Serbando Ortega Vitoria Revolver
Serbando Ortega · Revolver · Discontinued · 1864
Also known as: Servando Ortega Vitoria Revolver, Ortega Lefaucheux Pinfire Revolver
Overview
The Serbando Ortega Vitoria revolver is a mid-19th-century Spanish pinfire revolver built on the Lefaucheux pattern by the gunmaker Serbando (Servando) Ortega of Vitoria, in the Basque Country. Chambered for the 12mm Lefaucheux pinfire cartridge, it is a six-shot, open-frame revolver typical of the percussion-to-pinfire transition, with an engraved steel frame and wooden grips. Ortega was documented as a maker of percussion shotguns and Lefaucheux-type revolvers around 1864.
Specifications
| Action Type | Revolving |
| Firing Mechanism | Hammer Fired |
| Trigger Type | Double Action |
| Magazine Capacity | 6 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Internal |
| Muzzle Velocity | 100 m/s (328 fps) |
| Effective Range | 25 m (27 yd) |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Wood |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- 12mm Lefaucheux Pinfire · primary — also known as 12mm Pinfire, 12mm Lefaucheux
Features
- Firing modes: Manual
- Feed systems: Revolving Cylinder
- Features: Open Frame, Loading Gate, Ejector Rod, Engraved
Service history
Operators
- Civilian market
Production
Production years: c. 1860-1880
Small-scale Basque workshop production; exact figures unknown
Origin
Country of origin: Spain
Designer: Serbando Ortega
Notes
Specifications reflect the typical 12mm Lefaucheux-pattern pinfire revolver of the period; exact dimensions for individual Ortega-marked examples vary and are not standardized. Name also recorded as Servando Ortega.
Background
Ortega worked in Vitoria during Spain's mid-19th-century arms boom, when Basque workshops churned out affordable copies of Eugene Lefaucheux's pinfire revolver — the first commercially successful metallic-cartridge revolver — for both the domestic market and export.