Over the entire existence of hand-held firearms, a huge number of the most diverse options for means of destroying their own kind and not only have been developed. Many of the ideas of the designers turned out to be successful and are even used to this day. Many, despite their obvious advantages over other solutions, are less popular and were used, for one reason or another, only in experimental models, or in weapons produced in very limited quantities. It would seem that development and new ideas should only be welcomed, but in fact, if the designer did not have a sponsor, or did not have his own funds, and his development was at least a little more expensive in comparison with the already produced samples, then such a weapon is the way to mass production was closed. The maximum that could be counted on was that this weapon would be disassembled into nodes for other samples by other designers, and this is how hand firearms were developed in 90%. The designers applied their ideas even where, it would seem, it would be very difficult to come up with something new. So at the beginning of the twentieth century, the German designer Decker developed his own version of a revolver for self-defense. It cannot be said that his invention was revolutionary, but some of the solutions used in the weapon were interesting, and most importantly, reasonable. It is with this revolver that we will try to get acquainted in this article.
By itself, the revolver proposed by Dekker is a self-defense weapon from a number of "pocket revolvers" fashionable at the time. As a result, the weapon turned out to be quite light and compact, using cartridges of 6, 25x15, 5. Naturally, such a sample could not be a full-fledged means of self-defense, since even at ultra-short distances the effectiveness of such weapons depended on the place of impact. Despite this, compact samples of short-barreled weapons were very popular at that time, including this revolver, although it was not produced in large quantities, but this was for reasons not related to the design, reliability or some negative qualities of the weapon.
First of all, it is worth noting that the revolver has an unusual appearance. The trigger immediately catches the eye, or rather the trigger pull of the revolver, which is not covered with a safety guard. Despite this, the safety of handling weapons is at a fairly high level, since firing from a revolver is possible only by self-cocking, which means a large pressing force on the "trigger".
In addition, on the left side of the revolver there is a mechanical safety switch that blocks the trigger of the weapon, and therefore other mechanisms of the weapon. Also on the left side there is a window for loading new cartridges and removing spent cartridges. There are no weapon controls on the right side, but it is interesting that the revolver drum is covered with a casing, the purpose of which remains a mystery to me personally. Is that the protection of the index finger from the rotating drum. Also, on the right side, a pin is pushed out, which fixes the axis of the drum. There are no devices to speed up or facilitate the reloading of the revolver. However, if we compare in time the speed of removing each sleeve and inserting a new cartridge in its place, with the speed of replacing a previously prepared drum, then replacing the drum will turn out faster. True, the cartridges in the drum are not fixed by anything, so this method of reloading is also controversial. On the drum itself there are longitudinal grooves, the purpose of which is to securely fix the drum during the shot. Consequently, the design of the weapon is such that it is impossible to freely turn the drum, and it means that it is impossible to replenish the not completely shot drum of the revolver, without removing it from the weapon. Sights are the simplest front sight and longitudinal cut on the frame of the revolver, which plays the role of the rear sight. The barrel of the revolver has a hexagonal section and is simply screwed into the frame of the weapon.
It is also impossible not to notice that the trigger of the revolver is not visible, which allows you to carry the weapon in your pocket without worrying about catching the clothes when you pull the trigger. I will say even more, the revolver does not have a trigger at all, its trigger mechanism is hammerless. When the trigger is pressed, the drum of the weapon is rotated and the coiled mainspring is simultaneously compressed; at a certain moment, the striker breaks off and the cartridge is struck in the fixed drum. This is not to say that such a firing mechanism was cheaper or simpler in comparison with classical revolvers, which also had a rather primitive trigger, nevertheless, the designer's idea is quite original and made for "five-plus", provided that such simplicity is excellent It showed itself in combination with a reliably fixed drum and, as a result, there were practically no misfires.
Now attention. The weight of the revolver without cartridges was 225 grams, which can be considered a kind of record. The barrel length of the weapon is 50 millimeters, the total length of the weapon is 118 millimeters, the drum capacity is 6 rounds. With all this, the weapon was completely made of steel and there were no cases of destruction in the process of firing. If we characterize the design of the revolver as a whole, then it was quite possible to make a full-fledged weapon with normal ammunition and dimensions, but this did not happen. The reason for this is not even the increased popularity of pistols, but the beginning of the First World War in which there was no place for civilian weapons with more than modest characteristics and effectiveness. It is for this reason that very few revolvers were produced.
Of course, such a weapon cannot be considered a good example of a means of self-defense, even despite the high reliability and simplicity of design, primarily because of the ammunition. This revolver is also not suitable for recreational shooting because of its size. So, in general, Dekker's revolver is an interesting weapon, but, unfortunately, useless.
