It's videos like this that make you appreciate just how revolutionary the invention of the metallic cartridge really was. The time spent to make each paper round, having to keep paper rounds dry and safe, the ability to carry ready ammunition, the time required to load each round, and so forth. I can't even imagine having to deal with such a slow loading process under fire.
These were not likely ever reloaded in combat !! You waited until a long lull or pulled off to the side behind cover to reload ~ or better yet, like Confederate Captain Wm. C. Quantrill and his Independent Missouri Partisan Rangers, you carried 6-12 revolvers ! You could wear four (and even six ~ I've done so many times !) and have two more in "cantana" bags strapped to pommel, or cavalry pommel holsters, and saddle-bag holsters and a pistol belt with two more holsters and simply tied to pommel or cantle. Gives you plenty of firepower, 72 rounds ! You wait until a rest halt or a camp overnight and reload every gun ! Jesse James wore four and two more were in pommel holsters. ( I have studied history for 64 years, earned my B.A. degree in History and graphic arts, and been shooting 57 years ~I know what I'm talking about.)
@@brucemorrison2132 That is very, very interesting. I remember Josey Wales carrying 4 revolvers in that Clint Eastwood movie. I hadn't thought of six or more revolvers being carried at a time by each man but that does make sense.
Seeing how long the process to load not only the wad and ball but even putting them in the gun makes me have a sudden new appreciation for jacketed cartridges
And this further explains why there were models with removable cilinders, in perspective, Colt was in such case an absolute genius when inventing the shells.
@@elementxxrider Colt didn't invent them, he just popularized them, some french guy invented them. Colt was like the henry ford of guns...or henry ford was the colt of cars...he invented replaceable parts. Prior to colt guns weren't exactly 1 offs, but it was common for parts not to interchange, colts goal was to mass produce parts and have a production line, where you could put any part on any gun without any extra work.
Ver quanto tempo o processo para carregar não só havia uma bola, mas até mesmo colocá-los na arma me fez ter uma nova apreciação por cartuchos revestidos. Tradução
Imagine pulling up to the civil war with a glue stick and some coffee filters. Reloading this gun looks like an arts and crafts project. The manliest arts and crafts project.
30% of this is anal ! Un-necessary caution and over -complicated loading steps ! Looks ridiculous ! There's safety procedures yes, of course . But this guy has made it way more complicated than needed ! I've been shooting cap and ball revolvers for 45 years~ including the 10-shot Confederate LeMat "Grapeshot" revolver and there's ways to load it much simpler and just as safe ! I have never in 45 years shooting had a mishap of any kind ! (Staff Sgt, Vietnam combat Marine with 24 years military service in three branches/USMC/USAF/ARNG ).
Realoading your handgun in the field wasnt even a consideration. The handgun was for when you had already had to abandon your rifle for whatever reason that may have been and even then it was probably most people second choice behind their sword
Quick note: This guy is being super precise with everything and taking his sweet time, and for good reason. Paper cartridges took some time to properly make but exponentially decreased loading times on the battlefield.
Watching someone make their own paper cartridges makes you appreciate what you have now and really even what the LeMat was itself. I watched every second of this video
It's just we didn't have the tech for it for a long time. Making jackets was far too tedious back then since they'd need to be so refined in a smithery it was virtually impossible to do feasibly until we got better tech.
Fairly sure we had em earlier. I remember Ian from Forgottenweapons did a vid where he checked out this swanky 16th century wheel lock breech loading rifle that had these sort of proto-cartidges that could be reused. I think the main issue would be lack of metallurgical knowledge to come up with a cost effective cartridge, since. In other words, bullets in shells was an idea people had, it was just too expensive to produce good ones
It wasn't the "figuring out" of self-contained cartridges, it was all the other advances in materials technology & machining that make them possible...
well we used the paper shells, back in the day, they would take to war, big boxes of premade and loaded paper shells which were manufactured in a specialised factory or workshop. Also the entire of making them would be much faster since they would have some more optimal and faster way than his, like multiple people doing various stages of shell while others would be pre-weighing the black powder
As a history buff, i always knew that 'percussion cap' pistols existed, but I honestly never understood the process. This was an eye opener regarding the loading and use of such weapons. Thank you so much for this.
I imagine historically, they likely got the paper cartridges premade most of the time instead of hand rolling them. You can of course also reload it with loose powder and ball directly which would have been the other option if premade cartridges werent available.
@@judgeroybean6231 imagien they had the nowaday ball ( 105mm howitzer ammo with two parts, the warhead and the ball behind) lol that save some time reloading even if u must put one by one those 2 pieces as i recall these were gen 1 right the later ones have centerfire and standard metal cartridges
JRB is correct. The cap and ball pistols in service were loaded with a pack of pre-made nitrated paper cartridges that were a snug but not super tight fit. That included the big bore secondary barrel using a musket cartridge. The waist pouch for this and other SAR cap guns held two paper packs (like cigarette packs). You pulled it out and tore it open with a string ripcord like cigarettes. The cartridges are then simply inserted whole and pressed as JRB shows here. The back of the cartridge was one thickness of formed paper and dknt need to be pierced. They basically looked like modern rounds without a primer. The caps were in a tiny bag inside the pack with typically two extras. You then applied caps and done. The caps lit the treated paper, which lit the powder. Just doing a 1853 Navy or Army revolver takes under a minute to insert all rounds. Add another minute to cap. 6 rounds in 2 minutes is why they didn't issue revolver rifles. A musketman can do 6 rounds in 2 minutes, single loads....and it is safer when massed together. Metal back load cartridges with primers, and the foil cartridge Henry Martini changed that. I shoot SAR Civil War pistols with nitrated paper cartridges, made from coffee filters and a wooden press.
No wonder cavalry was able to stay on the battlefield until the end of the 19th century and still be a force to be reckoned with. Great video, keep producing them!
