LeMat Revolver Country Confederate States of America Type Revolver Manufacturer LeMat Introduction 1855 Specifications Weight 3.1 lb (1.41 kg), unloaded Length 13.25in. (356 mm) Caliber .44 Ball, 16ga Shot Action Single Action revolver Rate of fire 9 rounds/minute Muzzle velocity 620 ft/s (190 m/s) Effective range 40 yd Maximum range 100 yd Feed system 9-round cylinder, single-shot smoothbore secondary barrel Sights fixed front post and rear notch

The LeMat revolver was a .42 caliber cap & ball black powder revolver invented by Dr. Jean Alexandre LeMat of New Orleans, which featured a rather unusual secondary 16 gauge smoothbore barrel capable of firing buckshot, and saw service with the armed forces of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War of 1861–1865.

Also known as the \"Grape Shot Revolver\" it was developed in New Orleans in 1856 by Dr. Jean LeMat and backed by Pierre G.T. Beauregard, who was to become a general with the Confederacy. Roughly 2,900 were produced.

The distinguishing characteristic of LeMat\'s revolver is that its 9-shot cylinder revolves around a separate central barrel of larger caliber than the chambers in the cylinder proper. The central barrel is smoothbore and can function as a short-barrelled shotgun (hence the name \"Grape Shot Revolver\") with the shooter selecting whether to fire from the cylinder or the smoothbore barrel by flipping a lever on the end of the hammer. Flipping the lever down caused the moveable striker to fall upon the primer set directly under the hammer, discharging the lower barrel, while leaving it in the standard position would fire the chambers in the cylinder, much like any other revolver.

LeMat originally chambered his pistol for .40 (or .42) caliber revolver bullets, with a .60 (16 gauge) smoothbore barrel, and had a jointed ramrod (mounted on the right-hand side of the frame), which was used to load both barrels. Later, during the American Civil War, a lighter .35-caliber pistol with a .50 caliber (28-gauge) smoothbore barrel was produced, but as these were non-standard ammunition sizes (.36 or .44 caliber were most common for contemporary revolvers) LeMat owners had to cast their own bullets (as opposed to being issued them from general military stores.) The final models of the LeMat were produced in .36 or .44 caliber in response to these criticisms, but too few of them managed to get past the Union blockade of the South during the Civil War to be of any real use.