[MCgunner]

http://www.cabelas.com/hprod-1/0036661.shtml

It's too much money, but seems like it'd be fun to own and shoot. That 20 gauge barrel might actually be useful for something, too, not sure what. :D

Just wondered if anyone can tell me about the accuracy of the piece, now it handles, how it shoots, if it's actually perhaps useful for something other than paper punching? Not sure who makes this particular reproduction.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/content/Pod/03/66/61/p036661hz04.jpg

[KenWP]

Used to be a old western on tv where the Sheriff had one. Can't remember the name but the actor also sang the song.

[Benmathes]

I've got one- made by Pietta- beautiful- but no tellin how you take it apart to clean the thing

so it sits..

[Ginormous]

so it sits..

Man, that's just wrong. Shoot the bejesus out of it, then you'll HAVE to figure out how to disassemble and clean that sucker. :)

[NobleSniper]

Send me that Lemat and I will clean it and take care of it for you............ have always wanted one so hopefully one of these days. I saw a movie years abck where the character (Civil War era) carried a Lemat for awhile. Defintely a neat peice :D

[Ginormous]

Send it to me Benmathes, and I'll let you come visit it. :evil:

[NobleSniper]

Now you just wait your turn Ginormous............... :D I called first dibs sir ;)

[Ginormous]

Yeah, well, he can't visit it so easily in the Hoosier state.

Locality trumps originality. :D

[NobleSniper]

I never figured you for a guy that held a spare ace :D:D:D:D

[Ginormous]

I've always cheated at poker. Ask my ex-wife, the last time she was in my house, I poked her right out the door.

Her full house failed against my 5 aces. :neener:

[MCgunner]

Hey, hey, I started this thread. I get dibs on any give aways! I'm pretty mechanically minded. If I can rebuild a motorcycle engine, I think I can figure out a Lemat. So, just send that sucker down here. Ain't doin' you no good! :D

Kinda reminds me of my buddy's Nagants. Those things are WEIRD. :D

[sltm1]

There was a movie with Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Lenardo Decaprio and Russle Crow a few years back about an all or nothing shooting quick draw contest. A Swedish contestant used the LeMat, only time I ever saw one in the movies(he lost). From what I understand, the Patterson is harder to take apart and put back together again.

[Ratdog68]

"If I can rebuild a motorcycle engine, I think I can figure out a Lemat."

Yeah? Well qualify that comment. If it was a Hardley Ableson... needing a sledge hammer doesn't qualify for working on a piece of fine machinery. LOL

[MCgunner]

No, no, I have built RACE engines and they ain't XR750s. Takes more than a hammer and chisel to work on my stuff. Even need a set of feelers or a caliper or a torque wrench once in a while. :D

[mykeal]

You guys need to go back and read Mike Cumpston's book; it has a full chapter about the Pietta LeMat. Well worth the time to check out.

[poordevil]

There was a movie with Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Lenardo Decaprio and Russle Crow a few years back about an all or nothing shooting quick draw contest. A Swedish contestant used the LeMat, only time I ever saw one in the movies(he lost). From what I understand, the Patterson is harder to take apart and put back together again.

That movie is called The Quick and the Dead. There is another western called The Quick and the Dead with Sam Elliott that is also pretty good.

[Ratdog68]

"No, no, I have built RACE engines and they ain't XR750s. Takes more than a hammer and chisel to work on my stuff. Even need a set of feelers or a caliper or a torque wrench once in a while. "

Otay... carry on... gist checkin'. :D :neener:

[Tommygunn]

I have one. It's a bit heavy but mine seems about as accurate as any other revolver I have.
It is not as well designed ergonomically as Colts or Remmies. While intyeresting, the loading lever pulls up to seat a ball. I found that to be a tad more difficult to handle. 9 chambers makes for a good bit of firepower ... but a bit longer to load as well. I wound up loading only some of the chambers.
The model shown in the photo is the same one I have save mine doesn't have as much engraving on the cylinder. The lever just below the barrel folds down and the barrel unscrews and the cylinder is removeable.
I haven't ever taken down the frame as I haven't shot it a lot. Somewhere I have a sheet with an exploded diagram of it so I'd have a reference for when I did. It's a bit tricky; there is a scrtew on the right side that regulates how the lock bolt works which holds the cylinder from the rear, rather than from underneath as on Colt revolvers.
I haven't shot mine in years ... it's tucked away in the rather nice box it came in back circa 1992 when I bought it in a moment of financial weakness... ;-)


P.S. The photo in the OP is a mirror image of the real one; the loading lever is on the left side of the barrel.

[poordevil]

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=129152034

Maybe you can get this one cheap.

