THE CLOVERLEAF and HOUSE PISTOL COLT POCKET REVOLVERS
Personal defence handgun in .41 rimfire calibre, 4 or 5 shot.
Single-action only, spur trigger.
A little less of 10.000 were produced from 1871 to 1876. Most of them (ca 7.500) received a 4-chambered cylinder made of 4 tubes welded together around a central axis. The shape of that particular cylinder, when seen from the front or from behind, resembles a 4-leaved clover, which gave it its nickname.
The 4-chambered cylinder was meant to make a heavy calibres pocket revolver somewhat more flat and discrete when carried in a vest pocket. When the cylinder is turned into the safety position with the hammer head resting between two chambers, the gun is indeed flatter and can be concealed more easily.
The one presented here is full nickel plated and in an outstanding condition. Other available finishes were nickel frame with blued barrel and cylinder. All have a brass frame.
The balances of about 2.200 were equipped with a classical round unfluted 5-chambered cylinder and were only available in one barrel length. That model was named "House Pistol".
To discharge of the House Pistol, the cylinder must be removed and its axis used as an ejector rod. Removal of the cylinder is not necessary on the Cloverleaf.
This quite impressive little pocket gained notoriety among some collectors who gave it the name "Jim Fisk Model", referring to the murder, in January of 1871, of the New-York playboy Jim Fisk by a blackmailer for some sordid affair around a woman.
Its real names are, however, Cloverleaf or House Pistol.
This revolver has become scarce on the market lately.
Marcel
Photos Littlegun
