Reading the Sherlock Holmes stories, frequent mention is made to Dr. Watson’s “old army revolver,” but which revolver was it? In The Sign of the Four and elsewhere there is reference to loading with cartridges, which would imply that Watson carries an Enfield Mark 1 service revolver, introduced in 1880, as he served in the second Anglo-Afghan war, which ended in 1880. However, being that he left the army as a result of injury, he likely was not still serving in 1880, which would mean he would have been carrying a Beaumont-Adams, which is not a cartridge firing revolver but a percussion cap model. Additionally, in The Speckled Band, Sherlock references “Eley’s No. 2,” a cartridge first introduced after 1900, when the story is stated to take place in 1883.
Is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle just imprecise, or is there a single revolver Dr. John Watson can be said to have carried?
Is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle just imprecise, or is there a single revolver Dr. John Watson can be said to have carried?
Okay, so this is where you get into the infamous "Doylist" vs. "Watsonian" answer. "Doylist" means "How would this question be answered if Doyle was asked it?" and acknowledges errors on the part of the writer as simple flubs, or shows influences from his life and experiences. "Watsonian" means "How would this question be answered is Watson was asked it?" and generally involves a degree of glossing and speculation - that is, how could this be true, within the confines of the text?
So, let's start at the beginning...
IN the year 1878 I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of London, and proceeded to Netley to go through the course prescribed for surgeons in the army. Having completed my studies there, I was duly attached to the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers as Assistant Surgeon. The regiment was stationed in India at the time, and before I could join it, the second Afghan war had broken out. On landing at Bombay, I learned that my corps had advanced through the passes, and was already deep in the enemy’s country. I followed, however, with many other officers who were in the same situation as myself, and succeeded in reaching Candahar in safety, where I found my regiment, and at once entered upon my new duties.
Assistant Surgeon as a rank became simply "Surgeon" in the Army Medical Service after 1873. So we're already not out to a great start: a Doylist explanation would have this be a simple error on Dolye's part, he using an outdated rank; a Watsonian explanation would be that it's possible that Dr. Watson was being humble and showing how a young man fresh out of medical school didn't want to take on airs.
In either case, surgeons had many of the advantages of rank even though they were not technically officers, and if they were issued personal sidearms would have been issued the same weapons. In any event, Watson was serving in India when he was wounded in the Battle of Maiwand (27 July 1880), which led to his injury, hospitalization, contracting enteric fever, and mustering out of service back in Britain.
When the cloth was cleared, Holmes glanced at his watch, and filled up three glasses with port. “One bumper,” said he, “to the success of our little expedition. And now it is high time we were off. Have you a pistol, Watson?”
“I have my old service-revolver in my desk.”
At the time of his service (1878-1880), the Beaumont-Adams revolver was the official sidearm, and it was a black powder percussion cap revolver. It would not be replaced in service with the Enfield Mk. 1 until 1880. Realistically (Doylist), it is possible but unlikely that Watson could have had his old Beaumont-Adams revolver replaced with a shiny new Enfield Mk. 1. It is of course possible (Watsonian) that Watson took the officer's prerogative and independently purchased a sidearm rather than waiting to be issued it.
A close read of the story however shows that Watson neither loads nor fires the pistol - Holmes is the one who:
“It is just possible that we may need something of the sort if we get to their lair. Jonathan I shall leave to you, but if the other turns nasty I shall shoot him dead.” He took out his revolver as he spoke, and, having loaded two of the chambers, he put it back into the right-hand pocket of his jacket. (ibid)
So we have no real idea from this story what Watson's old "service-revolver" is.
["]I should be very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush are, I think all that we need."
Dr. Watson definitely has a revolver in this adventure, but he never specifies that it is the same as his "old service-revolver"; the Watsonian answer would thus be that it was entirely possible for a man to own two different guns - or even to have sold or disposed of the old service-pistol and bought a new one.
As for the "Eley's No. 2" - this gets tricky. The Eley Brothers were a British firm that produced a wide variety and large amount of ammunition for all manner of firearms from the 1820s on (and is still technically operating today, as Eley Limited). William S. Baring-Gould in The Annotated Sherlock Holmes assumes that this was Eley ammunition in some other firearm, likely Webley's No. 2 ("The British Bulldog," which became available in the 1870s) chambered in .320 - but this is a very Watsonian answer.
Doyle himself never clarified, and probably didn't feel the need to, since again Watson never fired it.
I’d refer to the answer above.
However, from a purely historical standpoint it is probably fairly easy to explain away.
Firstly, we must make the assumption that the form of words “I have my old service revolver” doesn’t mean issued revolver; in the time period these are two different things. Yes, it is true, the British Army issued Beaumont-Adam’s revolvers. But in this period, and through until the end of the Great War, the Private-Purchase scheme was well used, for all manner of items, including but not limited to boots, caps, coats, belts, swords and indeed firearms.
So having established that Watson referring to his service pistol in fact means the pistol he used whilst in service and not the one that the service issued we may open the gates to any number of options.
At this point, we can look at the methods of loading, that merely speaks of the chambers loaded, not the percussive method. Since all revolvers will require a chamber to be loaded that doesn’t help us narrow it down; that said, a second (mild) assumption can be made that if it was a cap+ball like a Beaumont-Adam’s then that would be involved in the description.
So we’re now led by process of elimination to a) an revolver of the time and b) a cartridge type revolver. That does lead to the Enfield or in fact any British (or American?!) revolver of the period you could wish.
I do have one other option though. Starting with the MarkIII, a significant proportion of Beaumont-Adam’s revolvers were converted into a new brass centre-fire cartridge, the .450 Adams in the late 1880’s. This was a popular civilian cartridge through until almost the end WW1. It is not being the scope of your question that Watson, having been issued a Beaumont-Adams, had had it converted post issue to the new loading, and kept it like that ever since. Adam’s pistols aren’t particularly “pocketable” being larger service pistols; but it does match the period, loading and requirements of all three.
Hope a) this helps and b) the answer survives!