Italian Carabinieri Lefaucheux Model 1854 “Corto” Pinfire Revolver

Summary

Patented by Eugène Gabriel Lefaucheux in the mid-1850s, the pinfire revolver system was formally adopted by the Italian military during the critical transition from the Kingdom of Sardinia to the unified Kingdom of Italy. The revolver illustrated here, serial number 40418, belongs to the Italian Carabinieri pattern approved by the Ministry of War in 1861 and manufactured under the Italian contracts placed with Lefaucheux beginning on 30 August of that year. While derived from the Lefaucheux Model 1854, this revolver retains the distinctive short “Corto” barrel of approximately 123 mm, a feature first specified in the earlier Sardinian order of 1859, and reflects the standardized form adopted for Carabinieri issue as the Revolver da Carabinieri Reali, Modello 1861.

This specific example clearly exhibits the defining technical characteristics of the Italian Carabinieri variant. The rounded trigger guard replaces the earlier squared form, and the revolver is entirely devoid of an extractor rod or even a provision for one, a deliberate omission mandated by Italian military specifications. As documented in the 1861 Giornale Militare, extraction was to be carried out using a separate, issued tool rather than a fixed component on the weapon itself. The serial number “LF 40418,” stamped on the lower frame, falls squarely within known Italian military contract ranges and aligns with surviving archival delivery records. Small inspection or assembly marks visible on the barrel and frame are consistent with Lefaucheux factory practice for military production intended for Italian service.

Accompanying this revolver are Italian military pinfire cartridges and an 1881-dated cartridge packet, illustrating the long service life of the Lefaucheux system within Italy. The cartridges shown correspond to the later brass-cased pattern standardized in 1881, produced under state control and headstamped with the initials of the responsible Capotecnico, reflecting the final evolution of Italian military pinfire ammunition. Together, this revolver and its associated cartridges document not only the original 1861 adoption of the Lefaucheux pinfire revolver by the Carabinieri, but also the sustained institutional support for the system over two decades, marking an important stage in Italy’s transition from percussion arms to fully standardized metallic-cartridge handguns.