Less Common Guns in
the Civil War
Pettingill Revolver
An unusual double action revolver was manufactured by the Rogers and
Spencer factory during the Civil War. "Double Action" means pulling the
trigger will also cock the hammer. Nearly all double action revolvers can
also have the hammer cocked manually, especially to achieve the best
accuracy on a target. But the Pettingill could only be fired using the
trigger to cock the concealed hammer.
The Pettingill was expensive to make and difficult to pass with the Army
inspectors. Its production was terminated in favor of a simpler revolver
known as the Roger and Spencer which was single action like most of the
Civil War
revolvers.
Terrific photos of the Pettingill and its mechanism are with two
superlative pages on a website at:
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