One of the more interesting revolver designs to gain temporary popularity in Great Britain during the 1850s was the single action, “transitional” gas seal percussion revolver that was generally referred to as a Lang pattern revolver at the time. Although the design is attributed to English gunmaker Joseph Lang and even some period reports herald his design, it seems Lang held no patents relevant to the design and at best was in the right place at the right time, combining a number of previously articulated concepts together into a handgun design that was briefly popular and which within a decade was no longer in vogue.

Joseph Lang was a London based gunmaker who worked circa 1825 to 1869, with the company continuing under the leadership of his son Joseph Lang II, until about 1874. Lang originally operated under the business name of Gun & Pistol Repository, from Wilson’s Warehouse Vigo Lane, at 7 Haymarket Street in 1825 and by 1827 had established a shooting gallery adjoining his premises. In 1853 he relocated to 22 Cockspur Street, Charing Cross, where the business would remain until it closed in 1874. About the time of the move, the firm became Jospeh Lang & Son, as his son had completed his apprenticeship under James Purdey, which he had started in 1845. Lang is noted for only one patent, #1785 for a breechloading rifle with “drop down” barrels and did not have any patents known for revolvers. However, Lang is associated with and given credit for, the gas seal revolver. This is apparently in part due to some erroneous period reporting and commentary by London gun maker John Deane (part of the firm of Deane, Adams & Deane) who mistakenly claimed that Lang displayed his gas seal revolvers at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, known around the world as the Crystal Palace Exhibition. While Lang did display at the exhibition in Stand 226, South Gallery West, and was awarded a Prize Medal for the “perfection in the fabrication of his exhibits”, there is no indication that he displayed anything that would be considered a conventional revolver. Rather the exhibit catalog indicates that among the variety of long arms and handgun that he displayed he showed “turnover 4-shot and 6-shot revolvers of all sizes”, which appears to refer to the single action, center hammer pepperboxes that he was known for producing. However, due to the displays by Colt and other arms makers, the 1851 Exhibition did put the percussion revolver foremost in the minds of many firearms’ enthusiast of the time, as prior to that time, most repeating percussion handguns were of the pepperbox or early “transitional” revolver design.

At least one reference calls the Lang Gas Seal Revolver the Model 1852, suggesting evidence that the guns were introduced around that time, and most known examples made and marked by Lang have his 22 Cockspur Street address on them, indicating production circa 1853 or later. Significant research performed by A.W.F. Taylerson, R.A.N. Andrews & J. Frith in their groundbreaking reference The Revolver 1818-1865 found two English patents for Gas Seal revolvers, one by William Moore & William Harris (No. 69 October 1, 1852) and one by Philip Webley (No. 2127 September 14, 1853). The Moore & Harris design is not related or applicable and is rejected as being the basis for the Lang revolvers. The Webley patent is self-limiting to only apply to “arms arranged for central fire” or rather that the cones (nipples) are in-line with the chambers. It does not apply to a cylinder with the cones set at right angles (or any other angle) to the chambers. The authors suggest, and seem quite correct, that by doing so what Webley was attempting to do is patent a concept that was already in general use and effectively in the public domain, by changing a minor feature, in this case the orientation of the nipples. In fact, as far back as about 1818, the Collier flintlock revolver utilized a gas seal system, and the Lang design is not substantially different from a mechanical or operational standpoint. Rather, what Lang did was combine a variety of already available design features into a single product that was first to the market and thus became the moniker by which the product was known, even though other makers would pick on the design, improve upon it further and in some cases be more successful than Lang in their production.

The Lang design was essentially a single action “transitional” revolver with a six chambered cylinder that was either fluted or unfluted, an open top frame, a wedge retained barrel and a gas seal system that was based upon that of Collier’s. When the revolver was at rest, with the hammer down, the tapered forcing cone of the barrel engaged the chamfered mouth of the cylinder chamber that was aligned with the barrel. The forcing cone only entered the chamber mouth about 1/8” but this was sufficient to provide a gas seal that essentially eliminated the escape of flash and gas when the revolver was fired and also increased the efficiency of the powder charge as less escaping gas meant higher pressures to push the projectile. When the hammer was cocked, pressure against the rear of the cylinder was released and a spring on the face of the barrel web pushed the cylinder away from the barrel enough to disengage the forcing cone from the chamber mouth and allow it to rotate to align the next chamber with the barrel. When the trigger was pulled and the hammer dropped, the cylinder was cammed forward again for the chamber mouth and forcing cone to engage. This same basic principle would see use in other gas seal revolver designs from the American Savage Navy Ring Lever Revolvers of the late 1850s and 1860s to the Russian Model 1895 Nagant Revolver. 

