The Vidier revolver

In the 1880s several gunsmiths tried to improve the extraction system of French service revolvers. The most well- known is the one from De l’Espée Aumont. But it’s not the only one. A young Parisian gunsmith was also very interested in it.

Vidier, gunsmith in Paris

Born in Paris in the 7^th arrondissement on May 21^st, 1857, Henri Marius Vidier is the son of Aloys Célestin Vidier and Virginie Constance Painparre.

He married Madeleine Rapaud in Paris in 1895. Two children were born of this union: Georges André Henri Vidier and Marcel Léonard Vidier.

Reserve Second Lieutenant in the 29^th “régiment d’infanterie territoriale” then Lieutenant in 1886 and Captain five years later, Henri Vidier, gunsmith by profession, was a talented shooter. He continued to succeed on all shooting ranges. In 1886 he won a first price in a rifle shooting competition and a vase of Sèvre offered by the President of the French Republic as well as a first price in a service revolver competition. In October 1887, while shooting with the service revolver at 15 meters in a competition, he ranked first and won a vermeil medal… On December 1^st, 1891, he was still present and won a silver medal in the revolver category.

A real competitor and passionate about his profession, he actively supported the development of sport shooting and contributed to its height by offering weapons as shooting prices.

On January 27^th, 1886, he filed a patent, No. 173806, for an extractor for fixed-barrel revolvers. This patent would be the subject of a certificate of addition filed on May 21^st of the same year.

He adapted his system to service revolvers and sold “revolvers d’ordonnance perfectionnés” (“enhanced service revolvers”) from his patents in his establishment on the Chaillot Street.