Le Page Moutier Revolver
Le Page Moutier · Pistol · Discontinued · 1858
Also known as: Moutier Revolver, Lepage Moutier Revolver
Overview
The Le Page Moutier is a French six-shot single-action pinfire revolver introduced around 1858 and built by the Parisian house of Le Page under its Le Page Moutier ownership. Its distinctive Moutier design opens for loading not by tipping the barrel upward but by swiveling the octagonal barrel and cylinder to the left as a unit. Originally chambered for the 9mm pinfire cartridge and later reengineered for an 11mm metallic cartridge, it served primarily as a private-purchase officer's sidearm during the Second Empire and the Franco-Prussian War.
Specifications
| Overall Length | 215 mm (8.46") |
| Barrel Length | 162 mm (6.38") |
| Action Type | Single Action Revolver |
| Firing Mechanism | Single Action |
| Trigger Type | Single Action |
| Magazine Capacity | 6 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Rotary |
| 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
- 11mm French Ordnance — also known as 11mm Chamelot-Delvigne, 11mm Mle 1873
Features
- Firing modes: Repeating
- Feed systems: Revolving Cylinder
- Features: Octagonal Barrel, Side Swiveling Barrel And Cylinder, Loading Gate
Service history
Operators
- French Army officers
Conflicts
- Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871)
Production
Production years: 1858-1870s
Produced in limited numbers as a private-purchase officer's revolver; exact figures unknown
Origin
Country of origin: France
Designer: Moutier
Notes
Circa 1866-1867 Moutier's partner Emile Henri Le Page Faure improved the design to accept a more powerful 11mm metallic cartridge, the original 9mm pinfire chambering having proven underpowered.
Background
The Le Page workshop that built this revolver traces to the Parisian gunmaking dynasty that armed Napoleon Bonaparte; by the 1860s the firm carried the Le Page Moutier name and its unusual side-swiveling revolver competed with the more common Lefaucheux tip-down designs.