Chaineux Pinfire Revolver
Joseph-Lambert Chaineux · Revolver · Out Of Production · 1864
Also known as: Chaineux Breveté Revolver, Chaineux High-Capacity Pinfire, Revolver Chaineux
Overview
The Chaineux Pinfire Revolver is a 19th-century Belgian high-capacity revolver built around the Lefaucheux pinfire cartridge. Designed by the Liège gunmaker Joseph-Lambert Chaineux, it is distinguished by a hollowed-out cylinder whose centre retains only a tube for the cylinder pin, leaving an annular space that allowed unusually large numbers of chambers to be packed into a single cylinder. Specimens are documented with 10 and 12 chambers, with rare 20- and 30-shot examples also known. A single-action design fired by a hammer striking the protruding pin of each cartridge, it was typically chambered in 7mm, 9mm and 11mm pinfire and finished with intricate engraving on the action, cylinder and barrel.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 900 g (31.7 oz) |
| Overall Length | 270 mm (10.63") |
| Barrel Length | 110 mm (4.33") |
| Action Type | Revolving |
| Firing Mechanism | Single Action |
| Trigger Type | Single Action |
| Magazine Capacity | 10 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Revolving Cylinder |
| Effective Range | 25 m (27 yd) |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| 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, High Capacity Cylinder, Hollowed Cylinder Core, Loading Gate, Guided Extractor Rod, Folding Trigger, Engraved Action
Production
Production years: 1864-1884
Produced in small numbers by a single Liège workshop; no reliable production total survives and intact examples are very scarce today
Origin
Country of origin: Belgium
Designer: Joseph-Lambert Chaineux
Discontinued: 1884
Notes
Two gunmakers carried the Chaineux name; this entry covers Joseph-Lambert Chaineux of Liège, registered at the proof house from 1864 to 1884. Dimensions and chamber counts varied widely; the 9mm 10-shot configuration is taken as representative. Early models used a hanging extractor that fouled in holsters, later replaced by a guided extractor. Surviving examples are very rare.
Background
Chaineux's signature trick was to hollow out the centre of the cylinder so that only a thin tube remained for the axis pin, freeing an annular ring of metal for extra chambers. This let him crowd ten, twelve, twenty and even thirty pinfire rounds into a single cylinder at a time when most revolvers held six, making his guns curiosities of mid-19th-century firepower.