
CODE – 01-131-820
NAME – Collier Revolver
NAME (NATIVE) – Collier Second-Model Five-shot
TYPE – Revolver
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN – Great Britain (USA)
DATE OF MANUFACTURE – 1820
CALIBER – 11.9 mm (0.469 in)
OVERALL LENGTH – 35.6 cm (14 in)
BARREL LENGTH – 15.9 cm (6.24 in)
RIFLING (TYPE & TWIST) – Smoothbore
BULLET DIAMETER – 11.9 mm (0.469 in)
BULLET WEIGHT – 11.02 g (170 grains)
MUZZLE VELOCITY – 168 m/s (550 fps) *
MUZZLE ENERGY – 155 j (114 ft/lb) *
WEIGHT (EMPTY) – 0.964 kg (2 lb 2 oz)
WEIGHT (LOADED) – 1.028 kg (2 lb 4.3 oz) with five rounds *
SIGHTS – Open, iron, fixed, Front sight – Bead, Rear sight – U-notch
EFFECTIVE RANGE – 20 m (22 yards) *
OPERATION – Manual, single action, manual indexing
TYPE OF FIRE – Manual repeating
RATE OF FIRE – 5 rpm
FEED DEVICE – 5-round cylinder
FEED DEVICE WEIGHT (EMPTY) – 1.81 g (28 grains) Black Powder, 11.02 g (170 grains) Ball – Per round *
FEED DEVICE WEIGHT (LOADED) – Five rounds – 9.05 g (140 grains) Powder, 55.1 g (850 grains) Ball *
MANUFACTURER – E.H. Collier, London, England
STATUS – Antique
SERVICE – Some limited British military service in Far East and India, commercial sales
This may be the most successful of the pre-Colt revolvers as several hundred of this pattern pistol were reported to have been manufactured and sold. The original concept and design of this revolver was patented by Captain Artemus Wheeler of Concord, Massachusetts on 1 June 1818. Wheeler’s weapon held seven rounds and the cylinder had to be rotated by hand for each shot. Elisha Haydon Collier designed a mechanically rotated variation of Wheeler’s design and patented his version in England, receiving Patent No. 4314 on 24 November 1818, only six months after Wheeler received his patent. Further, a Cornelius Coolidge, a Boston merchant, took Collier’s improvements on Wheeler’s design to France and obtained a five-year patent on the weapon on 5 August 1819.
The single-action turning of the cylinder on Collier’s design proved very difficult to maintain. The fist pattern weapon had a spring driven cylinder that was wound up as the weapon was loaded. Each time the hammer was cocked, the cylinder would rotate under spring tension the distance of a single chamber. Second pattern and later versions had to have the cylinder turned by hand for each shot. Both patterns had an additional action of the cylinder after rotation in that the cylinder would move forward for a countersunk depression on the chamber to meet with a conical chamfered extension on the breech of the barrel. The two pieces, the cylinder and the barrel, would be sealed together for the actual firing of the shot. When the hammer was again drawn back to cock the weapon, the cylinder was also drawn back off the breech of the barrel and allowed to rotate.
Each chamber of the revolver had its own touch hole, but there was only a single priming pan on the right side of the weapon. The very thick frizzen was hollow and held a quantity of priming powder inside of it. Every time the frizzen was pulled down and back into position for firing, a rotating mechanism at the base of the frizzen body would release a measured amount of powder into the priming pan. When the weapon was fired, the frizzen would be driven back and up as it was struck by the flint and the resulting sparks would ignite the charge in the priming pan.
Samuel Colt admitted that he had seen a Collier revolver while vising England as a young sailor. The design influenced his design of the upcoming Colt revolver, but at the very least, he greatly improved on Collier’s weapon.
