Recently, in articles on handguns, we have been bypassing revolvers. On the one hand, this weapon is quite simple, and only the lazy will not figure out how it works. On the other hand, among the revolvers, there are very interesting samples that have given certain technical solutions for other models, later ones. Of course, now a revolver is more likely a weapon of the past, revolvers are not used in the army, and if they are present in the police environment, it is rather as a tribute to history. Nevertheless, the revolver was and remains one of the most unpretentious, reliable and safe samples, although it has many drawbacks, otherwise pistols would not have acquired such distribution. In my opinion, the revolver at the moment is an excellent self-defense weapon, which almost completely excludes the possibility of an accidental shot, but this is not the topic of this article.
Paradoxically, many people who seek to expand their knowledge of hand firearms do not pay attention to revolvers. So, for example, not everyone knows about zigzag revolvers, but once this method of turning the revolver drum, patented by one of the Mauser brothers, literally turned the world of short-barreled weapons, leaving behind frequent misfires and unreliable drums during a shot … It is with this drum turning system, as well as with a pair of revolvers released by the Mauser brothers, that we will get acquainted in this article.
The main reason for the creation of a new principle of turning the revolver drum was that in the revolvers of that time, a rigid fixation of the drum was not provided. As a result, frequent misfires occurred not only due to low-quality ammunition, but also due to the fact that the drummer simply did not hit the primer. Naturally, this phenomenon was not so frequent, but it was, and who needs a weapon that gives even one percent of misfires? The Mauser brothers have developed their own original drum turning system, completely different from the conventional cogwheel.
The main idea was the introduction of an additional element in the weapon mechanism, which slid along the slots on the outer surface of the drum, forcing it not only to rotate, but also to be securely fixed at the time of the shot. These slots were zagzag-like, hence the name of all such revolvers. The straight groove passed exactly opposite the drum chamber, and the oblique groove connected the straight lines. As a result, when the trigger was pressed, the hammer was cocked, and the slider moved along the oblique slot forcing the drum to turn. When the trigger was released, the slider moved along a straight slot, in order to switch to an oblique one the next time it was pressed and turn the drum again. In general, everything turned out to be ingeniously simple.
However, such a system also had its drawbacks, which immediately showed themselves. Among the insignificant ones, an increase in the weight of the weapon can be noted, due to the fact that it was impossible to make grooves between the chambers to facilitate its weight on the drum. More serious disadvantages were the complication of the production of weapons, as well as increased sensitivity to contamination of the grooves on the drum. If, when the trigger was pulled, a dirty groove meant only that more force would have to be applied, then a dirty straight groove along which the slider moved when the trigger was released meant a weapon failure, since the only force that moved the slider forward was not the force itself tight springs. However, production technologies developed, and there were few people who wanted to throw weapons into the ground so that shattered dirt appeared in the grooves, so in any case this weapon was a more acceptable option in comparison with other revolvers, especially for those shooters who used their weapons on the move or galloping.
The first revolver, made with such an original drum turning system, turned out to be not the most successful, or rather the revolver itself was quite good, but it did not take root on the market due to a number of minor reasons, but more on that below. This weapon received the name Mauser M1878 ZigZag No.1, it is clear that the number was added after the weapon had a more successful development. In addition to the system of turning the drum of the weapon, this revolver was a sample corresponding to all modern trends in weapon fashion of that time and was developed for a cartridge of 9 mm caliber. The length of the weapon was 270 millimeters, with a barrel length of 136 millimeters, and the weight was 0.75 kilograms, which, in my opinion, is not so much.
The hammer, trigger, sights, all this was common in this model of weapon and did not even stand out in its shape, but there was another rather interesting control element, namely a fuse, which was actually a regular drum retainer. Since the rotation of the drum was carried out at the moment the trigger was pressed, then after the shot was fired, a spent cartridge case remained opposite the trigger, that is, it was necessary to fix the system in such a position that a second shot was not possible. Since all the elements were interconnected, only one of them could be fixed so that the others would not move. Thus, the fixation of the drum led to the fact that it was impossible to cock the weapon or pull the trigger.
Despite the fact that the cartridge used in the revolver is not the most powerful, the frame of the weapon is one-piece. This feature significantly added the strength of the weapon, and therefore increased its resource, however, despite this, this feature was taken as a disadvantage. The fact is that at the time of the creation of the weapon there was a "fashion" for revolvers with a breaking frame, and although this design significantly reduces the resource of the revolver and limits the power of the ammunition that can be used in it, at that time it was precisely such revolvers that were popular. It is undeniable that such a design allows you to speed up the reloading of weapons, but it is very debatable which is more important. Thus, one of the main drawbacks of the Mauser M1878 revolver number 1 is that reloading is carried out one cartridge at a time, through the window on the right side of the weapon, well, at least at that moment it was considered a drawback.
In other words, new trends in weapon fashion, price, and so on became the factors due to which weapons did not spread. In total, about a hundred revolvers were produced, especially those who, on duty, had to use a weapon at a gallop, as the reliable fixation of the drum excluded misfires when firing, of course, when using high-quality ammunition.
Despite the fact that the first revolver with a drum rotation system due to zigzag grooves did not receive much distribution, many manufacturers considered this solution not only interesting, but also quite viable. Even the fact that you had to pay to use this drum rotation system did not stop anyone. The Mauser brothers did not lag behind.
Literally immediately after the first revolver, a second version was created, this time with an upward-turning frame. This weapon went to the masses under the name Mauser M1878 No.2, although there were a lot of differences from the previous revolver. First of all, it should be noted that this revolver was produced at once in three calibers, respectively, the weapon differed in its length and weight. So for a caliber of 7.6 millimeters, the barrel length was 94 millimeters, for a caliber of 9 millimeters, the length was 136 millimeters, with ammunition of a caliber of 10.6 millimeters, 143 millimeters. The total length is 145, 270 and 280 millimeters, respectively. Weight in the same sequence 0, 56, 0, 75 and 0, 86 kilograms.
Fixation of the frame of the weapon was carried out using a sufficiently large latch, which securely fixed the frame of the revolver in the closed position, due to the fact that it entered the frame in an arc, and not in a straight line. Another interesting point was that the weapon had a central extractor that ejected all the casings simultaneously from the drum when opened. True, along with the spent cartridges, unspent cartridges were also thrown away. This was the main advantage of the second model over the first, especially considering that it is impossible to turn the drum for the same reloading without pulling the trigger.
Unfortunately, this weapon did not become widespread due to its complexity and high cost, the army abandoned it, and there were cheaper and more practical weapons on the civilian market. In an attempt to squeeze the most out of this revolver, variants with expensive finishes and even about 20 carbines were created, which differed only in the presence of a butt and barrel length, but nothing produced results. As a result, after the release of about 5 thousand weapons, production was curtailed.
Despite the fact that the revolvers of the Mauser brothers were not successful, the idea itself turned out to be in demand and was applied in many other models of revolvers, including other manufacturers.
