Arendt Breveté
Maurice Arendt · Revolver · Out Of Production · 1864
Also known as: Arendt Brevete, Revolver Arendt, Arendt Pinfire Revolver
Overview
The Arendt Breveté is a 19th-century Belgian pinfire revolver built by the Liège gunmaker Maurice Arendt around the Lefaucheux pinfire cartridge. It is an open-frame Lefaucheux-pattern revolver with a rifled octagonal barrel, a six-chamber cylinder and a folding trigger, chambered most commonly in 9mm pinfire. The action operates in both single and double action but lacks a half-cock notch, and features a distinctive spring-loaded door that secures both the loading gate and the ejector rod. Grips are pear-shaped ebony or imitation-ebony, and the frame carries light foliate engraving typical of quality Liège workmanship.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 648 g (22.9 oz) |
| Overall Length | 200 mm (7.87") |
| Barrel Length | 148 mm (5.83") |
| Action Type | Revolving |
| Firing Mechanism | Double Action |
| Trigger Type | Double Action |
| Magazine Capacity | 6 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Revolving Cylinder |
| Effective Range | 25 m (27 yd) |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Rifling Twist | 330 mm (12.99") |
| Number of Grooves | 6 |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Wood |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- 9mm Pinfire · primary — also known as 9mm Lefaucheux, 9mm à broche
Features
- Firing modes: Repeating
- Feed systems: Revolving Cylinder
- Features: Pinfire Cartridge Ignition, Open Frame, Octagonal Barrel, Loading Gate, Guided Extractor Rod, Folding Trigger, Ebony Grips, Engraved Action
Production
Production years: 1864-1889
Produced in modest numbers by a single Liège workshop; no reliable total survives and surviving examples are collector items
Origin
Country of origin: Belgium
Designer: Maurice Arendt
Discontinued: 1889
Notes
Maurice Arendt worked as a Liège gunmaker from roughly 1857 to 1889 and registered about ten Belgian patents for revolver improvements between 1864 and 1885, hence the 'Breveté' (patented) marking. Specifications are taken from a documented 9mm specimen (No. 3293) with a 148mm octagonal barrel and 648g weight; the design was also produced in 7mm and other pinfire chamberings, and in folding-trigger pocket configurations.
Background
Arendt secured roughly ten Belgian patents for revolver refinements, and stamped his guns 'Arendt Breveté' to advertise them — one signature feature being a single spring-loaded door that locked both the loading gate and the ejector rod together, an unusually tidy solution for a pinfire revolver of the 1860s.