Pietta LeMat

About the Pietta LeMat

The Pietta LeMat is a reproduction of the legendary LeMat revolver, a unique dual-barrel percussion revolver designed by Dr. Jean Alexandre LeMat of New Orleans. The LeMat features a nine-shot .44 caliber cylinder that revolves around a central 20-gauge (.65 caliber) smoothbore shotgun barrel, giving the shooter ten shots - nine revolver rounds and one blast of buckshot. A hinged nose on the hammer selects between the revolver barrel and the shotgun barrel. Pietta produces Cavalry, Navy, and Army/Old West variants.

The LeMat revolver was the preferred sidearm of several Confederate generals, most notably J.E.B. Stuart and P.G.T. Beauregard (who was LeMat's cousin by marriage and helped promote the design). With nine revolver shots and a blast of buckshot available, the LeMat offered unmatched firepower for its era. Approximately 2,900 were produced in France and Belgium for the Confederacy, smuggled through the Union naval blockade. The revolver's complexity and weight (3.5 lbs) made it less popular than simpler designs, but its devastating close-range capability made it feared. Modern reproductions by Pietta are prized by collectors and Civil War reenactors.

Pietta LeMat specifications

Black powder/percussion cap only. Three variants: Cavalry (spur trigger, lever barrel release), Navy (pinned barrel release, spur selector), and Army Old West. The central shotgun barrel fires a .65 caliber (approximately 20 gauge) charge of buckshot. Total capacity: 9 revolver shots + 1 shotgun blast.