There's a reason this was only used by some officers in the south. It was a cool idea. But was way too fiddly to be used by frontline troops in actual combat. More of an officer's weapon of last resort. I think they're cool-looking guns, I liked the modified example used in the first season of HBO's Westworld. I think that was modified to use .38 caliber shells and 410 gauge shotgun shells. A few years ago I looked into it, and there was one gunsmith who could do the modification, but it was very pricey. Edit to add it was .32 caliber not .38 and it was built by a guy named Frank Bird
@@RegisTraiter I don't think you can either, and even if you could it would become an NFA item (short-barrelled shotgun). I think There's a video by Frank Bird, a gunsmith who converted one to fire .32 shells, but he left the shotgun as is. In the video he said he charged $2k for the conversion. So, considering the gun is around $1,000-$1,300 last time I checked, all in it'd be over $3,000 ...you'd seriously have to like the LeMat, or have more money than sense, to put that much into a replica gun, that in the end wouldn't even be historically correct.
@@RegisTraiter I own several reproductions, all Uberti. Personally, I like Uberti better than Pietta, Pietta insists on putting all their modern warnings on the side of the barrels, and Uberti puts them in more discrete locations, like under the loading lever. While they do have their issues, they're all tunable. I had to do some work on my Colt Walkers (short arbor problem). Just like most gun guys when Ed Harris came on the screen with the LaMat I got very interested in the gun. But after looking at the price, I passed.
@@RegisTraiter For the price of one LaMat reproduction you could probably own 2 Cold Navy or Army pistols, and almost 2 Colt Peacemakers. The LaMat is a very cool-looking gun and a very cool idea, it just didn't work that well in real life. I wouldn't own one unless $1300 didn't mean anything to me, and I just wanted one to look at every once in a while. But in the end, everyone is different. I have to admit Ed Harris's character wielding the LaMat in Westworld looked kind of cool.
I really like the look of the LeMat revolver. The first i had heard of it was playing Red Dead Redemption 2. Watching this helps me realize how little i know of firearms. It would be incredible to have a modern revolver with the shape and round count of the LeMat, without the time for a strings band to play a full set.
I might suggest some changes though, for the sake of hopefully improving upon the design. Making it top break would limit the weakness in the overall structure, since there's no loading rod to come loose, and using a system that locks the hammer better when prepping a shotgun shot, and toggling back to normal shots after firing would also make it more reliable. I see no problems with making this into a double action revolver, since the only mechanical difference needs to be in the trigger, hammer, and cylinder modules, where there already isn't too much limiting that adjustment. This thing absolutely could come back as a modern revolver, albeit not incredibly practical considering the size, weight, and how small each bullet would have to be to hold 9 shots.
@@marklloyd4087 Custer had two Gatling guns but decided they were too much of a bother. It would have gone much better for his men and him if they had put up with the hassle, lol.
seriously, that was an awful lot of work to shoot a few rounds out of a shitty old revolver. my grandpa's m14 from vietnam has historical significance without being a chore to go shoot. I'll take a compact 9mm with 15+1 that I can empty in less than five seconds
It would be interesting (note: I'm not saying practical) to see a modern version of this. Say, a 7 or 8 shot .357 Mag. double action revolver, with a single shot .20 gauge action beneath it, with a thumb selector switch, using a common trigger.
Funny how the Pietta repro still has the original LeMat defect: a weak ram lever retaining bracket that causes the lever to bounce with nearly every shot. When the revolvers were actually in use, the ram levers were often taken off or tied to the barrel with a rawhide string. Overall a very curious weapon, though it was "carried often and fired seldom."
Imagine reloading in the midst of like a huge battle and announcing, You:"Guys! I am reloading! Give me 5 hours!" Enemy"You heard the man, let him take his time."
If I can give you/everyone a tip: Putting a simple leather thong around the barrel & loading lever will stop it coming loose and jamming up the action. This works with the LeMat, Dragoon, Walker or any other pistol of this era with weak loading lever retention -- and it's historically accurate as well.
Wonderfully produced Video. Exactly what I was hoping it would be. I loved watching you make the paper cartridges and the different angles of the gun as is was fired!
Beautiful piece. Muzzleloading is just so fun. Don't understand the commenters that come to a video about a percussion revolver and are suprised about the time it takes to load. That's part of the fun!
I can’t help but picture an old west showdown, both combatants given tables, tools and materials to prepare their guns and ammo, they get part way through this loooong process before someone in the crowd says “wouldn’ it be fastr if ya settled over a beer?” The two gunmen look at them, look at each other, then… “Ye why not” and head to the saloon.
The only other time an underbarrel shotgun happened was in the 80s, and even then it was meant for breaching doors and not as an offensive weapon, hence the name "master key".
@@ahalfsesameseedbun7472 Yo dawg, what if you put an underbarrel shotgun underneath the barrel of another shotgun and then link both pumps and triggers together? Then build another one of those guns and combine all four into one? A Mossberg 500 + 500 + 500 + 500 would make you a Mossman 2000. Thats 260 whole more units of gun than a Remington 1740.
Quixotic though it be, the LeMat has for years been my favorite revolver. What a fascinating, if a tad silly, piece of equipment. Also what an absolutely gorgeous reproduction piece. The details and embellishments are just lovely.
What a crazy gun, I've never heard of or seen one before. I have some reading to do to see what I can learn about that work of art. Thank you for the demonstration.
This gun althou modified a lot appeard for example in HBO show Westworld used by Man in black in video game Red Dead Redemption or in other video game Hunt Showdown
@@AlastorCreations I looked up the gun, it's not modified, you could buy them just like it is in the video. I'm assuming the one in the video is reproduction, the originals are worth way too much to risk shooting.
@@bigredc222 by modified i meant the appearences of the gun in the mentioned games/shows beacuse they went for approach of using cartridge ammo for increased reloading speed I assume
@@AlastorCreations I had a 50/50 chance if you were talking about modified in this video or in the game, I took a guess. While I was looking for info a found a modern version that does use cartridges, but it looks modern, it's all stainless steel and both barrels are in the same block of steel.