The Lang design did have some drawbacks. Initially it did not include a loading lever, requiring the gun to be disassembled and loaded with a separate loading rod or tool. Additionally, and far more critically, the revolver’s cylinder was of the classic pepperbox and transitional revolver design with side mounted nipples, set roughly 90-degress from the cylinder chambers. While this in and of itself was not a drawback there were no partitions between the nipples to reduce the potential for a flash to travel to another chamber, resulting in a chain fire. As a result, a number of Lang’s competitors introduced an “Improved” version of the revolver. The improvements included the addition of partitions between the cones of the cylinder and the addition of a loading lever under the barrel. A number of different loading lever designs have been noted, with most being “Colt style” in that the lever was located under the barrel, but with the linkages, actions and plunger designs being of a variety of types, some covered by patents held by Parker, Field & Sons, John Blissett and Pryse & Cashmore. In some cases, the levers were marked with their patent information and in some cases, they were not. This was either because the design was in the public domain, or simply because it had not been patented. Lang’s primary competitors in the gas seal revolver market were in fact Parker, Field & Sons, T.K. Baker, James Beattie, John Blanch, John Blissett, and Witton & Daw. All produced a variety of the “Improved” Lang gas seal revolver that was essentially of the same pattern as Lang’s gun, but incorporating the partitions between the nipples on the cylinder and some form of loading lever.

One of the more successful producers of these revolvers was the firm of Witton, Daw & Co. of  London. The firm was initially a partnership between a member of the London based Witton gunmaking and merchant family who has never been accurately identified, George Daw and John Sergeant. The firm was established in John Sergeant’s premises at 82 Old Broad Street in 1851 and the following year relocated to the well-known Witton & Daw address of 57 Threadneedle Street with a factory located on Great Trinity Lane. In 1853 the firm was renamed Witton & Daw, with Sergeant’s departure. In 1855, the partnership ended and company continued at the same location under the name of George Daw until 1860. As the brothers David William and Thomas Wilson Witton formed a successful arms making partnership circa 1856, with their primary contracts being with the East India Company, it is likely that one or both of the Witton brothers were initially in partnership with Daw. During the brief period that Witton, Daw & Co and Witton & Daw were in business, they were granted a registered British design for gunsights, No. 3418.

Offered here is a wonderful example of an “Improved” Lang Gas Seal Revolver, as produced by Witton & Daw. The gun is in its original casing and is presented to Eugene Sherwood. The brass escutcheon plate in the top of the English oak casing is engraved in four lines, in a flowing period script:

Eugene Sherwood

Esqr

Land Transport

Corps

A lozenge shaped German silver escutcheon plate on the back of the revolver’s grip is engraved in three lines in flowery script, FBCS / to / ES. I’m not sure I am interpreting the first four letters correctly, but it clearly ends with the same “S” as is found in the “ES” at the bottom of the inscription, which is for Eugene Sherwood. Almost certainly the upper set of letters refer to a family member, likely Sherwood’s father, who presented the gun to him. 

Eugene Sherwood (1828-1912) was born in London on July 12, 1828. He attended Eaton and became a barrister by trade, thus the reference in the inscription “esquire”. With the outbreak of the Crimean War in October of 1853, Sherwood did what most upper-class men in his position would do and joined a local militia regiment as an officer. A February 7, 1855, newspaper account noted that that Eugene Sherwood had been commissioned an Ensign in the 2^ndRoyal Surrey Militia. Another account, published on September 1, 1855, noted that Sherwood had been promoted to the rank of captain and was “To be Quartermaster of Brigade”. This reference coincides with the establishment of the Land Transport Corps within the British Army. The Land Transport Corps was established in the spring of 1855, after the winter of 1854-1855, when the British Army in the Crimea was blighted with supply shortages and logistical issues. The Land Transport Corps was a reorganization of the entire British military quartermaster, supply, and logistical system to streamline, make it efficient and to provide protection to the supply trains that were regularly savaged by Russian Cossacks in the Crimea. The pattern of revolver and the inscription suggest it was made circa 1855 and was probably presented in the fall of that year. The Land Transport Corps designation was short lived. It was soon reorganized as the “Military Train” (as in “supply train”) and in 1869 was folded into the Amry Service Corps.

