One thing you can say about British military revolvers--they certainly have distinctive appearances. And while they ran the performance gamut from serviceable to top-notch, one thing is sure: Few will ever win a beauty contest. And perhaps the best case in point is the Enfield revolver.

When one mentions "Enfield revolver," the image that comes to most minds is the .380 Webley-looking repeater of World War II fame. Actually, the first Enfield revolver appeared in the latter part of the 19th century, and aside from the fact that it was double action, it had virtually nothing in common with the later handgun

Prior to the introduction of the Enfield, the British military had been saddled with a succession of solid-frame double-action Adams revolvers that chambered a relatively anemic .450 cartridge. This black powder round pushed its 125-grain lead bullet out at around 650 fps for a muzzle energy of some 211 ft.-lbs. It was often found to be less than effective when confronting some of Queen Victoria's more determined adversaries. Recognizing this, the War Department set about to design a new, more powerful cartridge and revolver for its forces.

What finally emerged in August 1880 was totally different from the earlier solid-frame efforts. The gun employed an unusual simultaneous extraction system designed by Americanized Welshman Owen Jones and a double-action lockwork with rebounding hammer, patented jointly by Britisher Michael Kaufmann and Belgian Jean Warnant.

The ingenious, slightly eccentric design involved a frontally pivoting hinged frame, secured at the rear of the top strap by a knurled latch. The gun was loaded in the usual manner, one round at a time through the loading gate, which also served as a backward cylinder stop. In the original Mark I, the cylinder rotated freely clockwise even with the gate closed, though the later Mark II's cylinder was locked completely and rotated for loading only when the gate was open.

The Mark II loads like a solid frame but features simultaneous -- if not particularly efficient -- extraction. The case in the bottom chamber would often stick.

When six rounds had been fired, to quote the 1886 North West Mounted Police Manual and Firing Exercise for the Winchester Carbine and the Enfield Revolver, "Hold the revolver in the right hand with the barrel pointing upwards to the left front at an angle of 30 to 40 degrees. Place the thumb on the catch and press it back, then with a smart jerk of the wrist, throw the barrel forward when the cartridge cases will fall out...The bottom case may occasionally require to be removed by revolving the cylinder."

So basically what you had here was a gun that loaded like a solid frame but which featured simultaneous extraction. Not only that, the extraction was even recognized at the time as being not particularly efficient, as the case in the bottom chamber would oftentimes stick in the action, requiring a separate motion or vigorous shaking to dislodge it--especially when the gun was fouled with black powder residue.

This was due in part to the fact that, unlike later systems, in the Enfield the star extractor was held captive and the cylinder pulled forward, leaving a thick arbor in its wake--just perfect for seizing cases.