I love the combination of original and modern technology in this video. gluesticks, 3d-printed tools, amazing that we can adapt modern tech to facilitate authenticity.
Fascinating and wonderful reference for anyone interested in this unusual weapon. I especially enjoyed seeing the loading process of the paper cartridges! If I had a single wish, it would be to see the shotgun fired at a paper target close enough to get a sense of the spread. Nevertheless, thank you for this insightful demonstration!
Ever since I was a kid and saw the gimmicked LeMat revolver that Johnny Ringo carried, I've been fascinated by this weapon. It was almost mesmerizing watching the cartridges being hand made and I was excited to see it on the range. Is it just me or, like the two BP revolvers I've owned and fired. . .not so dependable outside of the movies. I always had problems with bits of spent cap fouling the mechanical operation until I either shook the piece to the side to eject the bit of copper or had to manually remove it with a bristle pipe cleaner. So after all that amazing time and effort put into loading the LeMat, between the charging lever unclipping and bits of fired cap fouling the cylinder operation. . .exactly how great, historically, were these? (It's why I converted my BP .44 Remington Army to .45 Colt metallic cartridge.) GREAT VIDEO!!! Thanks for sharing it!
Imagine being a Union soldier walking in on a Confederate officer doing an arts and crafts project in the middle of the battle field with a fucking glue stick.
@@alrikdewaardt I agree - but to the folks used to a one-shot horse pistol, these were an epiphany...kind like a photographer used to a 4x5 Speed Graphic and learning to save that one shot for the ultimate picture - then finding a 35mm roll film camera with 36 exposures
Think about it: this revolver was developed only 28 years before Maxim machine gun. How fast the progress was in the early industrial age, it's mind blowing. In a time less than how old the internet is humanity went from this to mowing down whole armies with belt-fed weapons that have remained pretty much unchanged in their core to this day.
Back in the blackpowder revolver days they carried 2 or 3 extra cylinders loaded and ready to go. It was faster to change out cylinders than it was to reload them. Same concept applies today where people carry multiple loaded magazines. Bit I doubt that was possible with the LeMat which is why very few front line troops carried them.
Probably possible, but you'd have to have something to block the powder and primers from falling out just in case, and the cylinders are already insanely heavy
If the loading was actually this time consuming in rdr2...arthur would been dead in chapter 1.......love the video by the way......i am never taking lemat for granted now in the game.....
I can see this being practical only as an emergency "last ditch effort", as reloading this on the field would be near impossible. Amazing piece of American history though!
Man, the first guy on the field with a cartridge rvolver or repeater rifle must have felt invincible as he cracked off shot after shot and reloaded in a bare fraction if the time.
@@josephinetracy1485 He didn't put the percussion caps yet so it isn't that dangerous, but personnally, i still never would ram those paper cartidges in the chamber with the gun pointed at my face.
@@darkimperial007 I've gotten my muzzle loader down to about a minute to throw the charge, load and tamp the ball, cap the nipple and fire. Just got back from the range a few minutes ago!
I have a 1st model Dragoon, but always wanted a LeMat to accompany it. A shotgun/pistol isn't (or rather wasn't back in this era) very practical, but I love it nonetheless, and the concept is sound.
I had to show this video to my Deadlands rpg playgroup as some could not belive in reload times of that beast of a revolver, still a eye candy too watch and hear :)
I have a few BP pistols and love shooting them. The reaction I get from other shooters on the line at my range is always welcome since I seem to be the only member with BP pistols. I try to get my mindset back to when these pistols were new technology since they are a pain in the butt to load and clean. I'm enjoying learning to make the paper cartridges. I've wanted to get one of these simply because they are such an interesting looking pistol, don't know if I'd shoot it much, lots of work there.
One of the great things about being a reenactor is that you get to fire some **damned** interesting firearms. I've fired [that is, actually fired ball ammunition] a Spencer, a Sharps, a LeFaucheux, and a Lancaster [mostly reproductions, a few originals in there]. But the LeMat is still a favorite because it's an **interesting** weapon. It certainly has its quirks. A couple things for those of you who've never fired a LeMat... - - First and foremost, this is NOT your 'quick draw' gun. A loaded LeMat comes in at about 5 lbs, and that's a lot of weight at the end of your wrist. What's more, the hammer draw is 120 degrees or so. It takes a fair amount of effort to get the piece in battery to fire compared to its contemporaries. - - Secondly there are two grip styles with the LeMat, the 'infantry' and the far more common 'cavalry'. The 'Judge' here has a cavalry version, which was purchased by the Confederacy for use with mounted troops. It has the sloped hand grip that was thought to improve handling while horseback. The rarer 'infantry' version has a more conventional 'L' shaped grip angle, and was a commercial purchase only pistol. As a personal opinion, I've fired reproductions of both types and I prefer the Infantry model. While the recoil is greater with the Infantry, I found that I didn't have the same control problems that I had with the Cavalry model. I was able to hit the target more consistently and get the pistol back down to my aim point more quickly. YMMV, however.
Thank you for the great video (and Music) Always interesting to see cap and ball revolvers loaded in the field...brings home what folks had to go through before they could use the weapon multiple times.
You'd load this once and that's it. There's a reason these Lematts had huge cylinder capacities. Instead of a 5 or 6 shot revolver that you'd need to reload twice you could have 1 fully loaded lematt revolver with a 10 or 12 shot capacity. My guess is the mode of use was to have the cylinder preloaded, then you fire the revolver until it runs out, then fall back to using the shotgun barrel to Fire and reload with, since it's quicker to reload 1 muzzle loading barrel than it would to rechamber the entire cylinder with cap and ball mid battle
Okay, this was great. However it makes me appreciate my SAA's and the speed it has in comparison. It looks like a lot of fun, and skill to load. Thanks for posting this Judge!
