Landstad revolver

Lore & Background

The Landstad revolver was designed and patented in 1899 by Halvard Landstad of Kristiania (now Oslo). Landstad financed the development himself and presented the revolver to military trials in 1901. The weapon was chambered for the 7.5mm Nagant cartridge, which at the time was also used in the Swedish Model 1887 and Norwegian Model 1893 Nagant revolvers.

The revolver's feeding mechanism combined a two-round cylinder with a magazine inserted into the grip, an unusual arrangement for the period. Despite the inventor's efforts, the gun failed in the military trials and never entered production. Landstad retained a prototype of the revolver.

After Landstad's death in 1955, the prototype was donated to the British National Rifle Association. In 1977, the revolver was sold at auction to a Norse weapons collector.

Reader's Guide

The Landstad revolver represents an early attempt to combine the features of a revolver with a self-loading mechanism, predating later designs such as the Dardick 1500, Mateba 6 Unica, and Webley Fosbery. Its failure in Norwegian military trials in 1901 prevented any production, leaving only a single prototype. The weapon's unusual feeding system—a two-round cylinder paired with a grip magazine—was a distinctive solution to the challenge of automatic revolver operation. The survival of the prototype, first donated to the British National Rifle Association after Landstad's death and later auctioned to a collector in 1977, has allowed the design to be studied by firearms historians. The Landstad revolver remains a footnote in firearms development, illustrating the experimental approaches taken around the turn of the 20th century before the dominance of semi-automatic pistols.

Did You Know?

• The Landstad revolver used both a two-round cylinder and a grip-inserted magazine.
• It was chambered for the 7.5mm Nagant cartridge, also used in Swedish and Norwegian Nagant revolvers.
• The patent was filed in 1899 by Halvard Landstad from Kristiania (now Oslo).