POTD: Rare French Guycot Chain Rifle – A Mere 80 Rounds
Sam.S 06.23.21
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Everyone loves a good mystery. This mystery is in the form of an 80 round chain rifle called the Guycot Chain Rifle. The quote below mentions rocket ball ammunition. Rocketball ammunition is basically a bullet with a hollow base. In the hollow base are powder and a primer of some sort. No shell casing needed! Very few substantiated facts are out there on this Guycot rifle which is why I will let Rock Island Auction Company who always does a great job explain further:
“Produced circa 1878, this unusual and rare rifle features a chain loading system housed in the frame and stock with a 80 (yes that’s eighty) round capacity. Running from the front section of the cylinder, through the stock and back again, the chain carries 80 chambers, which are then loaded with self contained center fire rounds in the style of the Hunt Rocket Ball. Operating in double action style, a pull of the trigger retracts a long needle-like firing pin, advances the chain to bring the next chamber in line, an inner barrel is drawn back through the heavy outer barrel until it covers the bullet end of the cartridge. When the drag on the trigger ends, the firing pin is released which drives through a small hole in the base of the container. Pin front and notch rear sights, with a loading gate set into the top of the frame, scroll style trigger guard, sling swivels and a hollow straight grip buttstock. P. Gay, a French engineer and Mrs. H. Guenot, a French merchant secured British patent #187 in 1879, otherwise the origin of the Guycot remains a mystery and historical facts are sketchy. No markings are present.”
Lot 1109: Rare French Guycot Chain Rifle [Photograph found in Auction Catalog #50, Rock Island Auction Company]. (n.d.). Retrieved June 22, 2021, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/50/1109/rare-french-guycot-chain-rifle