Arthur made reloading this seem a lot simpler.
Whole lot of Arts and crafts in the old west.
@Guy with tuberculosis good luck with the tuberculosis
Probably cause it was a cartage conversion
I can bet... most of the people who read this msg wont understand the context wrt RDR 2 🤪
im sorry for being a dick but the lemat revolver was only usable in the epolouge, aka when you where playing as john marston.
"Hey wanna go to the shooting range?"
"Sure just give me 4 hours to load my gun"
"Dude how many guns are you bringing"
"Just one"
but the best looking and iconic
@@АлександрПопов-и5е
@@АлександрПопов-и5е Arthur made reloading this seem a lot simpler.
@@АлександрПопов-и5е l
The "Boss" Weapon 💜
It's videos like this that make you appreciate just how revolutionary the invention of the metallic cartridge really was. The time spent to make each paper round, having to keep paper rounds dry and safe, the ability to carry ready ammunition, the time required to load each round, and so forth. I can't even imagine having to deal with such a slow loading process under fire.
These were not likely ever reloaded in combat !! You waited until a long lull or pulled off to the side behind cover to reload ~ or better yet, like Confederate Captain Wm. C. Quantrill and his Independent Missouri Partisan Rangers, you carried 6-12 revolvers ! You could wear four (and even six ~ I've done so many times !) and have two more in "cantana" bags strapped to pommel, or cavalry pommel holsters, and saddle-bag holsters and a pistol belt with two more holsters and simply tied to pommel or cantle. Gives you plenty of firepower, 72 rounds ! You wait until a rest halt or a camp overnight and reload every gun ! Jesse James wore four and two more were in pommel holsters. ( I have studied history for 64 years, earned my B.A. degree in History and graphic arts, and been shooting 57 years ~I know what I'm talking about.)
These things were an improvement over flint locks, but a relatively marginal one...
dry was the real challenge
@@brucemorrison2132 That is very, very interesting. I remember Josey Wales carrying 4 revolvers in that Clint Eastwood movie. I hadn't thought of six or more revolvers being carried at a time by each man but that does make sense.
Их не перезаряжали в бою, когда заканчивались выстрелы то начиналась рукопашная схватка
That has gotta be one of the most unique guns I’ve ever seen. A revolver with an underbarrel shotgun is really strange but neat.
You should se the lemat 50 cal revolver rifle w/shotgun underbarrel
Arthur: When are you going to shoot the enemies John!?
John: in 3-5 business days
Seeing how long the process to load not only the wad and ball but even putting them in the gun makes me have a sudden new appreciation for jacketed cartridges
And this further explains why there were models with removable cilinders, in perspective, Colt was in such case an absolute genius when inventing the shells.
On the upside, by the time you are finished loading one chamber with the lemat you have had time to calm down enough to call a truce. ;)
@@elementxxrider Colt didn't invent them, he just popularized them, some french guy invented them. Colt was like the henry ford of guns...or henry ford was the colt of cars...he invented replaceable parts. Prior to colt guns weren't exactly 1 offs, but it was common for parts not to interchange, colts goal was to mass produce parts and have a production line, where you could put any part on any gun without any extra work.
Tradução
Ver quanto tempo o processo para carregar não só havia uma bola, mas até mesmo colocá-los na arma me fez ter uma nova apreciação por cartuchos revestidos. Tradução
Imagine pulling up to the civil war with a glue stick and some coffee filters. Reloading this gun looks like an arts and crafts project. The manliest arts and crafts project.
The manliest arts and crafts project was the Manhattan Project
Typically you would carry a bunch of paper cartridges instead of making them in the heat of battle
30% of this is anal ! Un-necessary caution and over -complicated loading steps ! Looks ridiculous ! There's safety procedures yes, of course . But this guy has made it way more complicated than needed ! I've been shooting cap and ball revolvers for 45 years~ including the 10-shot Confederate LeMat "Grapeshot" revolver and there's ways to load it much simpler and just as safe ! I have never in 45 years shooting had a mishap of any kind ! (Staff Sgt, Vietnam combat Marine with 24 years military service in three branches/USMC/USAF/ARNG ).
Realoading your handgun in the field wasnt even a consideration. The handgun was for when you had already had to abandon your rifle for whatever reason that may have been and even then it was probably most people second choice behind their sword
they probably have army staff in the field doing that for officers.
Imagine getting a telegram from your friend at school telling you not to come in next month.
this is underrated
Тттт
wow this is so hilarious im crying 💀💀💀💀💀
my sides hurt from laughter....you good sir deserve far more likes for this quality comment
😂😂😂made my whole day
Quick note: This guy is being super precise with everything and taking his sweet time, and for good reason.
Paper cartridges took some time to properly make but exponentially decreased loading times on the battlefield.
Watching someone make their own paper cartridges makes you appreciate what you have now and really even what the LeMat was itself.
I watched every second of this video
honestly, i’m surprised how long it took us to figure out bullets in casings.
It's just we didn't have the tech for it for a long time. Making jackets was far too tedious back then since they'd need to be so refined in a smithery it was virtually impossible to do feasibly until we got better tech.
@@fooltheroyal8691 that makes more sense. thanks.
Fairly sure we had em earlier. I remember Ian from Forgottenweapons did a vid where he checked out this swanky 16th century wheel lock breech loading rifle that had these sort of proto-cartidges that could be reused.
I think the main issue would be lack of metallurgical knowledge to come up with a cost effective cartridge, since. In other words, bullets in shells was an idea people had, it was just too expensive to produce good ones
It wasn't the "figuring out" of self-contained cartridges, it was all the other advances in materials technology & machining that make them possible...
well we used the paper shells, back in the day, they would take to war, big boxes of premade and loaded paper shells which were manufactured in a specialised factory or workshop. Also the entire of making them would be much faster since they would have some more optimal and faster way than his, like multiple people doing various stages of shell while others would be pre-weighing the black powder
As a history buff, i always knew that 'percussion cap' pistols existed, but I honestly never understood the process. This was an eye opener regarding the loading and use of such weapons. Thank you so much for this.
