Rare 9-Pound, 20-Shot ‘Trench Revolver’ Surfaces

By Chris Eger

Intriguing and thought-provoking, this is one odd wheelgun.
Forget the term “unicorn gun,” this unusual and interesting 20-shot revolver is a curiosity you won’t likely see again.
What we can tell you is that it is big, weighing in at 9-pounds, and has a 10-inch long barrel. What it does have is a 20-shot cylinder, Liege proof house inspector’s marks, and a hinged loading/unloading port. What it does not have is a practical handgrip and seems to have been intended to mount to a fixture and fire utilizing a rope.
Note the trigger lever, complete with a rope hole.
While other 20-round revolvers have popped up in recent years on the collector’s market, they are typically handheld pinfire double-barrels, not this monster.
Note the hinged loading/unloading gate, and lack of sights, which may point to the piece being used as a test gun– for instance for ammunition– akin to a Mann Accuracy Device.
Interestingly, we have only found two other references to wheel guns similar to this unusual piece. One is from the 1927 military surplus catalog of Mr. Francis Bannerman of New York, in which a dead-ringer for this big revolver is shown and described as “20 Shot Revolver found in old shop in Paris, bore

Source: Guns.com