A rare double-barreled Le Mat center-fire revolver dating: 1877 - circa 1880 provenance: Belgium, The upper barrel of octagonal section, rifled (visible rifling, pitting inside), provided with foresight, marked 'COLONEL LE MAT. PATENT', marked with serial number on the lower part, 11 mm cal. at the nozzle, fed by the cylinder. Single-shot, round, smoothbore, 20 cal lower barrel (small signs of use inside, clean bore). On the right side of the smoothbore barrel there is the extractor for the cylinder cartridges. Nine-shot cylinder featuring the mark of the Liegi test bench and the 'V' controller's mark, with matching serial number. Steel frame with loading gate for the cylinder on the right side, and opening breech to load the smoothbore barrel. With ring for the strap at the lower part, in front of the trigger guard. The hammer is provided with a specific change lever to activate or deactivate the firing pin of the smoothbore barrel. Grip with smooth wooden grip scales, provided with a screwdriver screwed on the bottom. Serial number '7X' matching with the other parts. Working, single-action mechanism. See a similar revolver in 'The Revolver 1865-1888' (by Taylerson, ed. Herbert Jenkins 1966, London): p. 165, table 61 (the piece presented is however a 9 mm cal. revolver). The first patent registered by Dr. Le Mat about the central fire version of his famous revolver dates back to 1868 (British patent 3181), our piece also shows the improved version of the hammer, with the change lever of the firing pin that can be activated using the thumb of the hand holding the gun (patent 588/1877 the last one filed by Le Mat, who died a few years later). length 26,5 cm.