The ejector was also simple and reliable: a sturdy rod sliding lengthwise within the bolt with the rear portion of the ejector protruding out the back of the bolt. When the bolt reached the end of its rearward travel, the ejector struck an abutment within the rear of the receiver. This then transmitted the force forward, forcibly ejecting the shell. The system is simple and effective, as there were no small parts to break or malfunction because of congealed lubricants.
Unlike the Model 50, which was available in 12 or 20 gauge, the Model 59 was available only in 12 gauge. However, a deluxe version called the Pigeon Grade was manufactured in 1962 and 1963. It featured hand-honed internal components and engine-turned bolts and bolt carriers as well as better-grade stocks built to customer specifications. In 1962 this grade listed for $249.65 while the standard grade sold for $149.50. To put these prices into perspective, the competing Browning A--5 “Hump Back” listed for $129.75 with a plain barrel or $149.75 with a ventilated rib. So the Model 59 was competitively priced. Yet sales of the Model 59 were so poor that Winchester even resorted to a free trial offer. Prospective buyers could take a Model 59 hunting for a day, free of charge. Still, sales lagged to the point that production was terminated in 1965.
The Win Lite barrel, although slightly larger in diameter and shinier, closely resembles a conventional shotgun barrel. Note the interrupted threads at the breech and the interchangeable choke tube at the muzzle.
Unfortunately, things are different today. Today Model 59s are scarce and people willing to part with one are even more scarce. Even if they are too old to hunt with them, they still retain a definite affection for them. If you can locate one in need of repair, replacement parts are occasionally available from the Guns Parts Corporation of West Hurley, New York. However if you are thinking of converting an old lightweight Model 50 (which had an aluminum receiver) into a 59, the Win-Lite barrels are seldom if ever available.
So the Model 59 was definitely a better mouse trap. Yet the shooting world failed to beat a path to Winchester’s door. Why this was so remains a mystery. Perhaps the shooters of the time weren’t as sophisticated as the gun. Despite their short production runs, the Models 50 and 59 sired many innovations that continue to live on in other guns. That’s not a bad epitaph for any gun.
The French service Revolver Models of 1873 and 1874
On the upper face of barrel, the model number marking.
BY RAYMOND CARANTA
Just as the Civil War has been called the major military event of the 19th century in the United States, the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 is considered in France to be the landmark for armament evolution during the last thirty years of that period.
As a matter of fact, for instance, 1870 marked the bridge between the muzzle-loading and breech-loading eras for military firearms. In this connection, if we consider handguns, immediately after the war, most cavalry departments shifted from traditional muzzle-loading horse pistols to the most up-to-date metallic cartridge revolvers.
FRENCH CAVALRY HANDGUNS BEFORE THE WAR
In the French cavalry, the handgun was considered, up to the war, quite as a secondary weapon, after the saber and the lance. It is for this reason that, in 1870, the “1822 T Bis” horse pistol, a flintlock single shot design converted to percussion in 1860, was still the basic service handgun.
It was a conventional side-lock single shot 69-caliber gun, 13.7 inches long and weighing 43 oz. with a 7.8-inch barrel. Officers were either armed with single shot flintlock “1822 T” horse pistols converted in 1840 to percussion (overall length 13.4 inches; weight 35 oz. with 7.8-inch barrel) or with the Officers Model of 1833 (same caliber; overall length 14.3 inches; weight 32 oz. with 7.8-inch barrel). However, most cavalry officers used personal handguns, such as the Lefaucheux 12mm pinfire revolvers.
Also, it can be added that, while the converted “1822 T” Officers pistols were only improved basic trooper handguns, the Model of 1833 was much closer to an aristocratic continental duelling pistol. Nevertheless, if we refer to 1855 French military literature (“Maximes, conseils et instructions sur l’art de la guerre.” Paris, Leneveu, Libraire – Editeur. 1855), our top brass did not rely too much on handguns: “…A pistol shot, if not fired at very close range, will miss 99 times out of one hundred; however, never rest the muzzle against the object aimed at, for fear of bursting the barrel….”
Right side view of the French 1873 service revolver. Note the loading rocking door, the solid round cylinder, the slotted field stripping latch, the rod ejector housing and, under the grip, the round lanyard ring.
BEYOND THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR
After the Sedan disaster of September 2, 1870, which saw the capitulation of the Emperor Napoleon III, the National Defence Government, which became in charge of the war effort, was in urgent need of war materiel. Therefore it purchased, among others, many surplus guns of the American Civil War, resulting in the import of excellent, but obsolescent, single action muzzle-loading revolvers. When the peace was restored, most European Armies realized therefore that, for properly arming horsemen, it was time to adopt modern double action metallic cartridge revolvers.
So, in France, a Military Commission was placed in charge of selecting a new service model for general distribution, which was required to feature a solid frame. Among the miscellaneous guns tested were the new central fire Lefaucheux adopted by the Navy in 1870, together with special Galand and Chamelot-Delvigne prototypes. (See L’aristocratie du pistolet by Raymond Caranta and Pierre Cantegrit. Crépin-Leblond, Paris. 1997.) In the end, it was the Chamelot-Delvigne product that was selected.
Belgian J. Chamelot was a gunsmith residing in Liège and Henri Gustave Delvigne, a French Captain residing in Paris, was well known for his activity in the field of ballistics. The two united their efforts in 1862 and designed several revolvers covered by twelve patents by June of 1873. Most of these were pinfire guns, the double action Model 9 of 1864 having already being tested by the military in 1867.
THE CHAMELOT-DELVIGNE FOREIGN SERVICE REVOLVERS
The first successful revolver of the new solid-frame Chamelot-Delvigne line was the 10.4mm rimfire model, adopted by Switzerland on April 24, 1872. These guns were first made in Belgium for the Swiss Army by Pirlot Frères in Liège, in 1873. Later, they were converted into centerfire in 1878, at the Bern Waffenfabrik facilities in Switzerland.
After the French, the Italian Army adopted also a similar Chamelot-Delvigne design as their model of 1874, in service up to 1889. It was chambered in 10.35 mm centerfire, now called the “Italian service caliber” with a 177-gr. lead bullet at 735 fps).
THE 1873 CHAMELOT-DELVIGNE FRENCH CAVALRY MODEL
This is a superb solid-frame fixed-barrel revolver 9.68 inches long, weighing 43.7 oz. with a 6-shot cylinder and a 4.48-inch barrel of .44 caliber. Rifling is four right hand lands and grooves at a 13.78:1 pitch. The oval trigger guard is nicely shaped, the rod ejector being protected by a housing parallel to the barrel’s right side. The grip butt features a steel round cap fitted with a swivelling lanyard ring.
All components are individually marked with the revolver serial number, which is not a mere luxury, as they are not interchangeable
