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One of the options for having multiple shots available in the age of the muzzleloading rifle was the swivel-breech rifle. Such a rifle would have typically two barrels and one lock – one the first barrel was fired, the whole barrel assembly could be rotated 180 degrees to bring the other barrel into alignment with the lock. These could be two rifle barrels, two shotgun barrels, or one of each.
MJ Whitmore of Potsdam, New York build many such swivel-breech rifles and also build some much less common 4-barrel swivel guns. This particular example has two .40 caliber rifled barrels on one side and a combination of a .40 caliber rifle and a .40 smoothbore barrel on the other side. In a particularly neat touch, it holds a single loading rod hidden in a spring-capped chamber in the center of the barrel cluster.
At Forgotten Weapons I think the most interesting guns out there are the most obscure ones. I try to search out experimental and prototype weapons and show you how they work, in addition to more conventional guns that you may not have heard of before. You’re much more likely to find a video on the Cei Rigotti or Webley-Fosbery here than an AR or Glock. So, do you want to learn about something new today? Then stick around!
