Pietta 1858 Starr Double Action

About the Pietta 1858 Starr Double Action

The Pietta 1858 Starr Double Action is a modern reproduction of the Starr Model 1858 Army, a six-shot .44-caliber cap-and-ball percussion revolver originally supplied to Union cavalry during the American Civil War. Built by the Italian maker F.lli Pietta, it faithfully recreates the Starr's distinctive two-piece hinged frame and its unusual double-action lockwork, in which a large forward firing lever both indexes the cylinder and, at the end of its travel, trips a rear sear to drop the hammer. It carries a 6-inch rifled steel barrel, blued steel fittings and a one-piece European walnut grip.

The original Starr double-action Army was patented by Ebenezer Townsend Starr and made Starr Arms the third-largest revolver supplier to the U.S. government in the Civil War, accounting for over 12 percent of Union cavalry sidearms behind only Colt and Remington. Army officers ultimately preferred simpler single-action designs, prompting the later, single-action Model 1863.

Pietta 1858 Starr Double Action specifications

Loads with #11 percussion caps; a typical charge is around 22 grains of FFFg black powder with a .454 round ball and a lubricated revolver wad. The forward lever's two-stage action makes the Starr one of the more mechanically unusual percussion revolvers ever built.