At the end of the 19th century, governments around the world began seeing the functional advantages of semi automatic pistols over single or double-action revolvers. As one technology fades out and is replaced by a newer offering, there are often designs that fall somewhere in the middle. The resulting designs blend the new with the old, and while some are able to adapt and succeed, most end up being relegated to the past as the full potential of a new technology is realized. Such is the case of the semi automatic revolver.

An exceptional British Webley-Fosbery Model 1903 Automatic Revolver in .455 Webley.

Webley-Fosbery Revolver Automatic Revolver

In 1895, George Vincent Fosbery developed what he called an “automatic revolver,” with a patent following in 1897. An unusual design, the revolver relied on the gun’s recoil to rotate the cylinder and cock the hammer. The barrel assembly, cylinder, and hammer were all part of an upper assembly that moved back and forth on the lower frame of the revolver.

A scarce, early production Webley-Fosbery Model 1901 automatic revolver, serial number "245".

Initially, Fosbery’s design was based on a Colt Model 1876 revolver. After a couple years of testing, Fosbery approached Webley & Scott for assistance.

Production began in 1901 at the Webley & Scott factory in Birmingham, England. Because of the partnership, Fosbery’s invention – which became known as the Webley-Fosbery Automatic Revolver – looked and functioned just like the standard top-break British service revolver of the day and also fired the standard .455 Webley cartridge.

The zig-zag grooves on the semi automatic revolver’s cylinder are the model’s most iconic visual and functional distinction. When the top half of the revolver recoiled to the rear, the cylinder grooves were engaged by a stud on the frame. This engagement provided 30 degrees of rotation. As the recoil spring pushed the revolver forward, the cylinder rotated another 30 degrees and placed a new cartridge in line with the firing pin.

An excellent Webley-Fosbery Model 1902 automatic revolver in scarce .38 ACP.

The “make or break” moment for many firearms comes during military trials. Testing for the Webley-Fosbery semi automatic revolver by the War Department was conducted in May and September of 1901. The report was not positive. It concluded that the “mechanism proved unsatisfactory in the working” and that even with improvements, the gun would be at a disadvantage to semiautomatic pistols because “it requires to be loaded singly instead of the whole capacity of the magazine or chamber by one motion.”

Despite the less-than-flattering review from the War Department, the gun was well-received in other venues. When the gun made its debut at the Bisley Shooting Ground and the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904, it was met with great fanfare and copious amounts of positive press.

Unfortunately, commercial approval only goes so far; no military contract materialized and production of the Webley-Fosbery ceased.

During the gun’s entire production, only 4,200 were produced. Of that total number, almost all were chambered for the .455 Webley. Approximately 200 left the factory chambered for .38 ACP.

If Fosbery’s semi auto revolver design hadn’t had to compete against semi automatic pistols for a place in the market, it may well have survived. Ultimately, the Webley-Fosbery Automatic Revolver fell victim to the rapid-paced change in firearms technology during the first half of the 20th century.

Find the finest Webley-Fosbery Automatic revolvers for sale at Rock Island Auction Company.

Landstad 1900 Automatic Revolver

The Landstad 1900 is perhaps the rarest example of the semi automatic revolver. Patented in 1899 by Norwegian inventor Halvard Landstad, the firearm featured both a box magazine and revolving cylinder system. The magazine held six rounds of 7.5mm Nagant ammunition.

Despite its mechanical ingenuity, the Landstad 1900 semi auto revolver performed poorly in 1901 Norwegian military trials and never saw production beyond the prototype phase.

Unlike traditional revolvers, Landstad’s design had a flat, two-chamber cylinder that rotated with each trigger pull. A round would be fed from the magazine into the bottom chamber, then indexed upward to align with the barrel before firing. The recoil energy cycled a slide assembly at the rear, ejecting the spent casing, making it distinct from semi automatic revolvers like the Webley-Fosbery and Mateba, which retained their cases until manually unloaded.

The Landstad's rare combination of revolving cylinder and box magazine was somewhat reminiscent of the Dardick design from the late 1950s, a double action pistol that sat dead in the middle between the semi-auto and the revolver in terms of attributes.

