I purchased this little revolver probably twenty five years ago at a flee market. I know I didn't pay much for it and just bought it because it was a novelty.

Is there anyone here that can tell me anything about it?I have one cartridge that the person I bought it from included with it. It's a double action only which surprised me and the firing pin is an integral part of each cartridge. I'm not a collector and never paid much attention to guns like this but thought this was pretty interesting.

Thanks for your help!

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One final image of the cartridge.

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Yours is likely a Belgian made pinfire revolver that were popular around the Civil War Era. Introduced in the late 1840’s I believe. There are also French made examples Etc. They were a very common firearm in Europe and sold in the USA under the trade names “ Guardian” etc in the 1870’s.
To confirm it’s a Belgian made revolver just unscrew the barrel( unloaded of course) and look on the cylinder for an oval stamp with the letters E L G with a small crown on top. Normally on the front or back. But they can also be found on the outside as well. The stamp is obvious when you find it. These were black powder only!!
*** oh, also, those steps or notches on the cylinder are the “ Old design” lock up that was discontinued in 1878. So this gun pre-dates that year.

Murph

I really appreciate the information. I'll take a look at the cylinder today.

Thanks!

If you can post a good photo of the ELG oval with star? I can date it for you. There were transitional stamps.

Murph

That is a Lefaucheux pattern pinfire revolver, perhaps even made by Lefaucheux, but there were numerous copies.
From the proportions, I guess that it is a 7mm, but they were made from 5 to 12mm caliber.

If yours only functions in double action, then it is broken.

I would have considered pinfire obsolete when larger than .22 rimfires came out in the 1860s, but these guns were regularly sold well up into the 20th century, I have them in a 1911 ALFA catalog.

It's probably a "support mural" or a " muurhanger" which means wall hanger in French and Belgian, sorry I couldn't resist.

Thanks for all the info. This weekend I’ll take the cylinder out and photograph and post it.

It is a Lefaucheux revolver, it is a design by Eugenio Lefaucheux and his ammunition known as a spike cartridge was designed by his father Casimiro Lefaucheux, the first copies date from 1854/55, the original models were manufactured in France but then manufactured in other countries like Belgium and Spain.
The Lefaucheux revolvers were manufactured in all sizes, small to store in a pocket, medium and large for military use, their ammunition was produced for all types of weapons (revolvers, guns with one or two barrels, shotguns).
In my country (Argentina) they were very used during the Conquest of the Desert (1878-1885) so there are many around here, as you can imagine nobody shoots with them, they are collectibles or decorative pieces, in general they are cheap with some exceptions.