The Raphael revolver is distinguished among Civil War used handguns for its rarity, high purchase price during the war, and the fact that the name we refer to the gun by comes from the American importer who provided the guns to the US government and not from its manufacturer or inventor. The French made guns were actually the Model 1860 Pidault-Cordier Revolver but are known to history as the “Raphael”. 

The revolver was a design collaboration between Parisian gunmaker Martial Pidault and inventor Charles Cordier. The pair received a French patent for their design on May 28, 1860. German author, researcher and arms collector Marc Schwalm postulates in his book European Arms in the Civil War, that Cordier, who had helped develop the Thouvenin system for rifled small arms in the French military, was the actual inventor of the revolver and that Pidault was only the manufacturer.

According to US Ordnance records, approximately 106 of these French made, double action, 6-shot revolvers were purchased for US military use on September 21, 1861. The guns were purchased from the firm of George Raphael & Company. The high price of $26.33 was paid for the guns. In some cases, this was more than twice what the US Government would end up paying for many traditional percussion revolver designs. The 106 “Raphael” revolvers that were purchased were delivered on September 21, 1861. Raphael also delivered 998 Lefaucheux Pinfire revolvers to the Ordnance Department between November 30, 1861, and March 8, 1862. The price was truly exorbitant, as this was at a time when Colt revolvers were priced at between $15 and $25 each and Remington “Armies” were being sold to the Ordnance Department for between $12 and $15 each. The willingness of the Ordnance Department to purchase a foreign handgun, with no track record of reliability, is an indication how desperately the US Ordnance Department needed revolvers in the field. It also indicates that the Ordnance Department may have actually seen the advantages of a revolver that fired a self-contained metallic cartridge, instead of the standard issue “cap and ball” revolver. While they may have been interested in experimenting with self-contained metallic cartridges with revolvers, it took Presidential intervention to get them to change their minds about metallic cartridge repeating longarms and consider buying the Spencer rifle and carbine!

The military sized Raphael revolver fired an early version of a center fire cartridge that was 11mm, or roughly .42 caliber. A pocket model was produced in 8mm as well, but that gun has no Civil War association. The rotating recoil shield or “back plate” of the revolvers had six holes through which the firing pin on the hammer could contact the primer in the cartridge. There was one additional “blind hole” in the recoil shield, between two of the firing pin holes, which allowed the firing pin to rest in it, as a primitive form of safety. To take the revolver “off safe”, you simply needed to pull the trigger. The gun was loaded through a loading gate on the right-hand side of the frame. This gate was actually part of the revolving back plate at the rear of the cylinder. This back plate normally revolved with the cylinder, but when the loading gate was opened, the back plate was unlocked from the cylinder. In order to open the gate, the firing pin was placed in the “blind hole” on the back plate. This locked the back plate into the static loading position. The loading gate could then be opened, which decoupled it from the main portion of the cylinder. This allowed the body of the cylinder to rotate freely to load cartridges or remove spent rounds. In order to eject the spent cases, the user simply unscrewed the lanyard ring from the butt of the gun and used the rod projecting from it to push the empty cases out of the chambers. Once the cylinder was rotated completely and correctly indexed with the tab on the loading gate, the loading gate could be closed to lock the back plate and the cylinder to each other again. The lock work of the gun is what we would call “conventional double action” today. The user could fire the gun with a long, deliberate pull on the heavy double action trigger, or manually cock the hammer and have a lighter single action pull for more accurate shooting. The revolver had some other uncommon features for the period. The cylinder arbor pin entered through the front of the frame in the conventional way but was retained by a transverse screw at the rear of the frame, forward of the hammer. Removing this screw not only allowed the arbor pin to be withdrawn, freeing the cylinder from the revolver, it also allowed the removal of a small side plate on the left side of the revolver. This sideplate concealed the hand and hand spring for the revolver, which were now easily accessible for repairs or maintenance. 

The 11mm Raphael revolvers were nominally 10 ¾” in overall length with a nominally 5 ¾” round barrel with a small octagonal section forward of the cylinder. The barrel’s varied slightly in length, typically within about +/- 1/8” The barrels were rifled with eight narrow grooves. Sights included a simple notched rear sight mounted in a dovetail on top of the octagonal flat, forward of the cylinder and a dovetailed front sight blade with a pyramidal base and sort of English style “peppercorn” bead on top. The guns were usually blued with the cylinder back plate and hammer color casehardened. The guns were typically unmarked, except for a serial and series of assembly numbers, although some examples have been noted that bear the marking “Raphael Paris”, a marking that I personally have never seen in person or in a photo. If the guns were to be marked at all, it would make far more sense for them to bear the marks of Pidault and/or Cordier, and not the American importer. The serial number was typically located on the left side of the frame forward of the cylinder. Assembly numbers were usually located on the front face of the cylinder, on the arbor pin, on the face of the frame and inside the grips, although they have been found in other locations as well. The guns had two-piece walnut grips that were typically smooth and lightly varnished. 

