Mateba Auto Revolver

The automatic revolver is a hybrid of revolver and automatic pistol that uses the energy of firing for cocking the hammer and revolving the cylinder. The first of its kind, the Webley Fosbery automatic revolver, was marketed in 1901. It was the result of a quest for a reliable, accurate, rapid fire handgun. It was quite successful in its time, but became less desirable when reliable, accurate automatic pistols became available.
A newer automatic revolver produced in the 90's is the Mateba Autorevolver.
Between roughly 1880 and 1895, the term "automatic revolver" was used for top-break revolvers that automatically ejected spent rounds when opened.









The Mateba Model 6 Unica (often known simply as the Mateba or the Mateba Autorevolver) is an automatic revolver, one of only a few such models ever produced. It was developed in Italy and sold by the Mateba company. Emilio Ghisoni is listed as the owner of US Patent #4,712,466 which details the operation of the weapon.
Design:
The Mateba Mo. 6 uses the recoil from firing to rotate the cylinder and cock the hammer, unlike conventional revolvers, which depend on the user physically pulling the trigger and/or cocking the hammer to actuate the weapon's mechanism of operation.
The Mateba Autorevolver's barrel alignment is different from most other revolvers. The barrel is aligned with the bottom of the cylinder instead of the top. This lowers the bore sight (line of the barrel) which directs the recoil in line with the shooter's hand thereby reducing the twisting motion or "muzzle flip" of normal revolvers The gun's entire upper assembly (barrel, cylinder and frame) are mounted on rails on the lower frame, which houses the trigger, hammer, and grip, and recoils approximately 7/8 of an inch/22mm on firing. The rearward motion of the upper assembly cocks the hammer, and the cylinder is rotated on the forward stroke.
Variants:
Defense - 4" barrel, .357-Magnum
Home Protection - 5" Barrel, .44-Remington Magnum
Dynamic Sportiva - either 5" or 6" barrel, .357-Magnum
Hunter - 8-3/8" barrel, either in .44-SW Special or .44-Remington Magnum
In addition, their barrels can be changed with interchangeable 3", 4", 5", 6", 7" and 8" inch barrels.
Mateba Grifone-
Also available was the Mateba Grifone, which mated an 18-inch barrel, fore and butt stock to the Autorevolver's frame and action. It was available in .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum chamberings.A version in .454 Casull was available which also allowed .45 Long Colt ammunition to be fired.