The Crimean War came to a fairly abrupt end in March of 1856. It is not clear if Sherwood ever made it to the Crimea for his Land Transport Corps service, or if he simply worked in logistics from headquarters in London. We do know, however, that in 1856 he traveled to San Francisco as the representative of a group of investors who were looking to acquire land for a variety of agricultural purposes. He acquired a substantial amount of land in the Monterey County area of California, which had only been established in 1850. The county is on the coast of south-central California and today includes the towns of Carmel Valley, Las Palmas, Pebble Beach and the county seat of Salinas, to name a few. Today it comprises some 3,771 square miles and is roughly 1.5 times larger than the state of Delaware. However, in 1850 the county only had a population of some 1,872 people, which had grown to 4,739 by the 1860 Census. The 1860 Census reveals that in that year Sherwood lived in the community of San Antonio in Monterey County, where he was a “farmer” and had real estate valued at $30,000 and a personal estate valued at $5,000. Local history indicates that in addition to farming, Sherwood was also rancher, apparently raising sheep. In the 1870 Census Sherwood’s residence was listed in the community of Alisal in Monterey County, and he was listed as being in “General Business” with a personal estate now valued only at $3,650, but with real estate holdings valued at some $200,000! The census also showed that Eugene and his wife Rhoda Jane had seven children in that year, ranging in age from as old as 17 to as young as 8 months. According to local history, in 1868 Sherwood was instrumental in laying out and essentially establishing the city of Salinas, California and in the process donated a substantial amount of land for use as thoroughfares, churches, schools, a library and for other public uses. He also donated a substantial amount of land to the Southern Pacific Railroad, to provide them with the right of way to bring the railroad to Salinas, which was a great economic boost to the growing town. In 1872 he donated an addition 60 acres for the creation of a park and the establishment of rodeo grounds, both of which still bear his name today. Although the community of Salinas existed prior to his arrival, Sherwood is generally acknowledged as the primary “founder” of the city due to the work he did to lay it out, provide land for public use and to bring the railroad to town to ensure its growth an economic viability. Sherwood was apparently also a pioneer in the development of San Louis Obispo County and is credited for helping it grow during the period as well. The 1880 Census showed Sherwood was still a Monterey County resident, although the community was listed as Castroville, and the census no longer lists the value of a person’s personal and real estate holdings. However, the census listed his occupation as “Capitalist”. By 1900 Sherwood had relocated to Alameda, California, where he would remain until his death on March 4, 1912. To this day Sherwood’s name is found on streets, parks, the rodeo grounds and on historical markers in and around Salinas. Interestingly, as late as the 1910 Census, Sherwood was listed as an “Alien”, indicating that he never became a naturalized citizen of the United States, suggesting that he wanted to retain his British citizenship to the very end.

Eugene Sherwood’s cased handgun is a Witton & Daw marked “Improved” Lang Pattern Single Action Gas Seal Percussion Revolver that remains in FINE condition. The barrel is engraved in a single line on the top flat:

Witton & Daw’s IMPROVED 57 THREADNEEDLE ST. LONDON

The left sideplate of the revolver is engraved in three lines:

WITTON & DAW

57 THREADNEEDLE ST

LONDON

The only other markings on the gun are London commercial proof marks over the chambers of the cylinder and some engraved decorations. The side plates, barrel web, loading plunger socket, hammer, triggerguard and muzzle are all lightly engraved with crisp flowing foliate themes and some simple geometric outline patterns. The butt is engraved in a floral starburst pattern and incorporates a cap box in the butt.

The gun is a nominally 54-Bore (about .44 caliber) single action revolver and has a six-chambered, unfluted cylinder with angled perpendicular percussion cones and partitions between the chambers to reduce the potential for cap flash to cause a chain fire. Like some transitional revolvers and pepperboxes of the era, the frame design incorporates a partial nipple shield that only fully exposes a single nipple at at time. This was also to reduce the potential for flash over, and to help keep the caps from falling off of the nipples when the revovler was carried. The gun has a 6 1/8” wedge retained octagonal barrel that appears to be rifled with 20 narrow lands and grooves. The revolver is nominally 13” in overall length and weighs in at a fairly healthy 2 ¾ pounds. The gun incorporates a toggle link style loading lever under the barrel. The lever is unmarked, so apparently no specific patent applies to the design. It is retained by a spring clip under the barrel, rather than a Colt style spring and catch system and the small pivoting arm that drives the plunger seems like a fairly weak design that would be likely break with much serious use. The revolver has a small, dovetailed notch rear sight mounted just forward of the forcing cone at the rear of the barrel and dovetailed blade front sight near the muzzle. The offset hammer has a long, swooping hammer spur that is somewhat reminiscent of the hammers found on Webley’s Long Spur revolvers and is essential for easy handling and cocking of the revolver. The malleable iron frame and the cylinder are color casehardened, as are the hammer, loading lever, triggerguard and buttcap. The barrel is blued. The grip is of finely checkered walnut with a shell motif carved at the frame to grip junction.

