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July 2016

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The Cartridges of the 19th Century European Big-Bore Revolvers

PART 2: The Montenegrin Revolver Cartridges

Nichola I Petrovic-Njegos of Montenegro ruled that country from August 13, 1860 to November 26, 1918. During his reign he proclaimed that "every male citizen of Montenegro is a member of the Militia, and therefore is not only justified but also obliged to possess at least one Gasser Pattern revolver". His stated goal was to unite the Montenegrin citizens into a formidable army that would elicit fear in hostile neighboring countries such as Albania and Austria. Less noble was possibly his goal to profit personally from the sale of these revolvers, as he was rumored to hold stock in the Leopold Gasser company that would be manufacturing the revolvers or receiving a royalty on any evovers made by licensed manufacturers.

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Following the King's proclamation, the citizens of Montenegro, a mountainous country that is surrounded on three sides by the present countries of Bosnia, Serbia and Albania, and the Adriatic Sea on the fourth, commenced arming themselves with a variety of six chambered large caliber revolvers based almost exclusively on the designs of Leopold and Johann Gasser of Austria. The Militia was initially armed with Gasser Model 1870 revolvers that were purchased as surplus from Austria in 1878, and these became very popular. Demand for these guns eventually skyrocketed beyond the production capabilities of the Gasser company in Austria, resulting in a number Gasser-pattern revolvers, as well as other designs, being produced for the Montenegrins.. Two characteristics that all of these revolvers have in common that identify them as Montinegrin revolvers is their bulky cylinders that accommodated large caliber cartridges, typically the 11.2 m/mR that was used in the Model 1870 Gasser, and their rounded (Broomhandle Mauser style) grips.

Pictured below, along with measurements and descriptions, are examples of the cartridges from my collection that were chambered in the various Montenegrin revolvers.

.423" .442" .437" .436" Bullet

.441" .459" .460" .457" Case neck:

.455" .488" .485" .486" Case Head

.495" .567" .584" .588" Rim

.916" 1.405" 1.351" 1.441" Case length

1.191" 1.825" 1.838" 1.811" Overall length

The first cartridge above is a 10.8 m/mR Montenegrin No. 4, the smallest of the Montenegrin cartridges. The next three are 11.2 m/m Montenegrin cartridges, intended for use in the Gasser Model 1870 revolver that was adopted by the Montenegrin Army in 1878. The one 10.2mmR cartridge in the picture above that has a head stamp is on the right; it is head stamped H | * | * | * | indicating production by Hirtenberger Patronen Zundhutchen-und Metallwarenfabrik of Hirtenburg, Austria.

.449" .440" .389" .452" .451" Bullet

.475" .460" .443" .465" .455" Case neck:

n/a n/a n/a n/a .465" Shoulder

.489" .488" .487" .488" .487" Case Head

.553" .557" .570" .577" .555" Rim

1.350" 1.406" 1.409" 1.414" 1.400" Case length

1.548" 1.745" 1.689" 1.832" 1.874" Overall length

The first four cartridges above are additional variations of the 11.2 m/mR Montenegrin. The one on the left is loaded with a round ball and is head stamped AH (monogram) * 40 *, a late production (1940) example made at the Czepel Arsenal in Budapest Hungary. It is loaded with a round ball, which I assume indicates that it has been reloaded at some point. The second cartridge is head stamped H 18 92 U and was made by H. Utendorffer Patronfabrik in Nurenburg, Germany in 1892. The third cartridge with it's unusual steel jacketed semi-wadcutter bullet is head stamped SB | * | 1902 | * |; it was made by Sellier & Bellot in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1902. The fourth cartridge, and the last of the 11.2 m/m examples pictured, is head stamped V.F.M.& C A LIEGE 12. It was made by (or for) Victor Francotte-Henry May & Company of Liege, Belgium; the 12 indicates 12 m/m rather than a production date. Variations of the 11.2 m/mR were listed in catalogs as the Montenegrin No 1, which had a heavy Mauser base, and the No 2 and 3. There was also a Montenegrin No 5 cartridge, at least on paper, but little is known about the cartridge.

The last cartridge above is an example of the 11.5 m/mR Montenegrin, introduced around 1900 and produced exclusively by Societe Francaise des Munitions (SFM) of Paris until shortly before World War I. It has the head stamp MONTENEGRIN * GG (monogram used by SFM) *, and is the only Montenegrin cartridge that had a necked case; it was not assigned a 'No'. that I am aware of.

Sources:

Map of the Adriatic region from Google Maps: https://www.google.com/search?q=montenegro,+map&rlz=1C1TSNP_enUS510US512&biw

=1600&bih=775&site=webhp&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-naSW8_PLAhWBdyYKHQCJD0cQ7AkIKg#imgrc=ROAHkkTDQqJEEM%3A

Photo of Montenegrin Revolver and general information about the country and the revolvers from Gun Digest, The Revolvers of Montenegro by Phillip Peterson, November 4, 2011; http://www.gundigest.com/gun-collecting-firearm-collecting/the-revolvers-of-montenegro

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