IDENTIFICACION

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Dmitry

Do you see the inside of the muzzle on these photos? The answer is NO.
I'm asking a person who ostensibly has access to the piece in question. Do you have access to this revolver?

What could be wrong with you, Dmitry ... having a bad day ? I am confused with your statement over "a person who is ostensibly in access to the piece in question". You might have noticed that what Fernando K uploaded was a PDF of a play gun in an auction ... which i copy/pasted for easier view.
Have a nice and safe weekend.

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[Dmitry]

I think everyone can see that the HH gun and the one in the museum are not the same.
Fernando K, is the muzzle bored all the way through?

[fernando]

Two things bring my attention in this so called ship revolver.
- The weight; why would a gun of small dimensions weigh 3,850 grams ? This is the weighjt of some rifles.
-The marks; would the double crowned U and the cylinder inscription be those for blanks, as the caption claims to be? Would the 2 gr stand for 2 grams of gunpowder ?


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[corrado26]

The "U" under a crown is the German blackpowder proofmark used since 1891 until 1939. 2gNGP = 2g Neues Gewehr Pulver = New Gun Powder

[fernando]

Great info, Udo .

[Dmitry]

Originally Posted by corrado26

The "U" under a crown is the German blackpowder proofmark used since 1891 until 1939. 2gNGP = 2g Neues Gewehr Pulver = New Gun Powder

If Neues refers to smokeless gunpowder, then 2 grams is a substantial amount.
2 grams is 31 grains. For reference, a 9 mm Luger round takes 5 grains of smokeless powder.
I am still curious about this revolver. There are no sights on any of these examples. There appears to be no provision for mounting it on a stock or stabilizing it somehow. The trigger is for distance pulling. A possibility is a burglar alarm, triggered by opening of doors or windows. 20 discharges is a lot though, for any burglar alarm.
If this was, as HH describes it, a gun for some kind of naval theatrics, it would've been designed to look like a cannon, not a giant revolver.

[corrado26]

If you look at the photo, there is behind de 2g NGP an M/71, so this was certainly not a nitro based powder but always still black powder. First nitro cartidges in Germany came in 1888 with the infantry rifle M/88.

[fernando]

This HH example has a cylinder for 12 capsules with a considerable caliber (over 14 mm).
Could it be that 2 gr stands for 2 grains and not 2 grams. In any case, if this gun was made to shoot blanks, the amount of powder would be (much) less than for shooting a projectile; notwithstanding it needed to be noisy for the show purpose.
We ignore how these pistols were positioned in their niche; could be that they were introduced through some kind of orifice in that only the fairly long barrels stood out the boat hull, thus giving the impression of a cannon, as the HH caption seems to suggest.

[Dmitry]

Originally Posted by corrado26

If you look at the photo, there is behind de 2g NGP an M/71, so this was certainly not a nitro based powder but always still black powder. First nitro cartidges in Germany came in 1888 with the infantry rifle M/88.

What does the Neues stand for in this context, if it's not smokeless, but black powder, as you wrote? Was it a new standard for the black powder? Continuing onto the HH lot itself, if this revolver was designated as the Model 1871, doesn't it mean that it was intended for official state business? Also, if the HH auction description is to be believed, then by the time this were used for some kind of war games ca.1900, it was already about 30 years old.
One idea I have about this HH revolver is that it was used in a clock, and would fire a round on the hour mark. 12 chambers make sense in that context.
2 gr. meaning grains, not grams, briefly crossed my mind also, but I doubt that Germans measured the weight of their gunpowder in English terms.