[Hellgate]

What little I know about the LeMats is pure hearsay. I hear they are awkward to handle, have poor balance, and are heavy. I've read the two best days of owning a LeMat are the day it arrives and the day you sell it. I have rarely heard that about any other gun. I have never yearned for one. A famous Confederate cavalryman like P T Beauregard or Stonewall Jackson had one. I would suppose that in a cavalry fight 9 shots and a load of buckshot would be an advantage providing they all went off. I've just never heard of anyone raving about them that ever actually owned one.

[madcratebuilder]

You need a 'spanner' type screwdriver bit to disassemble the LeMat. I make a set of hardened bits for the LeMat, PM me if your interested. It's a four bit set that fits all the screws on the revolver.

As far as shooting, it's as accurate any other c&b .44 I own. I'm still playing with the shot barrel loads. A half dozen .31 rb's is pretty devastating to a sheet of plywood. The loading lever takes some getting used to. You have to flip the hammer nose down to fire the center barrel. The grip is a different angle than most c&b guns. Personally I like it, in fact it would be my first choice for a c&b gunfight. It's not a good revolver for a novice shooter. It's no more complicated to disassemble that a Paterson. Petty easy IMHO. If you can handle a Walker you can handle a LeMat.

[BugSlayer]

I just got a copy of a special edition put out by SHOOT Magazine entitled "Black Powder and The Old West, Frontier Cartridge Guns & Cap-N-Ball". Lots of good, interesting stuff in it includint a great article on the Lemat revolver. If you can get your hands on a copy it will answer a lot of questions for you. It even shows a Lemat broken down for cleaning.

[arcticap]

Here's a listing for Mike Cumpston's book:

http://www.amazon.com/Percussion-Revolvers-Guide-History-Performance/dp/0595436242/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242461058&sr=8-7

mec and others posted some pictures and excellent info. in the following threads:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=153997&highlight=lemat

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=272012&highlight=lemat


Below is the entire search result of the THR BP forum database for threads containing "Lemat" posts by "mec" which could be read through to obtain even more info.:

http://www.thehighroad.org/search.php?searchid=6022996

[Speedo66]

The one on Gunbroker has a reserve price of $725. Is that a good price?

[messerist]

Gen. J.E.B. Stuart CSA carried a LeMat revolver. I have heard that it resides at the West Point Museum. When I worked for Cabela's we sold LeMats. I didn't sell many but I betcha I took that revolver out of the display case about ten times a day so customers could fondle it. I wish I would have bought one when I was eligible for the employee discount and Italy was still on the Lira. Italian guns were less expensive then.

[A. Walker]

Actually, Bruce Willis is given a LeMat to use in the movie "13 Monkeys", a Sci-fi flick set in the future. Only reason I could figure they used the LeMat is that it's just such a whopping big piece.

[MCgunner]

It is not as well designed ergonomically as Colts or Remmies.

Yeah, you can sorta tell from the picture it'd be like holding a fishing rod, a really heavy fishing rod. LOL

[arcticap]

The one on Gunbroker has a reserve price of $725. Is that a good price?

Here's an unfired Calvarly Model for sale for $700 shipped that's listed on TFL's black powder classifieds:

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=317732&highlight=lemat

[madcratebuilder]

The one on Gunbroker has a reserve price of $725. Is that a good price?

Cabela's has them for $750, you get a liberal return privilege. Plus they have 10% off coupons all the time, that's $75 bucks.


Quote:
It is not as well designed ergonomically as Colts or Remmies.
Yeah, you can sorta tell from the picture it'd be like holding a fishing rod, a really heavy fishing rod. LOL

That's pretty subjective. If the only thing you have handled is a Colt style grip then the LeMat well feel different for sure. Once you have some hands one experience with it you well find it points very well. At 3lb 8oz it is a full pound lighter than a Walker and 10 oz lighter than a Dragoon. It is an inch shorter than an 1858 and 11 oz heavier, with twice the fire power. It was the EBR of it's day.

[Jim K]

I don't know about the repros, but I have shot and disassembled both a LeMat and a Paterson. IMHO, the Paterson might (I am not sure) have more parts, but is not as complex as the LeMat. The recoil of that shotgun barrel is nasty, even though the LeMat is a lot bigger than most folks think.

There were some well-known users (or at least owners) of LeMats during the Civil War, but there was no widespread use, contrary to one statement that "most Confederate cavalrymen carried at least two and sometimes four" LeMats. Sorry, but the limited use was remembered and remarked on just because it was so rare.

Jim

[Tommygunn]

It is not as well designed ergonomically as Colts or Remmies.
Yeah, you can sorta tell from the picture it'd be like holding a fishing rod, a really heavy fishing rod. LOL
That's pretty subjective. If the only thing you have handled is a Colt style grip then the LeMat well feel different for sure. Once you have some hands one experience with it you well find it points very well. At 3lb 8oz it is a full pound lighter than a Walker and 10 oz lighter than a Dragoon. It is an inch shorter than an 1858 and 11 oz heavier, with twice the fire power. It was the EBR of it's day.