Some estimates place the Civil War purchases of Raphael revolvers as high as 1,000 guns, but this seems unlikely as most of Raphael’s of handguns were at $16 each, and although many entries do not mention the type of revolver at least one delivery of revolvers at that price is recorded as being Lefaucheux pattern pistols. According to Fredrick Todd’s seminal work American Military Equipage 1851-1872, these revolvers were imported by the Confederacy as well as the US government. However, Todd rightly points out that the unique cartridge required for the revolver makes any CS purchases a questionable decision. Additionally, Todd provides no documentation or evidence to support his assertion.

The Raphael revolver offered here is in near FINE condition. The revolver is fully functional, and the unique loading gate and rotating back plate all function exactly as they should. The gun has a 5 13/16” round barrel, about 1/16” longer than the nominal 5 ¾” standard. The gun is marked with the serial number 376 on the left side of the frame, forward of the cylinder. The assembly number 37 is found on the front face of the cylinder, on the face of the frame (concealed by the arbor pin), on the cylinder arbor pin and inside both grips. The number is well within the two primary serial number ranges that Civil War used Raphael revolvers are usually encountered in. The primary range appears to run from the 1XXs through the upper 3XXs, and most Civil War used Raphael revolvers are encountered in this range. A small sampling has also been encountered in the very low 6X range. These very low-numbered guns may have been pre-war imports, or a small group of sample guns delivered at the very beginning of the war. More recent research suggests that a broader range of serial numbers may have been represented by the 106 revolvers delivered and they certainly were in no way consecutively numbered for this delivery. Other than the serial number and assembly marks, no other markings are present, which is typical of Civil War used Raphael revolvers. 

The metal of the revolver is mostly smooth throughout, with a significant amount of original blue present. The revolver retains about 60%+ of the original blue overall, with some areas of later added touchup blue, which is a little hazy. The barrel retains about 45%+ original thinning bright blue with some added touchup blue. The cylinder retains about 75%+ original bright blue, with some minor added touchup. The frame retains about 35%+ blue with only some traces areas of touchup and more areas of dull gray patina that has mixed with the thinning blue. The backstrap and gripstrap only retain some strong traces of dull and faded blue, mixed with a smoky gray patina. The color casehardened hammer and back plate retain much of their faded mottled coloring, with the rear face of the backplate retains some nice muted coloring. The metal shows some scattered minor surface scratches and minor dings and mars as well. As noted, the only visible markings are the serial number 376, stamped clearly on the left side of the frame, forward of the cylinder and the assembly number 37, which is found on the cylinder, frame, arbor pin and inside the grips. The gun retains the original combination lanyard ring and ejector rod, which screws into the butt for storage. The ring still retains the functional mechanical ability to rotate freely as a lanyard ring, but with a quarter turn the correct direction the ring locks into place and allows you to remove the ejector rod. The bore is rifled with the usual eight wide grooves with very narrow lands and is in about FINE condition. The bore is mostly bright with very crisp rifling. The bore shows some scattered oxidized discoloration as well as some very lightly scattered pitting within the grooves. The grips are in VERY GOOD+ to NEAR FINE condition as well. They remain solid and are free of any breaks or repairs. The grips show the typical light to moderate wear that would be expected, with some scattered handling marks and dings present. What may be the remnants of a set of initials are found on the upper part of the left grip panel, near the frame junction. 

The revolver in mechanically functional in all ways. The loading system and back plate operate exactly as they should. The firing mechanism is fully functional as well, with the revolver timing, indexing and locking up exactly as it should. The revolver operates crisply in both the double and single action modes. The revolver retains both the original front and rear sights as well. It is 100% complete, correct and original in every way.

Overall, this is a very nice displaying example of one of the rarest of the Civil War used revolvers. When you consider the overall rarity of this model and its condition the price seems quite low. A common Colt Navy in this condition would be priced at nearly double this gun, if not higher, and the Colt Navy was a gun produced and acquired in huge quantities by comparison. Even many of the most advanced collections of Civil War handguns are unlikely to have a Raphael revolver in it. This gun would be an appropriate addition to a collection that centered on US or CS handguns, early cartridge guns, or Civil War imports arms. This is a very attractive example that would be right at home in any advanced Civil War handgun display. Raphael revolvers have always seemed to be a bargain for Civil War collectors, considering the overall rarity of the guns. This unique revolver will certainly be a conversation starter when you are showing off your collection to other antique arms enthusiasts.

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