have been loaded by hand with loose powder and bullets. The revolver had two sets of triggers and hammers. Cocking the first hammer would rotate the cylinder and cock the first trigger. When the first trigger was pulled, the spark from the percussion cap would be directed into the outermost charge in the chamber. When the second hammer is cocked, it also cocks the second trigger. When pulled the second hammer drops, and a spark from the percussion cap was directed into the inner most charge loaded in the chamber, discharging it.While Walch’s revolver was certainly interesting, and had the advantage of having twice the number of shots as any other revolver, the system was complicated. Often multiple shots could be discharged simultaneously. They were also hard to produce and more expensive than Colt revolvers. Only 200 Walch 12 shots pistols were ever produced. Walch also produced a 10 shot revolver in .31 caliber. -- source link