NRA Museums: Great Grandpa Albin's Revolver

In October of 2015 I blogged about the story of  GREAT GRANDPA ALBIN'S REVOLVER  in the tight handmade holster.

My interest was in the story, told by a great grandson in Sweden, and what it said about the personality and character of my great grandfather. I never really thought about the gun itself but my brother did. Intrigued by the photo and knowing a bit about firearms (he is a Texan you know) he spent a bit of time investigating. He did not immediately recognize the revolver or its manufacturer. What kind of revolver was this? What was it's history?

On a website from the National Rifle Association he believes he has identified Robert Albin's revolver as a

BELGIAN SINGLE ACTION PINFIRE REVOLVER

It does indeed look like the same type gun and it does itself have a story and place in history that did interest me. "In 1854 Eugene Gabriel Lefaucheaux patented a simple and inexpensive yet reliable 12mm caliber single-action breech-loading pinfire revolver. Within a few years, these arms had been adopted by military forces in France, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Romania."* At the start of the American Civil War both the Union and Confederacy also bought these guns for use in combat.

For the complete story of the origin of Great Grandpa Albin's gun follow this link ↓

→ NRA Museums: The Belgian Single Action Pinfire Revolver

A big Thank You to the NRA for sharing this information,

and my brother Richard of course!

*an excerpt from NRA Museums - The Belgian Single Action Pinfire Revolver

**click on photos to enlarge for easier viewing**