Bland-Pryse Revolver
- Category
- Revolver
- Barrel
- 152 mm
- Weight, empty
- 1.00 kg
- Introduced
- 1877
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Bland-Pryse is a British top-break, double-action centre-fire revolver built and retailed by London gunmaker Thomas Bland & Sons under Charles Pryse the Younger's 1876 self-extracting hinged-frame patent. Chambered most commonly in .450 Adams and .455, with rarer .476 and large-bore .577 stopping versions, it used twin opposing finger levers behind the cylinder to release the top-break action and auto-eject the spent cases, together with a Pryse rebounding hammer. Sold to British officers and colonial sportsmen during the late Victorian period, it is one of many trade-pattern revolvers derived from the Pryse design.
Thomas Bland & Sons sold the Pryse-pattern revolver under their own name from the firm's 430 West Strand premises, including monstrous .577 stoppers carried by Victorian officers in India as a last-ditch defence against charging big game.
Built on Charles Pryse's British Patent 4421 of 1876, the same self-extracting top-break action Webley adopted as the Webley-Pryse No. 4. Bland marked examples 'BLAND'S SELF EXTRACTING ARMY REVOLVER'. Large-bore .577 'stopping' versions were Belgian-made and exported to India; fewer than 100 of those were produced.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Thomas Bland & Sons
- Category
- Revolver
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Status
- Discontinued
- Produced
- 1877 to 1900
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 152 mm
- Overall length
- 280 mm
- Weight, empty
- 1.00 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Double action revolver
- Firing mechanism
- Double action
- Trigger
- Double action
- Capacity
- 6
- Magazine
- Internal
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Wood
- Finish
- Blued
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 195 m/s
- Muzzle energy
- 280 J
- Effective range
- 40 m
- Maximum range
- 150 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.
Top break action- Self extracting
Twin locking levers
Rebounding hammer
Fixed sights
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 404 revolvers | 1.00 kg | 1.05 kg | Lighter than about 60% |
| Overall lengthAmong 415 revolvers | 280 mm | 260 mm | Longer than about 60% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 431 revolvers | 152 mm | 127 mm | Longer than about 70% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 434 revolvers | 6 | 6 | Holds more rounds than about 60% |
Answers
Questions about the Bland-Pryse Revolver
How much does the Bland-Pryse Revolver weigh?
The Bland-Pryse Revolver weighs 1.00 kg (2.20 lb) empty.
What caliber is the Bland-Pryse Revolver?
The Bland-Pryse Revolver is chambered in .450 Adams and .455 Webley.
How many rounds does the Bland-Pryse Revolver hold?
The Bland-Pryse Revolver holds 6 rounds, fed from an internal magazine.
How long is the Bland-Pryse Revolver?
The Bland-Pryse Revolver is 280 mm (11.02 in) long overall, with a 152 mm (5.98 in) barrel.
Who makes the Bland-Pryse Revolver?
The Bland-Pryse Revolver is made by Thomas Bland & Sons (United Kingdom). It was designed by Charles Pryse.
When was the Bland-Pryse Revolver introduced?
The Bland-Pryse Revolver was introduced in 1877 and discontinued in 1900.
How does the Bland-Pryse Revolver operate?
The Bland-Pryse Revolver uses a double action, and its firing mechanism is double action.
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
- British Army officers
- United Kingdom
- British colonial officials
- United Kingdom
Provenance
Confidence in this record
62%
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/bland-pryse' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "bland-pryse", "name": "Bland-Pryse Revolver", "manufacturer": { "id": "thomas-bland", "name": "Thomas Bland & Sons", "countryCode": "GB", "foundedYear": 1840, "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": "5d4c421cf3cccf465fee3760327e30fe2759a93d6c1799314af2d154b0e95dd0" }, "category": { "id": "revolver", "name": "Revolver", "description": "Handguns with a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers" }, "country_of_origin": "GB", "year_introduced": 1877, "barrel_length_mm": 152, "weight_empty_g": 1000, "action_type": "double_action_revolver"}