Today for Gus’ Gear, I am going back to the French section of the collection. I have recently added a couple of new French revolvers to the collection that I have not shown. The French were ahead of all other countries in the development of small arms. In 1873, France adopted a modern handgun for non commissioned officers and in 1874 an improved model for officers. The model 1873 and model 1874 Chamelot-Delvigne are 6 shot double action revolvers that fire an 11mm black powder cartridge. They were manufactured by the St. Etienne arsenal from 1873 until 1887 and about 337 thousand were produced. These revolvers were modern enough that they continued in use until the mid 20thcentury, sometimes rechambered for the more powerful .45 ACP cartridge.
The Mle 1873 was produced in the white, while the Mle 1874 had a blued finish, a fluted cylinder and a barrel that was 5mm shorter. The ejector rod is stored under the barrel and the loading gate is on the right side and rotates back and down to facilitate loading. When the loading gate is opened, the hammer is cammed back to safety and the cylinder is free to turn. The holster shown here is an Mle 1974 clam shell style holster, and is slightly smaller than the holster for the Mle 1873 revolver. The cartridge pocket has loops to hold twelve cartridges. The package of cartridges shown are pre-war produced blanks for training or ceremony.
The view of the right side shows the loading gate opened, ready to load. The holster is recognizable as one for the earlier revolvers by the blister in the back to accommodate the ejector rod end. The holsters for the Mle 1892 revolver omitted this feature as the ejector rod end was much smaller on that revolver.
The holster shown here is an Mle 1974 clam shell style holster, and is slightly smaller than the holster for the Mle 1873 revolver. The cartridge pocket has loops to hold twelve cartridges.
Being a black powder weapon, field stripping is required to clean it of corrosive residue. Field stripping is fairly easy and requires no extra tools. With the ejector rod unlocked from the end of the cylinder pin, a button on the right side of the forward frame can be pushed unlocking the pin so it can be pulled forward to release the cylinder. To remove the side plate, a screw driver is required, but that is provided at the end of the cylinder pin. With the screw removed the side plate can be lifted off to reveal the inner workings. The left grip scale can also be removed at this time to uncover the main spring. Reassembly is a reverse procedure.