The specimen described is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue in New York City
*-Estimated according to best available data
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- This is a right-side view of the Collier revolver as held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. The manufacturer’s name is on the side plate of the lock, behind and below the base of the cock. The jaws of the cock are holding a shaped piece of wood rather than the more normal shaped flint. The cock is on the forward (fired) position in this picture. The very thick frizzen is in the up position, where it would be after the weapon was fired. The pivot for the frizzen in the screw-filled hole at the base of the piece, behind the curved neck. The long lever at the front and below the frizzen is the operating lever for the automatic priming charge dispenser held in the frizzen body itself. Below the frizzen, ahead of the cylinder, is the shield that was intended to protect the chambers, and the operator, from the flash of firing. The long ramrod below the barrel could be used to load the chambers of the cylinder through the muzzle of the weapon. PHOTO CREDIT: METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
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- This is a left-side view of the Collier revolver as held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. The cock on the opposite side of the weapon is in the forward (fired) position. The frizzen/priming magazine is up, also in the position it would be in just after firing. The thin lever extending forward from the side of the frizzen/priming magazine, is the operating lever for the priming ratchet. When the frizzen it pulled back and down into the firing position, the ratchet rotates the priming drum, underneath the large screw head on the side of the frizzen. The drum rotating releases a measured amount of fine black powder down in to the priming pan. The continued rotation of the drum during the priming action then seals off the powder magazine within the frizzen body. The cylinder is rotated by hand to bring a fresh chamber into position for firing. The cylinder shield can be seen extending down slightly from in front of the cylinder itself. PHOTO CREDIT: METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
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- Looking down at the top of the revolver where the name of the patent holder, E. H. Collier, London, can be seen engraved in script along the top flat of the octagonal barrel. Looking down from this position clearly shows the curved striking surface of the frizzen that is up in the fired position. The floral engraving, common on these high-end weapons, can be seen on almost all of the exposed surfaces of the weapon. PHOTO CREDIT: METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
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- A close-up view of the right side of the Collier revolver, showing details of the lockwork of the piece. Both the cock and the frizzen are in the fired position. The flint normally held between the jaws of the cock has been replaced with a shaped piece of wood for the display of this specimen. The large disk on the side of the frizzen is the widened end of the drum that rotates to load a measured priming charge into the flash pan. The priming pan itself is the large shaped piece extending out from the side of the receiver just below the jaws of the cock. The opening for the priming magazine is the rectangular hole that can just be seen on the base of the frizzen. When the weapon is cocked to the half-cock position, the frizzen can be pulled back and down where it will cover the flash pan. PHOTO CREDIT: METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
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- Looking down at the top of the Collier revolver in a close-up to show further details of the mechanism and engraving. The small non-adjustable rear sight can be seen on the top flat of the octagonal barrel near the center of the picture. The cock is forward and the frizzen up, both in the fired position PHOTO CREDIT: METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
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- With the cock in the half-cock position in this top view, the flash pan is visible at the rear of the cylinder. The touch hole that would connect the flash of the priming charge into the main charge is the small black hole at the top of the dished-out flash pan. The flash pan remains in position and the cylinder rotates under it contained within a close-fitting sleeve. PHOTO CREDIT: METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
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- A right-side view of a Collier revolver. This specimen has a small flint held between leather pads in the jaws of the cock. The frizzen/priming magazine, is up in the fired position, the opening of the priming magazine just visible on the bottom flat of the frizzen. PHOTO CREDIT: ROCK ISLAND AUCTIONS
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- The left side of a Collier revolver. The barrel assembly is held in place by the large top strap seen above the cylinder, as well as the axis pin that the cylinder rotates on. The rear of the cylinder rotates in the closely-fitting cup that covers all of the chambers priming holes. The breech of the barrel has a cone shape that fits into a counter-sink machined into the face of each chamber. The cylinder must be drawn back slightly against spring pressure so that it can be rotated by hand to index the next chamber for firing. When the trigger is pulled and the cock goes forward, a wedge inside the lockwork of the weapon pushed the cylinder forward to help seal off the facing between the chambers and the breech of the barrel. This action helps insure against a chain-firing between chambers when the weapon is fired. The front shield for the cylinder was considered superfluous and not placed on later production weapons such as this specimen. PHOTO CREDIT: ROCK ISLAND AUCTIONS
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- A close-up angular right view of the lock and cylinder of the Collier revolver. The name of the patent holder is plainly visible on the bottom center of the lock plate. Very visible from this angle is the rectangular opening at the bottom of the frizzen/primer magazine. This is the opening where the measured priming charge is released as the drum, the large disk on the side of the frizzen, is rotated as the mechanism is closed. PHOTO CREDIT: ROCK ISLAND AUCTIONS
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- Looking down across the top of the Collier revolver the rectangular flash pan is visible with the touch hole in the lower, forward corner. The flash pan remains stationary as the cylinder is rotated by hand in the close-fitting cup that the flash pan is part of. On the side of the frizzen/priming magazine can be seen the rotating ratchet and lever that turns the primer drum. As the frizzen is drawn down into the firing position, the long lever on the side remains in position and follows the mechanism down as it also rotates the priming drum. On the top, front of the frizzen can just be seen the pivoting cover to the actual powder magazine. This snug cover would be rotated out of the way for the shooter to load the priming magazine with a measure of fine-grain black powder. On the top strap just to the side of the back of the flash pan, is the fixed rear sight of the weapon. PHOTO CREDIT: ROCK ISLAND AUCTIONS