William Tranter, prior to the conflict, had a contract with Hyde & Goodrich in New Orleans to sell firearms in America. The Tranter Revolver was a popular revolver during the American Civil War (where the Confederate States in particular had to rely on imported firearms to support their campaign). Various calibre balls were made for the Tranter, although the most popular calibres were. The Tranter was a cap & ball revolver, meaning that it used a percussion cap with a musket ball. Its appearance was also influenced by the various Robert Adams revolver designs (the Beaumont-Adams in particular), a fact which is not suprising considering William Tranter had previously produced an estimated 8,000 Adams Revolvers at his factory. Otherwise the Tranter could be classified as what is now considered a conventional revolver design, being solid framed with a swing-out cylinder. The third model of the Tranter had its ramrod screwed onto the barrel. The very first Tranters were fitted with detachable ramrods, while the second models had their ramrods fitted via a hook on the frame (underneath the barrel). The other distinguishing feature of the Tranter was the ramrod, whose design was changed frequently. This made the Tranter capable of firing in single action (pulling the lower trigger and then the main trigger) and double action (by pulling both triggers together).Д®ventually the dual trigger was replaced by a single trigger (while the mechanism became not do dissimilar to the Beaumont-Adams Revolver). The main trigger (the larger trigger within the trigger guard) would fire the Tranter, while the second trigger (located slightly lower in the guard) would turn the cylinder and cock the hammer (as the first Tranter hammers lacked a spur, meaning cocking it by hand was difficult at best). The Tranter Revolver was, initially, recognised by its destinctive dual trigger mechanism to produce a double action mechanism.

Tranter firearms