12mm FRENCH NAVY

Research notes

A few years before the French adoption of the Mle 1873 Revolver, the Navy abandoned the pinfire system in favour of the center-fire revolver in the form of the Lefaucheaux Mle 1870 revolver. After that the Navy converted all remaining Mle 1858 Lefaucheaux pinfire revolvers to center-fire and adopted them as the Pistolet-revolver de Marine Transformè 1870. (Pistols: An Illustrated History of Their Impact, p. 152). After the adoption of the Mle 1873 by the French Army, the Navy had to follow suit. On the attached SFM drawings can be seen the original designs for the Navy Model.

Manufactured by Gevelot Gaupillat d´Issy-les-Moulineaux, France.