Allen & Wheelock Lipfire Army Revolver
- Category
- Pistol
- Barrel
- 191 mm
- Weight, empty
- 1.19 kg
- Introduced
- 1860
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Allen & Wheelock Lipfire Army Revolver is a six-shot, single-action, center-hammer revolver chambered for the proprietary .44 Allen Lipfire self-contained metallic cartridge. Manufactured in Worcester, Massachusetts from about 1860 until November 1863, it featured a 7.5-inch half-octagon, half-round barrel, a bored-through cylinder, smooth two-piece walnut grips, and a distinctive cam-action trigger guard that operated the cartridge ejector. Production ceased after the firm was found to infringe the Rollin White bored-through cylinder patent held by Smith & Wesson, making it one of the rarer American cartridge revolvers of the Civil War period.
Ethan Allen devised the lipfire cartridge to sidestep Smith & Wesson's lock on the rimfire patent, placing the priming compound in a small lip on the case head. Though clever, the design still relied on a bored-through cylinder, and a patent-infringement suit shut down production, leaving only a few hundred examples and making the Lipfire Army a prized Civil War-era collector's revolver today.
The Lipfire used a unique cartridge with the priming lip protruding from the case rim, struck by a notched hammer; this circumvented Smith & Wesson's rimfire patent but still infringed the Rollin White bored-through cylinder patent. Many surviving examples were later converted to percussion after production was enjoined.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Allen & Wheelock
- Category
- Pistol
- Country
- United States
- Status
- Discontinued
- Produced
- 1860 to 1863
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 191 mm
- Overall length
- 343 mm
- Weight, empty
- 1.19 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Revolving
- Firing mechanism
- Hammer fired
- Trigger
- Single action
- Capacity
- 6
- Magazine
- Revolving cylinder
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Walnut
- Finish
- Blued
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 210 m/s
- Muzzle energy
- 287 J
- Effective range
- 30 m
- Maximum range
- 100 m
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
No load solved for this record yetThe flight path is computed from a cartridge and a bullet. This record has no ammunition filed against its chambering, so there is nothing to solve.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Center hammer
Half octagon half round barrel
Cam action trigger guard ejector- Color casehardened hammer
Brass blade front sight
Bored through cylinder
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty weightAmong 1,909 pistols | 1.19 kg | 794 g | Heavier than about 80% |
| Overall lengthAmong 1,911 pistols | 343 mm | 196 mm | Longer than about 90% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 1,941 pistols | 191 mm | 102 mm | Longer than about 90% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 1,962 pistols | 6 | 8 | Holds fewer rounds than about 70% |
Answers
Questions about the Allen & Wheelock Lipfire Army Revolver
How much does the Allen & Wheelock Lipfire Army Revolver weigh?
The Allen & Wheelock Lipfire Army Revolver weighs 1.19 kg (2.62 lb) empty.
What caliber is the Allen & Wheelock Lipfire Army Revolver?
The Allen & Wheelock Lipfire Army Revolver is chambered in .44 Allen Lipfire.
How many rounds does the Allen & Wheelock Lipfire Army Revolver hold?
The Allen & Wheelock Lipfire Army Revolver holds 6 rounds, fed from a revolving cylinder.
How long is the Allen & Wheelock Lipfire Army Revolver?
The Allen & Wheelock Lipfire Army Revolver is 343 mm (13.5 in) long overall, with a 191 mm (7.52 in) barrel.
Who makes the Allen & Wheelock Lipfire Army Revolver?
The Allen & Wheelock Lipfire Army Revolver is made by Allen & Wheelock (United States). It was designed by Ethan Allen.
When was the Allen & Wheelock Lipfire Army Revolver introduced?
The Allen & Wheelock Lipfire Army Revolver was introduced in 1860 and discontinued in 1863.
How does the Allen & Wheelock Lipfire Army Revolver operate?
The Allen & Wheelock Lipfire Army Revolver uses a revolving action, and its firing mechanism is hammer fired.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- Union Army (private purchase)
- 1861
Provenance
Confidence in this record
70%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/allen-and-wheelock-lipfire-army-revolver' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "allen-and-wheelock-lipfire-army-revolver", "name": "Allen & Wheelock Lipfire Army Revolver", "manufacturer": { "id": "allen-wheelock", "name": "Allen & Wheelock", "countryCode": "US", "foundedYear": 1856, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-07-06 11:00:16", "updatedAt": "2026-07-06 11:00:16", "version": "702314fea3428c68a244945f7299358c9cb380d34dc55aad3ff9c091c036dd07" }, "category": { "id": "pistol", "name": "Pistol", "description": "Handguns designed to be fired with one or two hands" }, "country_of_origin": "US", "year_introduced": 1860, "barrel_length_mm": 191, "weight_empty_g": 1190, "action_type": "revolving"}