Strange Guns: The Dardick Revolver

(Image source)

The Dardick revolver is a strange American revolver that was fed by a magazine and made by David Dardick in 1958.

The revolver had many accessories, such as a stripper clip and .22 Long Rifle tround adapters for the special triangular round bullet (called a "tround"). The Dardick revolver was known for its open-chamber design, where the chambers' exteriors are opened up, forming a "U" shape instead of an "O" on conventional revolvers. This allowed cartridges to be inserted into the side of the cylinder, and allowed it to be quickly loaded from a magazine. In order to contain the pressure of firing, a few chambers were bored into the cylinder, usually three. Loading was done by a trapdoor on the left side, where the rounds are stuck inside. After all are loaded, the trapdoor can be closed and the first round will automatically be loaded into the cylinder.

Original advertising leaflet for Dardick pistols/revolvers, showing their basic design and tround/open chamber concept (Image source)

The Dardick used a special type of ammunition called a tround (triangle round), and was available in .38 caliber or .22 caliber. The change can be done with the use of a special selector and a barrel change.

Despite marketing efforts about the gun's unique qualities, David Dardick's company went out of business in 1960 and and had to close down after a year of manufacturing these revolvers and 11 years of research and development. Fewer than 100 revolvers were produced from 1958 to 1962.

The gun-buying public never liked it because it was ugly. Also, the plastic cartridges warped after a time and would not chamber well, resulting in the cylinder locking up when it rotated.

A quick look inside the Dardick Model 1500 pistol

---

---

---

Sources: http://guns.wikia.com/wiki/Dardick_revolver
https://www.nrablog.com/articles/2016/9/a-brief-history-of-the-peculiar-dardick-revolver-and-tround/

---

---

Follow me as @darthnava: "Steem On when the Steem is still low!!!"