Editing Revolver (section)

== Automatic revolvers ==
{{Main|Automatic revolver}}

The term "automatic revolver" has two different meanings, the first being used in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when "automatic" referred not to the operational mechanism of firing, but to extraction and ejection of spent casings. An "automatic revolver" in this context is one which extracts empty fired cases "automatically", such as upon breaking open the action, rather than requiring manual extraction of each case individually with a sliding rod or pin (as in the Colt Single Action Army design). This term was widely used in the advertising of the period as a way to distinguish such revolvers from the far more common rod-extraction types.<ref name="Boorman2002">{{cite book|last=Boorman|first=Dean K.|title=The History of Smith & Wesson Firearms|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5jnqqkW85u8C&pg=PA44|date=1 December 2002|publisher=Globe Pequot Press|isbn=978-1-58574-721-4|page=44}}</ref>

In the second sense, "automatic revolver" refers to the mechanism of firing rather than extraction. Double-action revolvers use a long trigger pull to cock the hammer, thus negating the need to manually cock the hammer between shots. The disadvantage of this is that the long, heavy pull cocking the hammer makes the double-action revolver much harder to shoot accurately than a single-action revolver (although cocking the hammer of a double-action reduces the length and weight of the trigger pull). A rare class of revolvers, called automatic for its firing design, attempts to overcome this restriction, giving the high speed of a double-action with the trigger effort of a single-action. The [[Webley-Fosbery Automatic Revolver]] is the most famous commercial example of this. It was recoil-operated, and the cylinder and barrel recoiled backwards to cock the hammer and revolve the cylinder. Cam grooves were milled on the outside of the cylinder to provide a means of advancing to the next chamber—half a turn as the cylinder moved back, and half a turn as it moved forward. .38 caliber versions held eight shots; .455 caliber versions held six. At the time, the few available automatic pistols were larger, less reliable, and more expensive. The automatic revolver was popular when it first came out, but was quickly superseded by the creation of reliable, inexpensive semi-automatic pistols.<ref name="Kinard2004">{{cite book|last=Kinard|first=Jeff|title=Pistols: An Illustrated History of Their Impact|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZVnuHX_6bG0C&pg=PA144|year=2004|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-470-7|page=144|access-date=2015-11-12|archive-date=2023-04-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230422232213/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZVnuHX_6bG0C&pg=PA144|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1997, the [[Mateba]] company developed a type of recoil-operated automatic revolver, commercially named the [[Mateba Autorevolver]], which uses the recoil energy to auto-rotate a normal revolver cylinder holding six or seven cartridges, depending on the model. The company has made several versions of its Autorevolver, including longer-barrelled and carbine variations, chambered in .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum and [[.454 Casull]].<ref name="Shideler2011">{{cite book|last=Shideler|first=Dan|title=Gun Digest 2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=25rTlO5THIkC&pg=PA416|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708220746/http://books.google.com/books?id=25rTlO5THIkC&pg=PA416|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 8, 2014|date=2011|publisher=Gun Digest Books|location=Iola, Wisconsin|isbn=978-1-4402-2891-9|page=416}}</ref>

The [[Pancor Jackhammer Mark 2 Shotgun|Pancor Jackhammer]] is a [[combat shotgun]] based on a similar mechanism to an automatic revolver. It uses a [[Blow forward|blow-forward]] action to move the barrel forward (which unlocks it from the cylinder), rotate the cylinder, and cock the hammer.<ref name="Bishop2006">{{cite book|last=Bishop|first=Chris|title=The Encyclopedia of Weapons: From World War II to the Present Day|date= 2006|publisher=Thunder Bay Press|location=San Diego, California|page=355}}</ref>