The Velodog Revolver was a very small pocket 5-shot pocket revolver that fired 5.75 mm (.22 calibre) Velo-dog cartridges in order to kill or scare away dogs chasing bicyclists. Bicycles were originally called "velocipedes," hence the name of the gun.
Created in France in 1904 by René Galand, the son of gun maker Charles-François Galand, the weapon had no trigger guard, instead having a trigger-lever that folded into the body of the gun when not in use.
The more humane cartridges were loaded with cayenne pepper or salt, or had bullets made from wax, wood, or cork. Less humane bullets were lead, but had a fairly low amount of powder.
These guns were used when stray dogs were endemic in cities and countryside. As American Rifleman notes:
Bicyclists of that Victorian era were apparently so troubled by pursuing dogs that this cartridge and the guns that fired it were the result. They just couldn't forgive Woofy and his canine indiscretions. And that's where the name came from: ‘Velo’ is an abbreviated form of the French word for bicycle, so it is literally ‘bicyclist's dog gun.’ In view of the annual billions of dollars currently spent on dogs, dog food and dog care, it's hard to envision a time when we deliberately produced a specialized gun/cartridge combo with which to shoot them. But it happened.
At www.velodogs.com they explain why gun makers were often bicycle makers, and vice-versa:
In general, bicycle manufacturers and gun manufacturers were closely tied together for several reasons. The skills involved with both were similar, gun manufacturers had an existing network of retail sales which helped them advertise bicycles as well and, most important of all, manufacturing both guns and bicycles diversified their market and helped shield against slow periods in one or the other industry. Not all bicycle manufacturers made guns, but the leading gun makers made bicycles.
1 comment:
I bicycle and stray dogs are my biggest problem. I looked on a biking forum and they said that stray dogs are a HUGE issue when they are biking too. And they recommended pepper GEL not spray that can blow back. And yes I went through several cans of the stuff which was pricey so I made my own concoction out of a combination of cooking oil (for making a sticky good stream, vinegar and he hottest pepper sauce I could find. I put it in a squeeze bottle and I have a back up bottle of straight household ammonia and of my CCW 38 in case it does not work. There are a LOT of bully type dogs in my area. And at my age and fitness level I cannot really our run/bike the dogs. For the movement of my legs, stimulate them to chase. So, I stop, yell, confront them and squirt them right across the nose hopefully hitting their eyes too. It has worked. So far, I had to 'educate' several dogs by squirting the stream from the bottle right across the nose. They look up but do not even bark any more. I hopefully am keeping my fellow bicyclists safe from dogs with this 'training' too. We have fairly level grades, low traffic and a lovely country views. Too bad stray dogs ruin it for may who want to do a country walk or bike. (A friend in Georgia stopped walking due to the stray dogs).
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