I imagine historically, they likely got the paper cartridges premade most of the time instead of hand rolling them. You can of course also reload it with loose powder and ball directly which would have been the other option if premade cartridges werent available.
@@judgeroybean6231 If I remember correctly you could buy them pre-made in boxes at places that sold fire arms.
That is my understanding, yes
@@judgeroybean6231 imagien they had the nowaday ball ( 105mm howitzer ammo with two parts, the warhead and the ball behind) lol
that save some time reloading even if u must put one by one those 2 pieces
as i recall these were gen 1 right the later ones have centerfire and standard metal cartridges
JRB is correct. The cap and ball pistols in service were loaded with a pack of pre-made nitrated paper cartridges that were a snug but not super tight fit. That included the big bore secondary barrel using a musket cartridge.
The waist pouch for this and other SAR cap guns held two paper packs (like cigarette packs). You pulled it out and tore it open with a string ripcord like cigarettes.
The cartridges are then simply inserted whole and pressed as JRB shows here. The back of the cartridge was one thickness of formed paper and dknt need to be pierced. They basically looked like modern rounds without a primer.
The caps were in a tiny bag inside the pack with typically two extras. You then applied caps and done.
The caps lit the treated paper, which lit the powder.
Just doing a 1853 Navy or Army revolver takes under a minute to insert all rounds. Add another minute to cap.
6 rounds in 2 minutes is why they didn't issue revolver rifles. A musketman can do 6 rounds in 2 minutes, single loads....and it is safer when massed together.
Metal back load cartridges with primers, and the foil cartridge Henry Martini changed that.
I shoot SAR Civil War pistols with nitrated paper cartridges, made from coffee filters and a wooden press.
Holy mother of god… The thought of having to do that more than once is making that revolver look like a mighty fine club.
Unfortunately i don’t even know if the lemat is built that tough 😂
I remember reading a joke about the Colt Walker "If you ran out of ammo and needed a weapon in a hurry, you could beat someone to death with the gun."
The true nature of man "Unga bonga me bonk" lmao
Always remember, switching to your Sword is always faster than reloading.
😂😂😂
Okay bajeed
Americans switch to another gun.
You should try switching to a toilet.
You know i’ve never seen anyone make their own paper cartridges, that’s actually really cool.
No wonder cavalry was able to stay on the battlefield until the end of the 19th century and still be a force to be reckoned with. Great video, keep producing them!
It took until the end of the 19th century to load this thing.
@@force1253 you made me laugh with that one!
*laughs in gasser 1870*
no wonder. Cars didn't exist before the 20th century.
@@nilspochat8665 First self propelled vehicle was produced in the very late 1800s, like 1893 or something. It was electric, boogie woogie woogie
There's a reason this was only used by some officers in the south. It was a cool idea. But was way too fiddly to be used by frontline troops in actual combat. More of an officer's weapon of last resort. I think they're cool-looking guns, I liked the modified example used in the first season of HBO's Westworld. I think that was modified to use .38 caliber shells and 410 gauge shotgun shells. A few years ago I looked into it, and there was one gunsmith who could do the modification, but it was very pricey.
Edit to add it was .32 caliber not .38 and it was built by a guy named Frank Bird
I don't think you can make a working LeMat conversion that could use a shell in the shotgun barrel.
@@RegisTraiter I don't think you can either, and even if you could it would become an NFA item (short-barrelled shotgun). I think There's a video by Frank Bird, a gunsmith who converted one to fire .32 shells, but he left the shotgun as is. In the video he said he charged $2k for the conversion. So, considering the gun is around $1,000-$1,300 last time I checked, all in it'd be over $3,000 ...you'd seriously have to like the LeMat, or have more money than sense, to put that much into a replica gun, that in the end wouldn't even be historically correct.
@@Edmund_Mallory_Hardgrove Yeah, at that point I'd get a really kickass Colt Navy repro... or an engraved Peacemaker... or a really nice rifle tbh
@@RegisTraiter I own several reproductions, all Uberti. Personally, I like Uberti better than Pietta, Pietta insists on putting all their modern warnings on the side of the barrels, and Uberti puts them in more discrete locations, like under the loading lever. While they do have their issues, they're all tunable. I had to do some work on my Colt Walkers (short arbor problem). Just like most gun guys when Ed Harris came on the screen with the LaMat I got very interested in the gun. But after looking at the price, I passed.
@@RegisTraiter For the price of one LaMat reproduction you could probably own 2 Cold Navy or Army pistols, and almost 2 Colt Peacemakers. The LaMat is a very cool-looking gun and a very cool idea, it just didn't work that well in real life. I wouldn't own one unless $1300 didn't mean anything to me, and I just wanted one to look at every once in a while. But in the end, everyone is different. I have to admit Ed Harris's character wielding the LaMat in Westworld looked kind of cool.
This makes me appreciate casing ammunition more and more.
I used to want a LeMat but now I know it's a complete turd.
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@@scottp4077 jose rizal adven
Ture
@@Letsplayboi you really want me to believe that?
I really like the look of the LeMat revolver. The first i had heard of it was playing Red Dead Redemption 2. Watching this helps me realize how little i know of firearms. It would be incredible to have a modern revolver with the shape and round count of the LeMat, without the time for a strings band to play a full set.
I might suggest some changes though, for the sake of hopefully improving upon the design. Making it top break would limit the weakness in the overall structure, since there's no loading rod to come loose, and using a system that locks the hammer better when prepping a shotgun shot, and toggling back to normal shots after firing would also make it more reliable. I see no problems with making this into a double action revolver, since the only mechanical difference needs to be in the trigger, hammer, and cylinder modules, where there already isn't too much limiting that adjustment. This thing absolutely could come back as a modern revolver, albeit not incredibly practical considering the size, weight, and how small each bullet would have to be to hold 9 shots.
