"in battery"?

[cwtalker15]

I visited a Civil War Show recently, and was talking to a dealer about one of his revolvers for sale. In the course of the conversation, he mentioned that the pistol that I was looking at had some problem with the cylinder indexing and locking up correctly...that it did not stay "in battery." Question: What does "in battery" mean, related to a revolver?

 

[John Winn]

I've not heard the term used in reference to revolvers (in semi-autos and bolt action firearms it means a round is properly seated and the weapon is ready to fire). I'd guess what your guy meant is the cylinder doesn't lock up so the chambers don't align correctly with the forcing cone when the hammer is pulled back into the cocked position.

 

[JOHN42768]

I would guess he was dancing around the fact that it needed to be repaired

 

[Jobe Holiday]

I don't think the dealer was dancing around anything, but was rather quite up front about it, when he said "...the revolver has problems with the cylinder indexing and locking up correctly..."

IMHO, the term "In Battery" can be applied to anything that is lined up and ready to fire.
J.

 

[Patrick H]

I think John Winn has it exactly right. I believe what the seller meant to say was that the revolver was not timed or was "out of time." That means that its mechanism isn't properly aligning everything when the hammer is cocked. It would be dangerous to try to shoot an out of time revolver. Imagine if the hammer managed to ignite a primer cap, but the ball nicked the edge of the barrel cone instead of entering the barrel properly. Lead and gases could fly everywhere! YIKES!

 

[UCVRelics]

As an old Army ordnance guy the term in and out of battery is a term for weapons that are breech loaded. In the case of the term timing for a revolver its in making sure the cylinder lines up at the barrel. You can also use the terms in or out of battery and timing when dealing with a M2 50cal machine gun as in head space and timing while in battery. See that clears it up @Patrick H is spot on as if they are out of time it can be catastrophic.

 

[cwtalker15]

Thanks for your input gents! I really am glad that I did not purchase the revolver that the dealer said would not stay "in battery." It needed some adjustment to make it "right" and it was just not worth it to me...