Well, when I made that first statement I was really refering to the loading lever. Pulling it up doesn't seem to work quite as effectively as down (as per Colts and Remmies).
Yea, there is subjectivity involved in the different guns. Maybe some people would even prefer the Le Mat loading lever style over the Colt for all I know, but I was only trying to provide my reflections on the gun, for what it was worth.;)

[madcratebuilder]

Well, when I made that first statement I was really refering to the loading lever. Pulling it up doesn't seem to work quite as effectively as down (as per Colts and Remmies).

Loading on the left side and then pulling the loading lever up does take some getting used to. Plus you have much less mechanical advantage with the pivoting lever. The end of the lever only has about three inches of travel. The Colt is much easier to do, but that's the price of an 20ga center barrel. I use a loading stand anyway, the barrel and cylinder come off easy.

[jhon]

For some reason the designers of really neat revolvers (LeMat, Schofield) liked to use those side plates that require beating on the frame to remove. Makes disassembling...uncomfortable. For me at least.

The loading handle on the LeMat is pretty funky. All I had were .454 round balls, but from now on I'm using .451. It took a lot of work to seat them, partly due to the loading lever design, which doesn't afford much leverage. One hand on the lever, one on the barrel and PULLLLLL! Sore hands at the end of the day. I'm glad I read that the lever comes free under recoil, tending to lose the ram rod in the grass before I used it. The shotgun barrel is a lot of fun though. Sounds like a cannon. The cylinder chambers are rather short, with a max load of 20-27 grains, depending on whether or not you use a wad in there. So not much recoil. The shotgun barrel with about 60 grains isn't bad either really, but might buck pretty good with a .68 round ball. I just stuffed a few .454 balls in there. Note, I think the instructions list the max charge in the shotgun barrel as 25 grains. I don't think I'd use 60 grains behind a big ass round ball in this thing.

The LeMat has a ton of parts. Puts the Paterson to shame (the hammer alone is made up of like 6 parts). But I can't own something without taking it apart, so no problem there. The cylinder stop is completely unique in design as far as I know, and you won't have to worry about any unsightly drag line on the cylinder. The side plate needs to be shocked free, meaning a wooden or nylon hammer striking the frame. There's a couple of spanner nuts which require a special bit, but that can be gotten around with a little work.

Cocking the pistol with one hand is all but impossible, for me at least. The hammer travel to full cock is really long and that main spring is HEAVY! It has to be, due to the way the shotgun barrel is detonated. It seems fairly accurate, but I haven't shot it from a bench.

Now I just need to get my hands on a Starr double action. This one has set me on to the unique bastard step children of cap and ball revolvers.

[mec]

The lemat is very simple to take apart once you get past that spanner nut/side plate. (bounce it off like a smith and wesson instead of prying to prevent buggering the edges. The guy who is makng full sets of screws including the split spanner one is doing a big service to lemat owners. Altogether, not counting grips and screws, I can count 15 major and minor parts in the Paterson and 12 in the lemat.The paterson is much more parts heavy than later revolvers like the Navy and the arrangement of the springs etc is quite confusing without a schematic.
It sounds like some shooters are having better luck with shot barrel ignition than I did.

The loading lever does tend to flip up and launch the underbarrel rammer. I've used a stem of grass to tighten its fit inside the hollow lever and tightening the screw frequent helps to some extent.

[madcratebuilder]

The center barrel is tuff to light. The hammer has such a short fall there is not much energy. I sand the face of the caps to make them thinner for the center nipple, pita but it helps.

I put a very slight bend in the ram rod so it would stay in the loading lever, seemed to help.

[jhon]

The shotgun barrel never failed to ignite for me, but my hammer is different than the one in the picture in the original post. Mine has the lever that you flip, which might account for the difference?

[Meta]

Here is my Lemat, in the rarest of rare Pinfire variation. I might consider some trades as I don't usually collect much that I don't shoot.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n26/metaphysx/Lemat/100_0372-2.jpg

[Cap n Ball]

I have one. They were never common. Referred to as a 'grapeshot revolver'. A bit on the heavy side. Takes some getting used to but with practice it'll do the job. Since it's unlikely that I'll ever need the shot tube as a last ditch alternative I don't fire it much. It does have a nasty bit of recoil.

[Joe Demko]

Historically, there were cartridge-bearing LeMat variants as shown by Meta's post above. If the Italians would produce a modern one using a reasonably available cartridge, I'd be all over it.

[junior geezer]

KenWP: "johnny ringo," 1959. starred don durant.