This video answered some questions on the LeMat that have stuck with me for roughly a decade now, thank you! Very much appreciated brother!
9:17 he finally shot the gun after 6months of reloading
I take it, this was the gun custer and the men in the 7th cavalry used against the Indians, that could explain a lot 🤔😁🇬🇧
Imagine in the old west whitout the stick glue and matrice
@@bobdylan5196 It was the old west and they had to ration their water when out on missions. Their spit was probably VERY sticky.
@@marklloyd4087 Custer had two Gatling guns but decided they were too much of a bother. It would have gone much better for his men and him if they had put up with the hassle, lol.
seriously, that was an awful lot of work to shoot a few rounds out of a shitty old revolver. my grandpa's m14 from vietnam has historical significance without being a chore to go shoot. I'll take a compact 9mm with 15+1 that I can empty in less than five seconds
It would be interesting (note: I'm not saying practical) to see a modern version of this. Say, a 7 or 8 shot .357 Mag. double action revolver, with a single shot .20 gauge action beneath it, with a thumb selector switch, using a common trigger.
.
.
That could be a good weapon for people who might be encountering dangerous wildlife but don’t want to carry a rifle.
That would be epic!
It does exist.
@@Bravo-Too-Much _explain_
Funny how the Pietta repro still has the original LeMat defect: a weak ram lever retaining bracket that causes the lever to bounce with nearly every shot. When the revolvers were actually in use, the ram levers were often taken off or tied to the barrel with a rawhide string. Overall a very curious weapon, though it was "carried often and fired seldom."
It's not a factory defect, it's "historical authenticity" 🤣
The Dragoon and Walker levers are similarly weak from Pietta and Uberti. As you say, it's entirely historically accurate.
Imagine reloading in the midst of like a huge battle and announcing,
You:"Guys! I am reloading! Give me 5 hours!"
Enemy"You heard the man, let him take his time."
dude probably rolls immaculate joints
So much effort put into making the video starting from making paper cartridges to first person scenes of shooting that behemot of a gun. Great vid :)
P
If I can give you/everyone a tip: Putting a simple leather thong around the barrel & loading lever will stop it coming loose and jamming up the action. This works with the LeMat, Dragoon, Walker or any other pistol of this era with weak loading lever retention -- and it's historically accurate as well.
Wonderfully produced Video. Exactly what I was hoping it would be.
I loved watching you make the paper cartridges and the different angles of the gun as is was fired!
Now you see why The Outlaw Josie Wales carried 4 revolvers...
Came for the lemat stayed for the music
Beautiful piece. Muzzleloading is just so fun.
Don't understand the commenters that come to a video about a percussion revolver and are suprised about the time it takes to load. That's part of the fun!
It'a like rollin' a smoke, in a sense.
I can’t help but picture an old west showdown, both combatants given tables, tools and materials to prepare their guns and ammo, they get part way through this loooong process before someone in the crowd says “wouldn’ it be fastr if ya settled over a beer?” The two gunmen look at them, look at each other, then… “Ye why not” and head to the saloon.
And then got drunk and bashed each other with bottles?
@@MnemonicHackI wouldn't be terribly shocked it happened at least once
That loading lever really liked to fly around. I can see why that particular design doesn't seem to show up in other guns of the time.
Doesnt matter, underslung shotgun barrel. Your 1858 remington is inferior.
The only other time an underbarrel shotgun happened was in the 80s, and even then it was meant for breaching doors and not as an offensive weapon, hence the name "master key".
@@ahalfsesameseedbun7472 Yo dawg, what if you put an underbarrel shotgun underneath the barrel of another shotgun and then link both pumps and triggers together? Then build another one of those guns and combine all four into one? A Mossberg 500 + 500 + 500 + 500 would make you a Mossman 2000. Thats 260 whole more units of gun than a Remington 1740.
This catch for the lever was facing down in the original LeMat. This one here is some sort of a heresy.
@@pinkhead6857890 Remington and a saw-off shotgun and you are way ahead.
Very cool! Never saw one fired before. Great period songs too! Thanks, I couldn't stop watching.
Remember switching to your side arm is alway faster than reloading.
Seriously though this was a great vid love the history
владельцу такого револьвера всегда есть чем заняться) он никогда не умрёт от скуки)
Пока перезарядит, уже и война кончится ... )
Fantastic video. It make you appreciate all the work that went into shooting these historic firearms.
“Arthur, I dont have a plan”
It's really fascinating how these old revolvers take time to reload.
Just an honest dude putting effort into and enjoying his hobby, love it
Quixotic though it be, the LeMat has for years been my favorite revolver. What a fascinating, if a tad silly, piece of equipment. Also what an absolutely gorgeous reproduction piece. The details and embellishments are just lovely.
What a crazy gun, I've never heard of or seen one before.
I have some reading to do to see what I can learn about that work of art.
Thank you for the demonstration.
This gun althou modified a lot appeard for example in HBO show Westworld used by Man in black in video game Red Dead Redemption or in other video game Hunt Showdown
@@AlastorCreations I looked up the gun, it's not modified, you could buy them just like it is in the video.
I'm assuming the one in the video is reproduction, the originals are worth way too much to risk shooting.
@@bigredc222 by modified i meant the appearences of the gun in the mentioned games/shows beacuse they went for approach of using cartridge ammo for increased reloading speed I assume
@@AlastorCreations I had a 50/50 chance if you were talking about modified in this video or in the game, I took a guess.
While I was looking for info a found a modern version that does use cartridges, but it looks modern, it's all stainless steel and both barrels are in the same block of steel.
I love the combination of original and modern technology in this video. gluesticks, 3d-printed tools, amazing that we can adapt modern tech to facilitate authenticity.