As noted, the revolver remains in VERY FINE condition and is very attractive. The barrel retains about 75%+ of its original bright blue finish, with some thinning and fading and showing high edge wear along the sharp edges of the barrel. The frame and cylinder retain about 75%+ coverage of their original color casehardening, but the case colors have faded and dulled substantially and are only about 10%-15% vivid. Both the cylinder and frame show nice, mottled tones of faded blues, purples, browns and grays. The loading lever retains slightly more case coloring and has some coloring that is a little brighter and more vivid than on the frame and cylinder. The hammer is mostly a mottled dull gray color that only hints at the original case coloring and buttcap has a darker, mottled gray color that again only shows traces of the original coloring.  The gripstrap and triggerguard have a lightly oxidized mottled gray appearance, that really does not retain any of the original coloring. The markings on the gun remain clear and crisp throughout, as does the decorative engraving. The revolver functions correctly with crisp and accurate indexing, timing and lock up. The gas seal system works as it should with the cylinder moving back from the barrel when it is rotating and reengaging the forcing cone with the trigger is pulled and the hammer falls. The loading lever operates smoothly and correctly as well, with the spring clip holding the lever securely in its stored position against the bottom of the barrel. The bore of the revolver is VERY GOOD. It is partly bright with moderate amounts of scattered oxidation and discoloration, some scattered pitting and fairly crisp “microgroove” type rifling. The grip is in about FINE condition and retains mostly clear and crisp checkering with some lightly scattered wear, minor handling marks and some lightly scattered flattening to the checkering from handling and use.

The revolver is contained in its original English oak retailer case with an original Witton & Daw paper trade label inside the lid. The compartmentalized case is lined in olive green baize and had two lidded storage compartments as well. The larger compartment contains some old, well patinized lead balls, while the smaller compartment is empty. The case contains a variety of accessories for the revolver, some correct, some incorrect and some potentially original to the set. Among the appropriate period items there is a C&JW Hawksley marked pewter oiler in VERY GOODcondition that is correct to the period and fits its compartment perfectly that may be an original accessory to the set. There is also a period fluted copper pistol powder flask in VERY GOOD condition that is probably an old replacement and not original to the set, but which displays well with it. There is an Eley Brothers green paper label percussion cap tin that is correctly sized for its compartment and of the period that may or may not be original to the casing, but which is quite appropriate. The tin contains four spare cones (nipples) for the revolver and a spare figure-8 spring that goes on the face of the barrel web to provide the tension that pushes the cylinder back, away from the barrel, when the hammer is not in the down or “fired” position. The spring is figure-8 shaped because both the cylinder arbor and the loading lever plunger have to pass through it. There is a period ebony handled spanner type cone (nipple) wrench in the case that is correct in size and style to use with the revolver. The tin remains in GOOD+ to VERY GOOD condition. Unfortunately, one side of spanner is broken. The tool also includes a removeable cone prick in the handle to clear the flash channels of the nipples. The tool remains in about FAIR to GOOD condition. A wood handled turn screw in about GOOD to VERY GOOD condition is present as well; it is of the correct style but is likely a later replacement. There is a partial, broken combination brass loading rod with a ball puller concealed by the loading tip. The rod originally had a wooden handle that was threaded into it, but that is broken and missing. Additionally, a threaded brass cleaning jag is present, that may have originally threaded into the other side of brass loading rod but does not now due to some damage to the loading rod’s threads. These items are period and may have originally been part of the casing. There is a folding T-handled iron boot hook in the case that is of the period and could have belonged to Sherwood, but it is not related to the gun or an appropriate accessory. A small horsehair brush is present as well, that appears period but may be more related to caring for the boots that were put on with the boot hook than to caring for a revolver, as brushes are not common firearms accessories. It is shedding horsehair and is in about FAIR condition. The casing shows moderate wear, and the exterior has been stained a darker brown and refinished with none of the original finish remaining on the exterior. The wood shows numerous bumps, dings mars and dent on the outside, but the “bible” style hinges still function correctly, although they may be more recent replacements. The interior shows moderate wear as well with the lining having faded and worn, showing staining, discoloration and areas of damage. Some of the dividers show some surface damage as well, although they remain relatively tight and secure with minimal looseness. The lids to the two compartments show moderate wear and the turned ivory pull on the larger lid is broken and has a crudely executed glued repair. Inside the compartments, the fabric has not faded as much as the balance of the case lining and there it has a more green and less olive tone. The two brass closure hooks on the exterior of the case are intact, but the lock escutcheon is missing and there is no key present to see if the lock still functions. 

Overall, this is a really nice, VERY FINE condition example of a rare Witton & Daw Improved Lang Pattern Gas Seal Revolver in its original casing and presented to Eugene Sherwood, English barrister and military officer and a founding father of Salinas, California. The gun is rare and historical in and off itself but the association to a famous founding father of coastal California makes it even more special and historically important. Identified Crimean War Era British officer’s revolvers are rather uncommon and to find one that traveled with its owner to find a new life in the United States is rather special. Don’t miss your chance to own a very nice and historically important gas seal percussion revolver in its original casing.

ON HOLD/LAYAWAY