Pinfire adaptation.
When rimfire- and centerfire weapons became dominant in the market sales of pinfire weapons became increasingly difficult.
Gunsmiths reacted to this fact by adapting the pinfire weapons they still had in stock.
Below you’ll see some pictures I took in Mainz (Germany) of a transformed pinfire revolver. This revolver is adapted from a 7 mm pinfire into .320 centerfire. The .320 centerfire cartridge was charged with black powder; just like the 7 mm pinfire cartridge.
Mind: this gun is NOT ° in my possession!
As can be seen on the pictures above the „spoon” on the hammer has been ground away (B). This „spoon” used to hit the pin protruding from the cylinder. A firing pin has been added (A) and for unknown reasons the front sight has been removed.
On the left picture an oval insert can be seen (C) that guides the firing pin to the primer of the centerfire cartridge. This insert covers the gap where originally the „spoon” of the pinfire hammer rested too (D). The right picture shows the adapted cylinder. The slots for the pins are still there but each chamber has been reamed to accept the rim of the .320 cartridge.
°Antique handguns firing black powder charged centerfire cartridges aren’t exempted by Dutch gun law.