The cheapest gun simply will make your time easier rather than this revolver,just don't use really outdated gun in a gunfight
@@NetralFN that's irrelevant to my interest in this video
By the time you are finished with loading your weapon a messenger will arrive to tell the war is over. Beautiful music, thank you.
Very beautyful video 👌
Thank you for taking the time to demonstrate the process and for the selection of great songs.
the southern version of the 1st song is a better song ;p
Fascinating and wonderful reference for anyone interested in this unusual weapon. I especially enjoyed seeing the loading process of the paper cartridges! If I had a single wish, it would be to see the shotgun fired at a paper target close enough to get a sense of the spread. Nevertheless, thank you for this insightful demonstration!
I'd like to see that too.
Ever since I was a kid and saw the gimmicked LeMat revolver that Johnny Ringo carried, I've been fascinated by this weapon. It was almost mesmerizing watching the cartridges being hand made and I was excited to see it on the range. Is it just me or, like the two BP revolvers I've owned and fired. . .not so dependable outside of the movies. I always had problems with bits of spent cap fouling the mechanical operation until I either shook the piece to the side to eject the bit of copper or had to manually remove it with a bristle pipe cleaner. So after all that amazing time and effort put into loading the LeMat, between the charging lever unclipping and bits of fired cap fouling the cylinder operation. . .exactly how great, historically, were these? (It's why I converted my BP .44 Remington Army to .45 Colt metallic cartridge.) GREAT VIDEO!!! Thanks for sharing it!
What a cool piece of history, really puts into perspective how great modern guns are.
It might be hard to reload but certainly cool you americans are so lucky to have acces to these guns.
Interesting song choice for an arm used by the confederates... lol. Loved the video.
I only had so many civil war songs to choose from haha
Hey hey that be the confederate states of America!!!!
He had one from each side.
Absolute beauty of a revolver. A whole hell of a lot of work, though.
Imagine being a Union soldier walking in on a Confederate officer doing an arts and crafts project in the middle of the battle field with a fucking glue stick.
Them enemies better be dead when the time comes to reload.
,,,,cartridge making was usually done by women & children in government arsenals...
@@mohammedcohen yeah okay but it was still a lot of loading and tightening and greasing before shooting six guys before you needed to reload again.
@@alrikdewaardt I agree - but to the folks used to a one-shot horse pistol, these were an epiphany...kind like a photographer used to a 4x5 Speed Graphic and learning to save that one shot for the ultimate picture - then finding a 35mm roll film camera with 36 exposures
@@alrikdewaardt What's wild is cartridges existed for almost a decade when this was invented... I guess new tech takes a while to take off.
Damn the most American video I ever watched in a long while
Обалденное видео. Интересно смотреть на такой необычный револьвер и как его перезаряжали. Спасибо.
так все капсульные револьверы так заряжались.
Think about it: this revolver was developed only 28 years before Maxim machine gun. How fast the progress was in the early industrial age, it's mind blowing.
In a time less than how old the internet is humanity went from this to mowing down whole armies with belt-fed weapons that have remained pretty much unchanged in their core to this day.
yeah i agree the 1800's def was a weird time to be alive technology wise
Back in the blackpowder revolver days they carried 2 or 3 extra cylinders loaded and ready to go. It was faster to change out cylinders than it was to reload them. Same concept applies today where people carry multiple loaded magazines. Bit I doubt that was possible with the LeMat which is why very few front line troops carried them.
Probably possible, but you'd have to have something to block the powder and primers from falling out just in case, and the cylinders are already insanely heavy
"Hold on, I have to reload" ....
Ironically my favourite revolver ever made
That's the sweetest Pietta i've ever seen... always loved this pistol.. thanks !
Such a cool piece of engineering. I've always had a love for the Ole lemat. Loved your video. Taught me alot.
Очень понравились песни и музыка, и как мужику возня с оружием, и всё что с ним связано. Привет из осенней Башкирии.
Солидарен из Белебея
Умиротворение...
My brother in arms has been reloading since the Lincoln assassination
If the loading was actually this time consuming in rdr2...arthur would been dead in chapter 1.......love the video by the way......i am never taking lemat for granted now in the game.....
Literally took him 2 minutes, 20 seconds to prepare ONE ROUND!
THE GUN HOLDS NINE ROUNDS!!!!!
I can see this being practical only as an emergency "last ditch effort", as reloading this on the field would be near impossible. Amazing piece of American history though!
Man, the first guy on the field with a cartridge rvolver or repeater rifle must have felt invincible as he cracked off shot after shot and reloaded in a bare fraction if the time.
Isn't he looking down the barrel of an old and unpredictable loaded gun? 6:35
@@josephinetracy1485 He didn't put the percussion caps yet so it isn't that dangerous, but personnally, i still never would ram those paper cartidges in the chamber with the gun pointed at my face.
@@pierrevilley6675 ooh.... k...... thanks
By the time the weapon has been loaded you are either dead or a prisoner.
Love the music, very historic, not totally leaning one way or the other, just pure history
I know for the fact the true gunslingers reload revolvers with bullets from inside of their fingers.
Always wanted to see the loading process of a LeMat. I've written about them but never seen one in action. Thank you for a very detailed presentation.
What do u mean u written about it
@@douggaudiosi14 That is THE Chuck Dixon, the Legendary Comic and Novel author. I think he makes both for Arktoons nowadays.
You made Robin and Bane!? Awesome!
I love my black powder pistol. Makes me laugh and smile every time I get to shoot it. More so than my modern pieces. Great video!
The time and effort that goes into even just loading the pistol would make every shot worth that much more. I hope I get to shoot one one day!
@@darkimperial007 I've gotten my muzzle loader down to about a minute to throw the charge, load and tamp the ball, cap the nipple and fire. Just got back from the range a few minutes ago!
@@darkimperial007 You are sure to enjoy shooting one!
Love mine, too...ALL of them!
