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Son of Casimir, who invented the pinfire system, Eugène Lefaucheux proved himself very early as an ingenious gunmaker and an excellent businessman. It would take too long to tell the whole story of his life in this chapter, but we can view the headlines of it. Born in 1832, he became very young familiar with the drawing techniques and manufacture of the pinfire arms invented by his father. He proofed very interested and very skilful on the field of gun mechanisms, and when his father died in 1852, as he was the sole survivor of seven children, he inherited not only his father's shop and patents, but above all his father's geniality and deep interest for mechanics in general. With a view to developing his father's business at the best, Eugène went to Liège in order to enhance his knowledge. At Liège he learned not only the practical manufacture techniques in use in the imposant Belgian arms industry, but also the art of negotiation that was in use in well-established local companies such as Pirlot, Dandoy, Francotte and Colette. Back in Paris at the end of 1853, he obtained a loan from his future father-in-law, which he invested in remodelling and modernization of his father's installations at the 37, rue Vivienne, that had been kept running by his mother during his stay at Liège. His success would see no end. During the year he was in Liège, Eugène was very impressed by the Belgian copies of the Colt Pocket 1849 and Navy 1851 revolvers. From this he designed his revolver. Almost as powerful as the Colt and sturdier and reliable, the lefaucheux has the immense advantage of using a very reliable ammunition, easy and fast to load, totally insensible to weather conditions, and quite light, which makes it easy to carry. The revolver was very easy to handle, and can be used by anyone, which is not always the case with percussion revolvers such as Colt, Remington or Adams. The Eugène Lefaucheux Model 1854 revolver may be called the most advanced handgun in the world in that era. Hundreds of thousands of these revolvers were manufactured and have been in use in various European armies; many Belgian and Spanish copies were made. This M1856 revolver was manufactured on the continent for pin fire cartridges designed by Eugene Lefaucheux. The complete mechanism is his son, Ettienne Lefaucheux’s design. It is a single action weapon and the roll stop block the roll in the centre. The frame has an open top and there is a pin fixed to the frame to push cases out. An interesting note, about this pistol, it was purchased in large quantity by both sides during the American Civil War and saw as much use as the 1860 Colt Army and the 1858 Remington New Model Army. It is classified as an antique in the USA. The Lefaucheux M1858 was a French military revolver, chambered for the 12mm pinfire cartridge, based on a design by Casimir Lefaucheux. The revolver was a six-shot open-framed design, which was loaded via a hinged gate on the right side of the frame, through which empty cartridges were also ejected via an ejector rod running along the barrel. It was the first metallic-cartridge revolver adopted by a national government.. It was first fielded in 1858 by the French Navy, and though never issued by the French Army, it was used in limited numbers by the French Cavalry during their 1862 deployment to Mexico. Models were also purchased by Spain, Sweden, Italy, Russia and Norway. Both the Confederate and Federal forces in the American Civil War. During the American Civil War both sides fielded a wide variety of revolvers, including the M1858. The Federal forces purchased over 12,000 M1858 revolvers, primarily supplying them to cavalry forces in 1862. However, these pinfire revolvers were replaced in service later in the war as more Colt and Remington revolvers became available. Among American troops, the pistol was often referred to as the "French Trantor" (Ref. ‘Firearms past and present’ by Luggs, ‘Pistols and revolvers’ by JE Smith, https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Lefaucheux_M1858 , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lefaucheux_M1858)

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