Union Fire Arms Automatic Revolver

Another rare semi automatic revolver design was invented by Ohio native Charles Lefever and produced in Toledo around 1909 to 1912. Lefever hoped his unique revolver could find a niche in the civilian market.

A Union Fire Arms Automatic revolver, a rarity in the semi auto revolver genre.

The Union Automatic Revolver bears a striking mechanical resemblance to the Webley-Fosbury semi auto revolver. Both employ a top-break revolver frame is mounted in a spring-loaded housing and grip assembly, and on discharge, the frame is driven backwards by recoil, revolving the cylinder and re-cocking the hammer.

The main deviations are that the hammer is mounted to the housing on the Union and no manual safety is included. These semi automatic revolvers have a 5 round cylinder and are chambered for .32 S&W Short.

A Union Fire Arms Company Automatic revolver with blue finish.

Lefever's design was proved costly to manufacture and had a hard time finding it's niche in a market crowded with standard revolvers and automatic pistols. In the end, only about 300 Union Fire Arms Company semi automatic revolvers were produced.

This Union Fire Arms Company Automatic revolver sold for $6,325 at Rock Island Auction Company in May 2021.

Mateba Autorevolver

History is a wonderful teacher if you listen to the lessons it has to offer. If not, history tends to repeat itself, as it did with the Mateba Autorevolver, the most modern semi auto revolver design we'll be highlighting. Emilio Ghisoni sought to improve the shortcomings of the Webley-Fosbery. His revolver was quite different from its predecessor.

A Mateba 6 Unica Autorevolver with case and extra barrel. This design is one of the most well known attempts at a semi automatic revolver.

While the Webley-Fosbery looked like a normal revolver at first glance, there was no mistaking that the Mateba was different. The revolver’s steel frame, swing-out cylinder, and aluminum barrel shroud were the only aspects of its design that could be considered normal. Visually, it had an interesting shape to the cylinder, an ambidextrous cylinder latch, an extended beavertail, distinctive grips, and a compensator.

It also fired from the 6 o’clock position instead of the 12 o’clock position, giving it an exceptionally low bore-axis. This engineering helped reduce recoil by firing off of the revolver’s lower chamber instead of the top, where the force of recoil was better aligned with the shooter’s hand. This greater control paired well with some of the powerful cartridges appearing in the commercial market, including Dick Casull’s famous .454.

This Mateba Unica 6 Auto Revolver in .44 Magnum sold in February 2024 at RIAC for $9,400.

Operation of the Mateba semi automatic revolver was similar to the Webley-Fosbery, though not exactly the same. The cylinder’s large, slab-like fluting and lack of other features are directly linked to the way the gun locks up and how it cycles. Cylinder latches to lock the chamber in place are located on the face of the cylinder instead of the outside edge. This eliminated the notches on the outside of the cylinder and also prevented a drag line from forming.

A Mateba Autorevolver manufactured in 1998.

The Mateba's first shot is double-action, with subsequent shots being single-action. While you can manually cock the hammer for the first shot, it isn’t necessary. Recoil moves the slide to the rear, cocking the hammer. The forward motion returning the gun to battery rotates the cylinder to the next loaded chamber and the gun is ready to fire. No cams, studs, or zig-zag grooves are used to rotate the cylinder.

Unfortunately, Ghisoni failed to learn from the Webley-Fosbery’s mistakes. He was forced to sell Mateba to a German firm in the early 2000s. By 2005, the company ceased to exist altogether. All told, fewer than 2,000 autorevolvers were ever made.

A Mateba Unica 6 Auto revolver with case.

Semi Automatic Revolvers Today

Ultimately, semi automatic revolver designs like the Webley-Fosbery and the Mateba Autorevolver sought to answer questions nobody had asked, and the majority of consumers ignored their answers. With almost a century of innovation between them, the end result was the same: the market had no place for a gimmicky revolver when there were plenty of good semi automatic pistols – and standard revolvers – to be had.

Today, the Webley-Fosbery, Mateba Autorevolver, and Union Fire Arms Company Automatic Revolver have become sought-after pieces in the collecting world. For their rarity, innovation, and impressive engineering, the semi automatic revolver represents the design diversity found in the world of rare and historic firearms.

This Union Fire Arms Company Automatic Revolver sold for $7,050 at Rock Island Auction Company in December 2024.