Idea: Multi-caliber survival revolver

[GAgunLAWbooklet]

What do y'all think of a survivalist scenario handgun that is basically a blend between a 19th century "pepperbox" gun that fires directly from an extra-long cylinder without any barrel in front of the cylinder and a modern DA/SA revolver?

I'm thinking some gun company could make a revolver that has an extra-long cylinder made of a lightweight aluminum alloy (or titanium alloy) but which uses sets of 5 or 6 stainless steel sleeves or inserts. Each insert would be caliber-specific and have both a chamber section and a rifled bore section. They could be keyed so they don't rotate in the cylinder when used, and only the bullet spins.

The gun's single fixed "barrel" would be just an oversized bloop tube that doesn't touch the bullets passing through it. The bore would be just a tunnel, and it would serve as a flash hider. It would also increase the gun's sight radius and make the pistol more accurate when aimed and more likely to hit when point-shooting / shooting from the hip.

The gun's frame and cylinder would have to be large, but the grip and reach to the trigger could be smaller, like a normal S&W K-frame or L-frame revolver has. Both the frame and the cylinder could be made of materials lighter than steel.

Imagine the gun only comes with one set of 6 chamber inserts in some mega-popular caliber like .357 mag, but you could get sets of other caliber inserts to shoot .410 shotgun shells and .45 long Colt rounds, 10mm and .40 S&W ammo, 9mm would be another set, and finally for training newbies and kids, a set of .22LR sleeves (They'd be bored off-center so the gun's firing pin strikes the rim of the rimfire rounds).

 

[lostchild]

I’d base my decision on common sense and stay far away from something that would have poor accuracy (shoot to six different points of impact in each caliber), and have pockets full of inserts that could be easily lost.
Poll is a major fail anyway, no tacos option.

 

[Texas Funnyhair]

Basically already exists with the Medusa 47, though they just used a fancy extractor system to allow you to put whatever round in any chamber.

Medusa Model 47 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Works, but isn't very accurate and didn't sell very well.

 

[GAgunLAWbooklet]

Well, the Medusa was limited to just using rounds that featured bullets in the ..355" - .357" range.
Only the 9mm size. My idea could handle anything from .45 down to .17 Mach 2.

 

[rumrunner55]

Best bet is a single shot 12 gauge with an insert pack they make them for every caliber down to 22

 

[lostchild]

Personally, I don’t intend to be stuck with a single-shot anything for TEOTWAWKI.

 

[happygoschmucky]

 

[Torn]

Personally, I don’t intend to be stuck with a single-shot anything for TEOTWAWKI.

 

[Klif]

The Rossi Wizard was one of the best examples of a platform for multiple calibers. You bought the base rifle stock and action and then there were 20 or 30 different caliber barrels you could put on the base. Everything from .22 to 45-70 and beyond. It fell out of favor being a single shot but was a prime example of a system if you had the money you could shoot just about any caliber. I had the base and several of the different barrels when circumstances required liquidation and I have been searching for one since.

 

[GAgunLAWbooklet]

RE: The Rossi Wizard.

That's an OK idea for a gun you'll keep at home in your bunker, but having several extra 18" - 24" steel barrels isn't practical for traveling by foot, horse, ATV, motorcycle, or even a car. Maybe a big SUV or quad-cab pickup towing a trailer or camper, sure.

My idea about the revolver with chamber inserts would only require a pouch with several sets of steel tubes that would look and feel a lot like 28 gauge extended screw-in choke tubes. 6 per set, and having 5 sets in your pouch, and you'd only be carrying 30 of these small pieces of metal. Think of how small a box of 25 shotgun shells is.

You could carry 30 of these cylinder sleeves / inserts in a pouch the size of a 1-quart canteen.
It might weigh 2 lbs. About half the weight of even ONE Rossi barrel.

(EDITED TO ADD) Though these chamber inserts may be the same diameter as a 28 gauge extended choke tube, they'd be LONGER. Something like 5" long, not 3.5 or whatever an extended choke tube is.)