Why the six shooter?

[Panzercat]

A nagging question... Not really important in the grand scheme of things but might provide some interesting history in its answering, but why the six shooter?

What transpired to create a six gun standard? Why not a four round chamber? Why not eight? Sure examples of anything and everything between exist, but what influenced the decision to build a revolver chambered for six rounds? Popularity of the initial models probably cemented its status as a standard after that, but how was the numbering decided? I can think of any number of reasons, but anybody with facts? Kinda curious

 

[Armored farmer]

Just a guess, mind you, but I feel the cylinder diameter just works out better with six rounds as compared to 4, or 8, or whatever.

Too big and bulky with 7 or 8.
Too small and tiny... timing issues...manufacturing problems with the innards of early cap-n-ball to be smaller than six??

 

[Oyeboten]

I think Colt made a four Shot Pocket Revolver at one time.

Otherwise, the norm has been five or six Shot Cylinders for medium Calibers.

For small Caliber, on a medium Frame Revolver, six, seven, eight or even nine Shot.


The diameter of the Cylinder and consideration of Cylinder Wall section, will determine how many rounds it can have.


There were some Belgian Revolvers in the latter 1800s with very large diameter Cylinders, and, two concentric 'rings' of Chambers, but this was an oddity, and, likely quite awkward to carry, draw, and manage.

 

[Old Fuff]

You can blame the two Sam's (Sam Colt & Sam Walker). Most of Colt's first revolvers, made at Paterson, NJ. were five-shooters, because that resulted in a revolver that could be carried on the belt or saddle holsters. But Sam Walker, late of the Texas Rangers, wanted a BIG one that had six chambers, and he got it.

After that Colt for the most part made five or six chambered revolvers, and those number stuck. However over time others made some that ranged from four to eight. Even today, the number of chambers is determined by the diameter of the cylinder, and that of the cartridges being used in it.

 

[dashootist]

Gun fights are statistically over before four rounds. So six gives you 50% margin of safety.

 

[Gary A]

Especially when attacked by some nasty statistics.

 

[sagebrushjim]

Also take into account that a "4 Gun or 5 Gun" just does not have the same Ring to it .....

 

[gunboat57]

Just an observation, take 7 pennies and arrange them with one in the center and the other six all around. They all just exactly touch. So if your cylinder arbor is roughly the same diameter as your bullets, a six shooter is very geometrically efficient.

OK, so I'm grasping at straws here.

 

[neededausername]

Because 6 is a perfect number by definition: a perfect number is a positive integer that is the sum of its proper positive divisors, that is, the sum of the positive divisors excluding the number itself 1+2+3=6 Of course so is 28 and I wouldn't want to carry that....

Yeah I know it's probably not the reason.

 

[BlindJustice]

Weren't the 5 shooters the .32 cal cap and ball but once you make the 6 chambers cutting 3 pair opposite each other may have led to a quicker manufacturing process ??

S&W stuck to 6 shots for the DA revolvers in medium / large frames for a long time til the L-frame's larger diameter cylinder came along and they found a 7 shooter was perfectly safe with chamber wall thickness tween the chambers as weel as the chamber wall to the outside of the cylinder.

THe K-frame .22 lrs sure have a lot of meat tween the chambers but the 'pawl?" that moves the cylinder around is essentially center to center so
it's close to the same part for most K frames until some engineer at S&W realized the .22 LR is so low pressure they could get 10 shot cylinders like my 617 just change the pawl throw if that's the right term.... shorter rotation the more chambers.

were the top break S&W Russian/Schofields in smaller chamberings all six shooters ?

R-


R-

 

[thunder173]

testing

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Gun fights are statistically over before four rounds. So six gives you 50% margin of safety.

Well, no, only a +25% margin of safety as one chamber is empty for safety in many cases right? A five shot then has no margin, with four and one empty?

Let us not forget the LeMatt with 9 +1!

Wasn't the Revolving rifle in the Civil War a five shot?

How many was the pepperbox? Didn't it vary by caliber?

LD

 

[armoredman]

The Colt Cloverleaf was a 4 shot, highly desirable collectible.

 

[Stainz]

Three years ago this May, I bought a new 627 Pro - 8-shooter. That Septemeber, a new 4" 617 - 10-shooter. That was followed by a lightly used 5" 63. Then, last year, two new PC627 UDR's and a 3" 63 - all 8-shooters.

What are these '6-shooters' you speak of?

Stainz

 

[Panzercat]

So it sounds like it came down to personal whim, not anything process related.

"Mister Colt, I need to make more big holes in stuff."
"Then I have just the thing for you, Mister Walker..."

 

[Sav .250]

Interesting question. I don`t have a clue.

 

[451 Detonics]

I think it was just because holster makers took one look at guns like these and said "You got to be kidding!".

20 shot Mariette


30 shot revolver

 

[MrAcheson]

Just an observation, take 7 pennies and arrange them with one in the center and the other six all around. They all just exactly touch. So if your cylinder arbor is roughly the same diameter as your bullets, a six shooter is very geometrically efficient.

This. For many revolvers 5 and 7 are actually the most efficient use of space because it allows you to put the bolt cuts between the chambers on the cylinders instead of on top of them.

 

[CraigC]

If I remember right, the earliest revolvers, all flintlocks, were four and five shot. It was simply what worked but maintained a modicum of practicality.

As mentioned, many of the early Colt Paterson guns were five shot. These were beltguns, not horse pistols. The Colt Walker was a horse pistol, meant to be carried in pommel holsters on the saddle, not on the belt. It was the first big bore six shot. Subsequent refinements in design and advances in metallurgy permitted the creation of the 1860. Same bore size, smaller overall size and nearly as much power. Far more packable. For full-sized guns, the six shot capacity carried on through the cartridge conversions, Colt's first dedicated cartridge gun the 1871-1872 Open Top model and on to the Single Action Army, simply because it works. It's the best balance between cartridge size and portability.

The location of the bolt cuts did not really become relevant until the pressure went up with modern big bore smokeless cartridges.