Watch: Savage Navy Cap & Ball Revolver

Weighing more than three pounds, this behemoth of a revolver was made by Savage during the Un-Civil War. The finger-lever arrangement was odd, but allowed for rapid fire.

Unfortunately, it’s a .36-caliber gun rather than the more commonly used .44 cal. This and other complications led to this model’s ultimate failure and discontinuance.

The hammer lands on the top of the cylinder rather than clobbering the cap from behind. This is a little less efficient, but at least would have a tendency to direct gases etc away from a shooter’s face.

One plus about this design is that the cylinder moves forward each time to “seal” against the rear of the barrel. This helps prevent chain fires, as well as cutting down on the number of sparks, fire, and lead shavings with which you will shower your neighbor upon firing.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.