I have a 1st model Dragoon, but always wanted a LeMat to accompany it. A shotgun/pistol isn't (or rather wasn't back in this era) very practical, but I love it nonetheless, and the concept is sound.
That fires song was amazing! I loved it properly more than I should.
The music had me singing along here at my desk at work!!!! Great Video!!!!!!!!
Thanks! Such a peculiar and interesting historical firearm.
An Iphone equivalent for southern gentry. Still a marvelous piece of work.
i have no idea but i love the fact that he uses paper cartriges, it makes me feel like an old civillian in the 1860's teaching his son how to load it
Superbe démonstration et superbe musique !!!👍😉👍
I had to show this video to my Deadlands rpg playgroup as some could not belive in reload times of that beast of a revolver, still a eye candy too watch and hear :)
I have a few BP pistols and love shooting them. The reaction I get from other shooters on the line at my range is always welcome since I seem to be the only member with BP pistols. I try to get my mindset back to when these pistols were new technology since they are a pain in the butt to load and clean. I'm enjoying learning to make the paper cartridges. I've wanted to get one of these simply because they are such an interesting looking pistol, don't know if I'd shoot it much, lots of work there.
Amazing to think this was a superior handgun at one point .
Seems like the perfect carry gun to me haha.
People in the 2200's will say the same of our current handguns.
I came here from Hunt showdown I had to see how the real thing worked
Me too
One of the great things about being a reenactor is that you get to fire some **damned** interesting firearms. I've fired [that is, actually fired ball ammunition] a Spencer, a Sharps, a LeFaucheux, and a Lancaster [mostly reproductions, a few originals in there]. But the LeMat is still a favorite because it's an **interesting** weapon. It certainly has its quirks.
A couple things for those of you who've never fired a LeMat...
- - First and foremost, this is NOT your 'quick draw' gun. A loaded LeMat comes in at about 5 lbs, and that's a lot of weight at the end of your wrist. What's more, the hammer draw is 120 degrees or so. It takes a fair amount of effort to get the piece in battery to fire compared to its contemporaries.
- - Secondly there are two grip styles with the LeMat, the 'infantry' and the far more common 'cavalry'. The 'Judge' here has a cavalry version, which was purchased by the Confederacy for use with mounted troops. It has the sloped hand grip that was thought to improve handling while horseback. The rarer 'infantry' version has a more conventional 'L' shaped grip angle, and was a commercial purchase only pistol. As a personal opinion, I've fired reproductions of both types and I prefer the Infantry model. While the recoil is greater with the Infantry, I found that I didn't have the same control problems that I had with the Cavalry model. I was able to hit the target more consistently and get the pistol back down to my aim point more quickly. YMMV, however.
I give up. What does YMMV mean. Anybody?
@@bobferrell5085 Your Mileage May Vary. It implies that your experience may be different than mine.
09:17 Finally!! After 37 long years!
OTHER THAN THE LOADING PART I AM AMAZED BY THE GUNS EXTREMELY BEAUTIFUL DESIGN.I MEAN IT WOULD LOOK VERY AMAZING WHILE HOLDING
Thank you for the great video (and Music) Always interesting to see cap and ball revolvers loaded in the field...brings home what folks had to go through before they could use the weapon multiple times.
Да уж. В играх и фильмах сей момент никогда не показывают. Иначе бы фильм, к примеру превратился бы в сериал. ))) Спасибо за ролик.
Для коллекции и оружейных задротов - самое то..! Правда, пока зарядишь - стрелять уже расхочешь))
Pinkertons: shooting at the Van der lind gang
Arthur:
Doing arts and crafts on the battlefield, I see why we made cartridges
Заморочки много, слишком всё мудрёно, но респект автору за видео. Показал как страдали обладатели сего чуда инженерии. :)
Во шайтан-машина, лучше с рогаткой ходить
А мне нравится такая фигня, сидишь, заряжаешь, кантри слушаешь)))
@@topotushkinTV вы думаете этот револьвер еще и кантри играть может? ))))
@@topotushkinTV Да,пока зарядишь,можно несколько песен послушать)
considering the painstaking preparation, people in the 1800s must have really hated someone to think "i'm going to shoot that guy"
😂🤣😂🤣That reminds me of an old Chris Rock joke...
ua-cam.com/video/Db0Y4qIZ4PA/v-deo.html
You'd load this once and that's it. There's a reason these Lematts had huge cylinder capacities. Instead of a 5 or 6 shot revolver that you'd need to reload twice you could have 1 fully loaded lematt revolver with a 10 or 12 shot capacity. My guess is the mode of use was to have the cylinder preloaded, then you fire the revolver until it runs out, then fall back to using the shotgun barrel to Fire and reload with, since it's quicker to reload 1 muzzle loading barrel than it would to rechamber the entire cylinder with cap and ball mid battle
Произведение оружейного искусства, браво!!!
Пока зарядишь война кончится
Bad ass gun boss man
Gotta love the reloading rod just bouncing around as you fire
Okay, this was great. However it makes me appreciate my SAA's and the speed it has in comparison. It looks like a lot of fun, and skill to load. Thanks for posting this Judge!
Спасибо.Интересно увидеть редчайший револьвер в работе.
Ооооооо нихрена!!!!! Вот это круть👍👍👍👍👍👍
Мне нравятся старые револьверы. А то что дополнительный ствол под картечь есть, я не знал 🤔
ENGLISH!!!!!!!! I’m to dumb for whatever this is, maybe korean, looks korean, idk
@@pandachief1144 Lol that are Russian language bro. I like western revolvers.
And I'm from Siberia)
Oh, cool. My dog is russian so i know a few words
@@pandachief1144 excuse me?
This gun had been used in a very fun comedy. The comedy is life. Life is a comedy when you have a Lee Mat.
Wow
Beautiful Revolver
Beautiful piece of American 🇺🇸 history
Thanks for the beautiful video
🙏🏻
I like the paper cartridges. Great video!